14 Days Highlight of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand

ITINERARY

Day 1: Hanoi | Welcome to Vietnam!

International Flight: Excluded
Welcome to Vietnam! Upon arrival in Hanoi, our guide will greet you at the airport welcome area and transfer you to your hotel in the Old French Quarter for check-in.
After check-in, enjoy a stroll on your own around Hoan Kiem Lake outside your hotel. Feel free to also pick up a souvenir at the night markets or at one of the many trinket shops in the alleys and small roads of this historic part of town.

Accommodation: Silk Path Boutique Hotel

Day 2: Hanoi | Best of Hanoi

Meals: Breakfast
In the morning, you’ll be escorted to see the Tran Quoc Pagoda. This 1,400-year-old temple features ten tiers surrounded by gardens and which also hosts a bodhi tree grown from a cutting of the original Buddhist tree under which Buddha sat. Next, you’ll take a stroll around the Hoan Kiem Lake where you can see the Tortoise Tower sitting on the water. Then you’ll enjoy a half-hour cyclo tour through the Old Quarter in Hanoi. The cyclo is a historic mode of transportation in the cities of Vietnam where a cyclist escorts you while you sit in a seat affixed to the front with a canopy over top.

Next, you’ll visit the One Pillar Pagoda – a pagoda situated on a pillar made of a single stone, in the middle of a lotus pond. This pagoda was built by a 9th-century emperor who saw it in a dream and regarded this as divine inspiration to recreate the structure in the vision.

You’ll pass by the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum before visiting the highlight of this tour – The Temple of Literature. This ancient university was erected almost a millennium ago and has hosted many of the most prominent scholars through Vietnamese history. The site features many gardens, pools, buildings, and ancient trees where the best and brightest of Vietnam studied under the guidance of Confucius’s teachings.

Trang Quoc Pagoda – 14 Days Highlight Vietnam Cambodia Thailand

Accommodation: Silk Path Boutique Hotel

Day 3: Hanoi – Lan Ha Bay | Emerald Isles of Lan Ha Bay

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Our guide and driver will greet you at 1000 for your road trip to Haiphong(1h30m). Enjoy some tea and snacks while you check-in at the cruise land lounge. Then transfer by tender around noon for boarding. Receive welcome drinks on board and check-in your cabin after a short safety briefing. Continue to Da Chong Island to see a century-old French lighthouse. Lunch begins in the panoramic dining hall as you continue past several more limestone islets in Halong Bay. Around 1500, arrive at a secluded beach in Lan Ha Bay. Around 1730, continue cruising through Lan Ha Bay to watch a magnificent sunset over the Gulf of Tonkin. 1930, dinner is served in the dining hall. After dinner, the bar is open during the evening on the top deck. You might also join the crew in squid fishing(subject to seasonal availability).

Accommodation: Azalea Cruise

Day 4: Lan Ha Bay – Hanoi | Lan Ha Bay Sunrise

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch 

Rise around 530 if you would like to witness the sunset(subject to weather conditions). At 600, a Tai Chi session begins on the sundeck. Then enjoy a light breakfast at the dining hall. Continue by canoe to visit Sang Toi Cave – canoe through the grotto which opens up to a tranquil lake surrounded by steep cliffs and jungles. Return back to the boat for check out. Then enjoy a brunch in the dining hall. Disembark around 1200 and return back to Hanoi with our guide and driver for overnight.

Accommodation: Silk Path Boutique Hotel

Day 5: Hanoi – Siem Reap | Flight to Siem Reap

Internal Flight: Included
Meals: Breakfast
Today, take a flight to Siem Reap. Upon arrival, our guide will greet you at the airport and transfer you to the hotel for check-in.

Siem Reap is a quaint town in Cambodia and the gateway to the vast remains of the Angkor empire. Discover the Royal Gardens on your own with ancient trees home to a colony of giant fruit bats. Take a stroll along the scenic riverside and visit the night markets to find unique souvenirs. You may also want to spend the evening with a visit to Pub Street with several restaurants and bars that stay open late into the night. Many restaurants have live entertainment in the evening.
Accommodation: Sarai Resort and Spa

Day 6: Siem Reap | Ancient City of Angkor by Bicycle

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Enjoy a relaxing cycling tour in the morning in ancient Angkor Thom – a stone city built around the time of Angkor Wat.

The biking tour will start at the South Gate – a photogenic bridge at the gateway of the stone city of Angkor Thom which has made its way into many Hollywood movies. Angkor Thom was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer Empire. Enter the stone city and explore shaded trails and ancient monuments. Visit Bayon Temple where you will be surrounded by 216 gigantic stone faces which fame as “Khmer Smile”, you will also visit the Terrace of Elephants, the Royal Palace, and the Terrace of the Leper King. Stop your cycling trip with a visit to the local monastery to chat with monks and see their daily life.

On the way back, stop to see the Killing Fields of Wat Thmei. Our guide will relay to you the history of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot, and the war. Cambodia is still healing from these atrocities.

South Gate of Angkor Thom Capital – 14 Days Highlight Vietnam Cambodia Thailand

Accommodation: Sarai Resort and Spa

Day 7: Siem Reap | Tonle Sap Lake Excursion

Meals: Breakfast
In the morning, start with an ox cart ride through Cambodia’s green countryside where you’ll see many coconut trees, rice fields, and water buffalo. After that, continue the trip to the largest lake in Southeast Asia, the Tonle Sap. You’ll take a boat ride to Kampong Phluk which means, Harbor of the Tusks due to its history in the elephant trade several centuries ago. You’ll also see the mangrove forests nearby. After the tour, you’ll return to your hotel to relax for the rest of the day.

Accommodation: Sarai Resort and Spa

Day 8: Siem Reap | Angkor Wat Sunrise

Meals: Breakfast
Before the light of the day, your guide will pick you up from your hotel and escort you to the front of Angkor Wat Temple. From here, you’ll watch one of the most revered sunrises in the world. Our guide will arrange a light picnic breakfast for you to enjoy in front of the world’s #1 Heritage Site. Then in the early hours, you’ll explore the vast temple with your guide bringing to life the stories of Angkor. In the morning, the rays of the light play through the chambers as the morning haze settles and giving the temple a mystical ambiance while there are few tourists who visit during this time of day. After your explorations, you’ll return to your hotel for some rest and leisure time.

Angkor Wat Temple – 14 Days Highlight Vietnam Cambodia Thailand

Accommodation: Sarai Resort and Spa

Day 9: Siem Reap – Bangkok | Flight to Bangkok

Meals: Breakfast
Today, take a flight to Bangkok. Upon arrival, our guide will greet you at the airport and transfer you to the hotel for check-in.

Accommodation: Riva Surya Bangkok

Day 10: Bangkok | Bangkok by Boat

Meals: Breakfast
In the early morning, take a traditional long-tail boat to Wat Arun – the Temple of the Dawn to enjoy a stunning view and explore the gem of Bangkok.

Continue to one of the must-see sights, the spectacular Grand Palace, undoubtedly the city’s most famous landmark. Built in 1782- and for 150 years the home of the Thai King, the Royal court and the administrative seat of government – the Grand Palace of Bangkok is a grand old dame indeed, that continues to have visitors in awe with its beautiful architecture and intricate detail, all of which is a proud salute to the creativity and craftsmanship of Thai people.

Within its walls were also the Thai war ministry, state departments, and even the mint. Today, the complex remains the spiritual heart of the Thai Kingdom. Within the palace complex are several impressive buildings including Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha), which contains the small, very famous and greatly revered Emerald Buddha that dates back to the 14th century. The robes on the Buddha are changed with the seasons by HM The King of Thailand and forms an important ritual in the Buddhist calendar. Thai Kings stopped living in the palace around the turn of the twentieth century, but the palace complex is still used to mark all kinds of other ceremonial and auspicious happenings. Then return to the hotel for some leisure time in the afternoon.

Accommodation: Riva Surya Bangkok

Day 11: Bangkok – Phuket | Flight to Phuket

Internal Flight: Included
Meals: Breakfast
Today, take a flight to Phuket. Upon arrival, our guide will greet you at the airport and transfer you to the hotel for check-in.

Accommodation: Centara Villas Phuket

Day 12: Phuket | Elephant Sanctuary

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch 
Today, you will join a tour to an elephant sanctuary in the jungles of Phuket by 4WD truck. First, you’ll learn about the project and hear the amazing stories of each rescued and orphaned elephant. Learn how they became a proud herd free from abuse and misuse. Then have an opportunity to feed them. Next, enjoy a picnic spread. Then take a stroll with the herd to the nearby river. Here you will have the opportunity to observe or participate in bathing the elephants with the sanctuary staff.

After you have said your farewells, return back to the hotel for some leisure time.

Note: Please note not to wear any perfume or strong fragrances as elephants are sensitive to smell. Also, bring a change of clothes for swimming, odorless sunscreen and a towel.

Accommodation: Centara Villas Phuket

Day 13: Phuket | Sea Caves by Starlight

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
World-famous kayaking inside marine limestone karst islands with macaques, water monitors, kingfishers, and Sea Eagles. Meet at the hotel around 11 AM to transfer to the pier. Then continue by boat with a light lunch served on board. Self-paddle with your own sea cave guide through tunnels and lagoons. When darkness falls, stars shine overhead in the circle of the black night, fireflies flash in the cliffside jungle, and, most of all, the sea glows with phosphorescence. Enjoy a spiritual ceremony with your own made “Krathong”. Have a magnificent dinner onboard. Then return to land. A truly magical and out of this world experience (Listed among National Geographic’s “World’s Top 50 Adventures”).

Accommodation: Centara Villas Phuket

Day 14: Phuket | Farewell!

Meals: Breakfast
Today our representative will transfer you to the airport before your homeward flight and will bid you a fond farewell. Thank you for traveling with us!

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