Day 01 Day 02 Day 03 Day 04 Day 05 Day 06 Day 07 Day 08 Day 09 Day 10 Day 11 Day 12 Day 01 - Arrive in Hanoi via flight With ochre-colored colonial buildings, tree-lined boulevards and scenic lakes, Hanoi is full of charm. Its history is tied to French colonialism and the architecture, cuisine and local culture still bear evidence of the French influence. Upon arrival in Hanoi, embark the comfortable vehicle for transferring (approx. 60mins) to your hotel in downtown of the city, check-in and spend the remainder of the day at leisure. Day 02 - Hanoi After breakfast, enjoy an hour cyclo orientation tour to get familiarized with Hanoi city before being dropped at the Old Quarter to enjoy the bustling local life and meet a local gastronomy expert for a fun street food tour. Street food is for everyone – rich, poor, old, young, tourist and local alike and eating on the street is a very typical activity for Hanoians and makes up an important part of the city’s unique culture. Today, take the street food tour with an overview of local ingredients by visiting a local food market with a gastronomy expert, walk down some small alleys and bustling streets and savor some of Hanoi’s specialties. Finish the trip dining at a local restaurant which is set up like a local food market selling specialties from each region in Vietnam. Mid afternoon, meet with an artist who has a number of solo exhibitions showcasing Installation and Performing Arts. He will teach you some basic techniques of mixing colors before enjoying a fun face or body painting session. Then, visit the studio-home of a well-known Vietnamese painter, sculptor and performance artist. Enjoy a cocktail reception and enjoy the exhibition on the ground floor of the wooden stilt house. Back to your hotel for the night. Day 03 - Hanoi Early morning around 6:00 a.m., transfer to a local pagoda for a serene yoga experience, led by a local instructor. You have an hour focus on yourself, slow down and relax, then you’ll come out refreshed. Transfer back to the hotel for breakfast. Then, explore the historic and amazing Old Quarter - wandering through the maze of 36 streets, each street representing a guild that sold specific merchandise. Shop for bargains and discover you’re bargaining power and come away with unusual items that will always remind you of this exciting tour. Followed by enjoying a Spa treatment at one luxury spa salon. Find your peace, reach your high point of strength and maximize your physical beauty while you become healthier and more powerful. Day 04 - Hanoi / Halong Bay After breakfast, embark on a 3.5 hour drive to Halong Bay. Board your deluxe junk where a welcome drinks awaits. After a relaxing break, enjoy a delicious lunch while cruising through the magical bay where thousands of sculpted limestone islands rise from the waters like dragon teeth. After lunch, take a sampan ride to visit a floating fishing village. Back on board for sunset and later unwind at the restaurant for dinner. Day 05 - Halong Bay After breakfast, enjoy a short transfer that brings you to a day-trip boat to cruise along the bay’s most untouched areas. Enjoy kayaking in cool, emerald-green water, sunbathing on quiet beaches. After lunch, soak up the relaxing atmosphere as we continue to kayak and later cruise around fishing villages. Return to your junk in the evening to watch the sun set over Halong Bay. Dinner is on board. Day 06 - Halong Bay / Hai Phong / Danang via flight Wake up early to catch the dramatic sunrise on the bay and enjoy a Tai Chi demonstration on the top deck of the junk and witness the sun rise over the bay. Visit a magnificent limestone grotto where stalactites are hanging from the high ceiling forming numerous designs and shapes. Return to the boat for brunch while cruising back to the dock station. Transfer (approx. 1,5 hours) to Hai Phong for flight to Danang. Day 07 - Hoi An Morning, enjoy a walking tour around Hoi An Ancient Town. Visit the 400-year-old Japanese Covered Bridge; the Assembly Hall of the Chaozhou Chinese Congregation with outstanding wood carvings; and the colorful market with stalls brimming with local specialties including silk, which can be turned into fashionable garments within a day or two. An optional stop, subject to availability, is the private home of Diep Dong Nguyen with a stunning collection of artefacts ranging from pottery, seals and paintings to money and old Hoi An photography. Day 08 - Hoi An Full day free at leisure, enjoy the nice setting of the hotel or your own further exploration Hoi An ancient town. Day 09 - Hoi An / Danang / Saigon via flight Transfer (approx. 45mins) to Danang Airport for flight to Saigon. Then, visit to the former Presidential Palace, the headquarters of the Saigon Government during the American war, is a short drive away and reveals the history of Saigon during its turbulent recent past. From there, take a short walk to the Notre Dame Cathedral, a red brick edifice with twin spires based on the original construction from Paris. Then head across the square to the Central Post Office, designed by the French architect, Gustav Eiffel, before he had risen to fame for the Eiffel Tower. Stroll along Dong Khoi street, or Rue Catinat as it was known in the time of the French occupation, to discover some of the beautiful French colonial buildings built in the late 19th and early 20th century. Day 10 - Saigon Morning, visit FITO, the first museum of traditional medicine in Vietnam, offering an insight into how traditional medicine was used in the past. Meet a pulse diagnosis practitioner there for a glimpse of the history and practice methods and let the practitioner try this on you, where information such as quality of sleep, dreams, appetite and stress may give the herb doctor better knowledge of your health. Then, visit to China Town; walk to visit some herbal medicine shops to understand its multiplicity of active chemicals in a single herb and the interaction of a mixture of herbs found in traditional therapies. End your trip sipping tea at a calligraphy coffee shop and you may like the chance to try calligraphy yourself. You will quickly realize calligraphy is not only a means of communication, but also a means of expressing one’s inner word. Day 11 - A day trip to Mekong Delta Depart early in the morning from Saigon and head two hours to the southwest. Along the way, notice lush rice paddies and fruit farms emerging alongside the highway. Then, board a charming wooden boat to enjoy countryside scenery and river life. Then stretch your legs a bit and hop on a bicycle for a short ride of about 7km along narrow village lanes, past fruit orchards and local cottage industries. Locals will often greet you with a hello or “xin chao” as you pedal by. Walk through the sleepy village and have a home-hosted lunch of Mekong Delta specialties Day 12 - Saigon departure via flight Check-out of your hotel no later than 12:00 noon and transfer (approx. 30mins) to the airport for your onward flight to next destination or returns your home.