· Return airfares from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane into Saigon and out of Hanoi with Thai International.

· A 19-day coach tour of Vietnam from south to north, visiting all the interesting places in this fascinating and beautiful country. It goes into several areas not often visited by tourists.

· Quality accommodation, mainly three-and-a-half to four star.

· Most meals.

· Entrance fees to many attractions.

· All transport and transfers.

· The services of an Australian tour leader and a Vietnamese tour guide.

We will make every effort to match up single travellers who wish to travel at twin share rates. For anyone requiring a single room, there will be an extra charge of $675.

You may wish to do a pre-tour extension to Cambodia and Angkor Wat.

Itinerary for Vietnam Overland Tour – May 2005
Note: Breakfast is included every day plus all other meals mentioned in the itinerary. (B = Breakfast L=lunch, D=dinner)


02.5.05
Depart Sydney at 9.20pm and Melbourne at 12.15am (3.05.05) on TG994, arriving in Bangkok at 6.25am.

Note: Sydney and Melbourne passengers may wish to take an earlier direct flight and stay overnight in an airport hotel at Bangkok for an extra $45 per person twin share.

Depart Brisbane at 10.50pm on TG984, arriving in Bangkok at 5.00am the next morning (3.05.05).


03.5.05 (B-D) Bangkok – Saigon
Depart Bangkok at 8.50am on TG680, arriving in Saigon at 10.20am.
You will be met by our Vietnamese guide and transferred to your hotel.
A short walking tour around downtown Saigon when you will see the Opera House, City Hall, Notre Dame Cathedral and the Central Post Office before a welcome drink (included). Dinner (included)
Overnight Rex Hotel


04.5.05 (B-L) Saigon – Cu Chi Tunnels
Morning tour when you will visit the former Presidential Palace (reunification palace), War Remnants Museum, then Chinatown with a tour around Cho Lon, the biggest wholesale market in Vietnam, and Thien Hau Temple, which is dedicated to a sea goddess. Pho traditional Vietnamese noodle soup for lunch (included).
Afternoon visit to a fascinating tunnel network built by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam war.
Overnight Rex Hotel


05.5.05 (B-L) Saigon – My Tho
Morning departure for My Tho, a two hour drive from Saigon. My Tho is a prosperous town of 170,000 inhabitants in the Mekong Delta. It is famous for its extensive tropical orchards and immense rice fields. Enjoy a three hour boat ride on the Mekong River and visit an orchard on an island, a coconut candy workshop and a bee farm en route – lunch is included. Return by coach to Saigon.

Overnight Rex Hotel


06.5.05 (B) Saigon
Day at leisure in Saigon.
Overnight Rex Hotel


07.5.05 (B-L) Saigon – Dalat
Depart Saigon for Dalat, a cool mountain resort built by the French in the 1920’s as a holiday hill-station. Its lakes, waterfalls, evergreen forests and gardens make Dalat one of the most enjoyable places in Vietnam.

Beautiful drive through rubber, coffee and tea plantations. A stop at La Nga floating village then on to Bao Loc where lunch is included. Another stop en route to Dalat to visit Prenn Waterfall.

Arrive in Dalat and check in to the Golf 3 Hotel.

Overnight Golf 3 Hotel


08.5.05 (B-D) Dalat
Morning Dalat city orientation with visits to the Crazy House, Bao Dai’s Summer Palace, the valley of love and an embroidery workshop. In the afternoon enjoy a historic train ride through scenic terraced vegetable gardens to Trai Mat, then visit Long Phuoc Pagoda, a famous beer bottle and ceramic fragments pagoda in the town. On the way back a stop at the city flower garden. Tonight we will have dinner at an excellent restaurant in town (included).

Overnight Golf 3 Hotel


09.5.05 (B-L) Dalat – Nha Trang
Depart Dalat for Nha Trang, a very popular beach resort for Vietnamese and foreign tourists, on the way stop at the Dalat Cable car station for a 15 minute ride overlooking beautiful pine forest, flower and vegetable gardens. We then stop at the Poklongiarai Cham Tower, where we have a picnic lunch (included).

Arrive at Nha Trang mid-afternoon and check in to the hotel.

Overnight Saigon Yasaka Hotel


10.5.05 (B-L) Nha Trang
Enjoy a morning boat trip to visit Tri Nguyen Aquarium and Mieu Island for swimming and snorkelling.

Lunch (included) at Bao Dai’s Summer Palace.

Afternoon at leisure – time to explore Nha Trang.

Overnight Saigon Yasaka Hotel


11.5.05 (B-L-D) Nha Trang – Qui Nhon
A long, beautiful drive through prawn and crab farms, sugar cane and rice paddies. Lunch included.

Arrive in Qui Nhon in the afternoon.

Overnight Cosevco Hotel


12.5.05 (B-L-D) Qui Nhon – Hoi An
A long drive to My Lai Memorial, where 504 villagers were killed by American soldiers in 1968, six weeks after the Tet offensive.

Stopping for a picnic lunch (included).

Continue on to Hoi An and check into your hotel.

A beautiful dinner with a cooking class in a nice local restaurant (included).

Overnight Hoi An Hotel


13.5.05 (B) Hoi An
A short walking tour around the town.

Discover the historic town of Hoi An, which was a prosperous seaport city during the 16th to 18th centuries. Its community of foreign merchants resulted in a unique architectural style with Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese and French influences.

The rest of the day at leisure. Hoi An is a very laid-back town only 4 kms from the beach.

It is also a good place for shopping, especially tailoring.

Overnight Hoi An Hotel


14.5.05 (B-L-D) Hoi An – Hue
Depart Hoi An for Hue, the homeland of the Nguyen Dynasty, the last dynasty of Vietnam which ruled the country from 1802 to 1945, across the Hai Van Pass (Pass of the Ocean Clouds), through many pretty

red-tiled villages with fruit orchards and spectacular views of sea and sky. Stop at the five marble mountains and China Beach where the Americans came for R&R during the Vietnam war.

Arrive in Hue and check into your hotel. Dinner in a nice local restaurant (included).

Overnight Saigon Morin Hotel (deluxe room).


15.5.05 (B) Hue
Morning tour to visit the Citadel, which was built from 1804–1833, and the Thien Mu Pagoda, a famous pagoda in Vietnam. Return to the hotel by boat along the Perfume River.

Mid-afternoon visit to the Tomb of Tu Duc, the 4th emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty, who ruled the country from 1848 to 1883, and also the Tomb of Khai Dinh, the 12th emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty who ruled from 1916 to 1925 (housed in a beautiful mosaic building).

Overnight Saigon Morin Hotel (deluxe room).


16.5.05 (B-L-D) Hue – Vinh
Depart Hue for Vinh, a city in the north devastated by the American bombing which was then rebuilt by East Germany. Vinh is the homeland of the famous Ho Chi Minh. Stop at Ben Hai River known as DMZ and the Vinh Moc Tunnels, which were built in the war for hiding and storing ammunition to supply Con Co Island. We stop for lunch on the way.

Arrive Vinh in the late afternoon. Dinner included.

Overnight Phoung Dong Hotel


17.5.05 (B-L) Vinh – Hanoi
A visit to the village where Ho Chi Minh was born and grew up. Morning departure to Hanoi, the capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, a city greatly influenced by the French and one of the ten most beautiful cities in Asia.

En route stop at Tam Coc – Bich Dong, known as Dry Halong Bay. Enjoy a one hour boat ride in a sampan on a small stream winding between rice fields and limestone cliffs rising almost vertically out of the paddy fields. A spectacular sight! Lunch included.

Overnight The Galaxy Hotel


18.5.05 (B-L-D) Hanoi
Full day city visiting Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, Museum and Residence, One Pillar Pagoda, the Temple of Literature, considered the first university in Vietnam built in the 11th century, then to the fine art museum and the Hanoi Hilton where American pilots were imprisoned in the war. Lunch at Koto.
Evening water puppet show, the unique art of the Vietnamese before a dinner at a nice local restaurant.

Overnight The Galaxy Hotel.


19.5.05 (B) Hanoi

Morning cyclo tour around the old quarter and the French quarter of Hanoi then the rest of the day at leisure.

Overnight The Galaxy Hotel.


20.5.05 (B-L-D) Hanoi – Halong Bay
Morning drive to Halong Bay, listed as a world heritage area of outstanding natural beauty. ”Dragon descending to the sea” as it is known in Vietnamese, picturesque Halong Bay has around 2000 limestone islets raising from the emerald water, many of them containing beautiful grottoes. A five hour boat trip with a visit to one grotto, then continue to explore more of these wonders of creation. You will have a seafood lunch on board. Dinner at the hotel.
Overnight The Saigon Halong Hotel (Ocean view room)


21.5.05 (B-D) Halong Bay – Hanoi

Depart Halong Bay stopping on the way back at a ceramic workshop. Arrive Hanoi early afternoon. The rest of the day is at leisure.

Tonight we have a farewell dinner at a nice local restaurant.

Overnight at the Galaxy Hotel


22.5.05
Sydney passengers depart Hanoi at 10.40am on TG683, arriving in Bangkok at 12.30pm. They depart Bangkok at 6.15pm on

TG991 and arrive in Sydney at 6.15am the next morning (23.5.05).

Brisbane and Melbourne passengers have a late check-out (6.00pm) from the hotel. Depart Hanoi at 8.35pm on TG685 and arrive in Bangkok at 10.25pm.

Brisbane passengers depart Bangkok at 11.30pm on TG983 and arrive in Brisbane at 11.35am next morning (23.5.05)


23.5.05
Melbourne passengers depart Bangkok at 12.15am on TG981 and arrive in Melbourne at 12.05pm.

NOTE: All passengers may, if they wish to, have a stopover in Bangkok on the way home.


Itinerary for Angkor Wat Pre–Tour Extension
Note: All meals are included while in Cambodia


30.4.05
Depart Sydney at 4.35pm on TG 992, arriving in Bangkok at 10.45pm. Transfer to the Asia Airport for an overnight stay. (Meet your transfer on the left hand side of the Arrivals Hall.)


01.5.05
Depart Bangkok at 8.00am on PG 930 (Bangkok Airways), arriving in Siem Reap at 8.50am.

Transfer to your hotel.

Visit the South Gate of Angkor Thom, Bayon, Royal Enclosure, Phimeanakas, “Elephant Terrace”, and the “Terrace of the Leper King”. After lunch continue with a visit to Angkor Wat and enjoy the sunset from Phnom Bakheng Hill.


02.5.05
Visit Prasat Kravan, Pre Rup, Mebon Oriental, Ta Som, Neak Pean and Preah Khan. After lunch, continue with a visit to Sra Srang, Takeo, Thommanon, Chau Say Tevoda and Ta Prohm.


03.5.05
Visit the floating village of Chong Khneas and take a boat trip on the Tonle Sap Lake. Then visit ‘Les Artisans D’Angkor’.

After an early lunch transfer to Siem Reap Airport.

Depart Siem Reap at 1.20pm on VN 826 (Vietnam Airlines), arriving in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) at 2.35pm.

You will be met by your Vietnamese tour guide and transferred to your hotel.

The additional cost of the above tour is $890 per person twin share and $1045 single room.