Tour Details - 19 Day Luke Nguyen Signature Experience 12/13

Day 1. Arrive Hanoi, Freedom of Choice Touring
Be met on arrival in Hanoi and transfer to your hotel. Later, enjoy a foot massage, visit a home in Le Mat village or visit the village of Bat Trang. Tonight enjoy a Welcome Reception.

Day 2. Hanoi
After breakfast, join Luke Nguyen in visiting a side-street food stall run by a local Vietnamese woman and her family. Living down an alleyway from her food stall, she shares a tiny house with her children and grandchildren. The family wake very early to prepare the traditional Vietnamese soup Pho in their home, before selling it on the street and alleyway. Sample a bowl of this refreshing soup or enjoy authentic Vietnamese coffee. Later, enjoy a short sightseeing tour of Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Ba Dinh Square, and The Temple of Literature (Confucius temple). This afternoon, experience an authentic rickshaw ride through the streets of Hanoi’s Old Quarter, before enjoying front row seats at a water puppet show. Tonight, enjoy dinner at a restaurant recommended by Luke.

Day 3. Hanoi, Ha Long Bay
After breakfast, travel to World Heritage-listed Ha Long Bay. Here, transfer to a traditional wooden junk for your luxurious overnight cruise on the beautiful bay. Cool down with a Welcome Drink as you set sail among thousands of spectacular limestone islets. Before lunch, enjoy time to swim or explore at Titop Island. Later, choose to visit the bay’s largest floating fishing village, or embark on a kayak tour to explore the nearby Bat Cave. Tonight, enjoy onboard entertainment after dinner.

Day 4. Ha Long Bay, Hanoi, Hue
This morning, early risers might like to participate in a tai chi class on the junk’s deck. Before breakfast, travel by small boat to Surprise Cave, which was used by the Viet Cong as a hideout during the Vietnam War. Enjoy a tour of the cave system, and absorb the magnificent bay views from viewing platforms at the top of the cave. Return to the junk and enjoy breakfast as you sail back to the pier. Then disembark and transfer to the airport in Hanoi for your flight to Hue.

Day 5. Hue
This morning, board a cruise along the serene Perfume River before visiting the Tomb of Tu Duc, the longest-reigning Nguyen Emperor. Surrounded by a pine forest, the temples of this tomb are some of the most beautiful works of the Nguyen Dynasty. In the heart of Hue, explore the World Heritage-listed Imperial Citadel, where the Nguyen Dynasty emperors had lived in splendour. Then, visit the Dong Thien Pagoda, a nunnery founded more than 400 years ago by Princess Ngoc Co, and enjoy an exclusive APT vegetarian banquet. Over lunch, discuss Buddhism with the Master of the pagoda. Later, visit the Ba Do family to watch and sample Hue’s speciality - steamed glutinous rice flour cakes and dumplings. Tonight, enjoy dinner at the Ancient Hue Restaurant, located in a lush garden setting.

Day 6. Hue, Hoi An
Today visit beautiful Lang Co Beach and cross the Hai Van Pass, one of Vietnam’s most scenic hillside roads. Arrive in Da Nang and explore the Museum of Cham Sculpture, which houses the world’s largest collection of Cham sculptures. Then travel to the Marble Mountains, a cluster of marble and limestone hills south of Da Nang. Visit one of the pagodas and explore a nearby stone-cutting craft village before continuing to Hoi An. Tonight enjoy dinner at Nam Long restaurant, overlooking the De Vong River.

Day 7. Hoi An, Freedom of Choice Touring
Today, attend a Hoi An market tour and an exclusive cooking class with the Morning Glory Cooking School. First, head to Hoi An’s colourful market to experience the amazing sights, sounds and aromas. Learn about the ingredients that you’ll use in the cooking lesson. Back at the Morning Glory Cooking School, learn the traditional ways of preparing and cooking Vietnamese food from scratch, using traditional Vietnamese utensils. Gain an insight to the art of Vietnamese gastronomy and Hoi An culinary traditions. After the class, enjoy the results of your efforts at lunch. This afternoon, perhaps take a walking tour of Hoi An, enjoy an eco-tour of the surrounding region, ride a rickshaw to the home of a craftsman and learn how to make lanterns, enjoy a wet rice planting tour or take a bicycle tour of the countryside. Tonight, enjoy dinner at a restaurant suggested by Luke.

Day 8. Arrive Saigon, Cu Chi Tunnels
After a flight to Saigon, enjoy lunch at the Ben Nay restaurant. Later, visit the Cu Chi Tunnels, an incredible tunnel network constructed during the Vietnam War. Part of a larger network, the tunnels were used by Viet Cong guerrillas as hiding spots during combat. They also served as supply and communication routes, hospitals, weapon caches and living quarters for numerous guerrilla fighters. Tonight enjoy dinner at Luke Nguyen’s recommended restaurant.

Day 9. Saigon with Luke Nguyen
After breakfast, join Luke in exploring the Saigon of his family. Visit the area in which Luke’s parents grew up and meet Luke’s extended family of aunties, uncles and his cherished grandmother. Wander the neighbourhoods of Old Saigon, looking into open homes, watching locals cook for their street food stalls and seeing the daily life of Luke’s family and neighbours. Gain an authentic perspective of the ‘real’ Saigon on this personal and unique experience. After exploring both Old Saigon and the new Ho Chi Minh City, enjoy an exclusive cooking class at Xu Restaurant, where each dish is an exclusive Luke Nguyen creation accompanied by matching wine. Following your hands-on lesson, learn the art of creating Asian-inspired cocktails with a professional mixologist, using ingredients such as tamarind, lychee, chilli and lemongrass. Relax with your own pre-dinner cocktail, before enjoying a sumptuous ‘Red Lantern’ style degustation dinner with matching wines.

Day 10. Embark Cruise
Transfer to My Tho Port to embark your stylish river ship for your eight day Mekong River cruise. This evening, enjoy a Welcome Dinner.

Day 11. Cai Be, Vinh Long
A local boat will take you to Cai Be today, an intriguing river-land town. Visit the floating markets then go ashore to visit the French Gothic Cathedral as well as the colourful port area. Tour a local rice paper manufacturer and learn how rice paper is made then enjoy lunch back on board as your ship cruises towards Vinh Long. On arrival at Vinh Long, enjoy a local boat ride and explore the bustling markets, where you’ll see an array of aquatic life being sold.

Day 12. Sa Dec, Tan Chau
In the morning, enjoy a local boat ride past floating markets to Sa Dec, the city where the French writer Marguerite Duras met her Vietnamese lover, Huynh Thuy Le. Here, a tour takes you to Huynh Thuy Le’s old house as well as Thien Hau Pagoda and the beautiful Fujian Temple. Afterwards, re-board your ship for lunch as it cruises to the peaceful town of Tan Chau. On arrival, enjoy a leisurely walk through town.

Day 13. Tan Chau, Border Crossing
This morning, transfer to a small boat and travel along the tiny tributaries to an evergreen island and a floating fish farm. Afterwards, go ashore for a tour of Tan Chau by rickshaw. This afternoon, perhaps attend a fruit-carving demonstration as you cross into Cambodia.

Day 14. Phnom Penh
Visit the Royal Palace, the Silver Pagoda and the National Museum of Cambodia on a city tour of Phnom Penh. After lunch, an excursion leads to the infamous Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, on the site of the Khmer Rouge’s notorious Security Prison 21 (S-21). After dinner, enjoy a Khmer folk performance.

Day 15. Chong Koh, Oudong, Kampong Tralach
After breakfast, enjoy a leisurely walk around the little known silk weaving village of Chong Koh. Then continue cruising to Prek K’dam, where you’ll disembark and set off by coach on an afternoon tour of Oudong, the royal capital of Cambodia from 1618 until 1866. Afterwards, continue to Kampong Tralach for a visit to Wat Kapong Tralach Pleu before an ox-cart ride takes you through rice fields and a small village to your ship.

Day 16. Kampong Chhnang, Tonle Sap
Enjoy a boat excursion into the wetlands near Kampong Chhnang this morning. Then return to your ship and cast off towards Tonle Sap - a lake that’s more than 150 kilometres long. Absorb the tranquillity of the lake as you cruise past floating fishing villages. This evening, enjoy a Farewell Dinner on board.

Day 17. Disembark Cruise, Siem Reap, Dine Around Dinner
After breakfast, disembark and transfer to Siem Reap. Later, head to World Heritage-listed Angkor Archaeological Park. Visit the last and most enduring capital of the Khmer empire, Angkor Thom, where you’ll see the 12th century temple, Bayon, the Terrace of the Elephants and more. On your return to Siem Reap, visit a ‘grass roots’ orphanage before dinner at L’Angelo; Alliance Café; Viroth’s Restaurant; Champey; or the Kanell Restaurant.

Day 18. Siem Reap, Angkor
This morning, visit Ta Prohm, a temple famous for its intertwined trees (featured in the film Tomb Raider). Then visit Angkor Wat, said to be the world’s largest single religious monument. Tonight enjoy a Farewell Dinner and see an Apsara dance performance.

Day 19. Siem Reap, Freedom of Choice Touring, Depart
Today, perhaps visit the Wat Preah Phrom Rath Temple to be part of a Buddhist blessing, take a tuk-tuk ride to the Senteurs d’Angkor workshops, enjoy a tethered balloon ride to view the temples from above, ride an elephant or embark on a quad bike adventure. Afterwards, you’ll be transferred to the airport.