Kong Skull Island – A Movie Like Visit To Vietnam – 9 Days

Begin at the Ho Chi Minh Complex, where the granite Mausoleum stands beside the modest stilt house in which the country’s founding father lived and worked. Nearby, the One Pillar Pagoda rises from its pond like a lotus flower, and the yellow Presidential Palace shows the French side of the city. Continue to the Temple of Literature, dedicated to Confucius and later home to Vietnam’s first university.

Head to West Lake for the ancient Tran Quoc Pagoda, set on a small island joined to the shore, and the Quan Thanh Temple nearby. Then choose one of the city’s museums: the History Museum for the story of Vietnam through the ages, or the Museum of Ethnology for the traditions of its many ethnic groups.

End the day at the water puppet theatre, a folk art born in the flooded rice paddies of the Red River Delta, where puppeteers hidden behind a screen make dragons, farmers and fishermen dance across the water.

Your guide and driver collect you from your hotel for the drive to Halong Bay, about two and a half hours away, reaching the harbour around midday.

Step aboard your junk and settle in over a lunch of fresh seafood as the boat sails out into the bay.

Cruise among the islands, past well-known islets such as Dinh Huong and Ga Choi, and step inside one of the bay’s three largest caves: Thien Cung, Dau Go or Sung Sot. Later, drop anchor in a sheltered cove with a white-sand beach for a swim in the warm water.

Dinner is served on board, and the night is spent on the water, lulled to sleep by the gentle rocking of the boat.

Rise early for tai chi on the top deck, or simply watch the sun come up over the islands with a cup of coffee or tea.

Explore the nearby islands by rowing boat, then return on board for brunch and relax on the sundeck as the junk cruises slowly back to the harbour.

Your driver meets you at the dock for the drive through the rice fields and villages of the Red River Delta to Ninh Binh, about four hours away.

Visit Hoa Lu, the capital of Vietnam in the late 10th century under the Dinh dynasty and the first imperial capital of an independent Vietnam. Among the karsts, temples to its early kings have survived the centuries, and a climb up the steps of a nearby hill rewards you with a sweeping view over the old capital and the peaks around it.

Board a small rowing boat at Trang An, a landscape of limestone hills, rivers and caves recognised by UNESCO in 2014 as Vietnam’s first mixed natural and cultural World Heritage Site. Quieter than nearby Tam Coc, it is a place where the only sounds are birdsong and the dip of the oar as you glide through a series of caves, one of them so long it takes around 15 minutes to pass through in near darkness. Some of these very landscapes became Skull Island on the big screen.

After breakfast, leave Ninh Binh and head south along Vietnam’s North Central Coast, a full day on the road with the mountains on one side and the sea never far away on the other.

Check in at your resort on the banks of the Nhat Le River, beside the long white sands of Bao Ninh Beach, and spend the rest of the day by the sea.

After an early breakfast, drive about two hours via Phong Nha and the Da Deo Pass to Tan Hoa, a village in the mountains and the base for the day. After a safety briefing and equipment check, walk about two kilometres past peanut fields and buffalo farms to the Rao Nan River.

Cross the river and explore up to 280 metres into Hang Chuot, the Rat Cave, among enormous rock formations. Then return to the river by another path and follow Hung Ton Valley to Hung Ton Cave, where the real thrill begins: climb down a 15-metre ladder on a safety rope, swim about 50 metres through the cave and follow an underground river out into the light.

A barbecue lunch is waiting for you in To Mo Valley, followed by a swim beneath a waterfall.

Hike back over Hung Ton Mountain and across the valley to the Rao Nan River, then return through the buffalo and peanut fields to the base at Tan Hoa, where a cold drink and a shower are waiting. Your driver then takes you back to your resort.

Spend the day exactly as you like: a spa treatment at your resort, a swim, a long lunch or an afternoon stretched out on the sand of Bao Ninh Beach.

Enjoy a final breakfast, then transfer to Dong Hoi Airport for your flight to Hanoi.

Connect at Noi Bai International Airport with your flight home.