| This is an example of one of our classic tailor-made holidays in Vietnam - we'll be pleased to design similar Vietnam vacations with dates and itinerary customised to your personal preferences. |
Highlights:
Our
tailor-made Vietnam vacations include Ho Chi Minh City,
boat cruises, bird watching, floating markets, the Mekong
Delta ecosystems, Kh'mer architecture, and the ethnic minority
Cham Muslim community. |
Our
Mekong Delta Vietnam vacations begin with....
.... time to recover and a night in Ho Chi Minh City. Your guide
will be with you throughout your tour of the Mekong Delta, so
your ‘Welcome’ dinner will be an excellent opportunity to get
to know each other and chat about your tour.
Guide/escort:
transfer from the airport
Meals: one dinner
Five
days driving deep into the Mekong Delta.
You'll be meeting the people
and experiencing the unique culture, then turning north-west towards
the border with Cambodia before returning to Ho Chi Minh City.
Your programme begins with urban sprawl and awful traffic, but
the vista soon opens up as you pass My Tho on the edge of the
Delta, very commercialised and as far as most tourists venture.
At Vinh Long, you'll start to feel the laid-back pace of life,
and take to the water to cruise the mighty Mekong River and the
myriad of tiny drainage channels that crisscross between the ‘nine
dragons’, the nine river outlets to the South China Sea. It'll
be a melee of floating markets, succulent tropical fruit orchards,
cottage industries, trying the local confectionery and meeting
the python and elephant fish in the bonsai garden.
After a night at Can
Tho and another floating market – wholesale, this time, you'll
head southeast to Soc Trang and an authentic experience of a remote
Mekong town. Unfortunately, it means a long return drive (there's
not many roads on the Delta), but the journey is interesting and
Soc Trang has a lot to offer.
After another night
in Can Tho, you'll follow the Bassac River north-west to Tam Nong.
En-route, you'll drop in at a forest that helped to win the war,
and some houses with plenty of feathered lodgers. Eventually,
you'll arrive at the Tam Nong National Park and Wetland Reserve
with a night in the guesthouse in prospect. It’s hardly the Hilton,
but it won’t bother you because you'll probably be quite tired.
In any case, you'll
need an early night - you'll be woken at an unearthly hour to
join the dawn chorus of the park’s inhabitants. After a morning
investigating the Reserve, you'll continue alongside the Bassac
to Chau Doc and a comfortable night.
Chau Doc is as far as
you can get without being in Cambodia, but you can have a look
over the fence from the top of Sam Mountains. There's also pagodas
and a mosque to visit, floating fish farms, and an optional afternoon
excursion to a grim memorial to the Kh’mer Rouge.
The drive back to Ho
Chi Minh City is lengthy, but you should arrive at your hotel
with time for sightseeing and shopping if you have the energy
and inclination.
Meals:
five breakfasts, five lunches and two dinners
Guide: fully escorted
Back
to the normal world!
You'll have a free morning until your car arrives to take you
to Tan Son Nhat airport for your departure or transfer flight.
Meals:
one breakfast
Prices (person in US dollars):
The prices below are based on the hotels on the Vietnam Sonata 'Accommodation' page. If you would prefer a different hotel, or hotels, choose your preference on the relevant 'Hotels' page, tell us, and we'll send you a modified price within 24 hrs at the latest.
| Number in group |
2 |
3-4 |
5-8 |
9-14 |
*Supplement for single hotel room occupancy |
| Mid-range |
614 |
514 |
396 |
336 |
134 |
| Superior |
858 |
759 |
640 |
581 |
378 |
These prices are valid until October 31, 2008. Please note that bank transfer fees are not included.
*‘Single room occupancy’ refers to the accommodation element of the programme only, and applies to someone who is travelling with others but requires an additional room for him or herself. Single traveller prices are available on request.
Our
prices include:
- Breakfast and accommodation in twin or double room.
- Pick-ups and transfers by private air-conditioned vehicle as specified in the itinerary above (Please note: pick-ups will be by a guide and driver or, where a guide is not necessary, a driver only. All unaccompanied drivers will be briefed in advance, and will carry a mobile phone to ensure smooth transfer arrangements)
- Boat cruises as specified in the programme.
- Travel in an appropriate private air-conditioned vehicle with an experienced safe driver.
- The services of experienced English-speaking guides as indicated in the itinerary (please note: guides will be on hand from pick-up until guests' return to their hotel or reaching their destination). Free days or part days will not include the services of a guide unless requested and included in the final itinerary.
- Where necessary, entry fees for all visits as mentioned in the programme.
- Lunches and dinners (as specified in the itinerary) in the best local restaurants, or picnics where no suitable restaurant is available.
- VAT and other taxes
Our
prices do not include:
- International flight tickets and airport tax
- Visas
- Dinners except as specified above
- Drinks, gratuities and personal expenses
- Camera fees
- Insurance
