Taste of Vietnam - 12 days

Saigon is typical for Southern cuisine with a lot of spicy dishes. Join in Ho Chi Minh Cooking Class to discover this character. Upon arrival, you will visit the agricultural villages including: Chinese medicine garden with many kind of herb, rice field, cattle farm (cow, buffalo, duck, chicken, pig…). Become a real Vietnamese farmer to pick up all the ingredient for cooking. Under the chef’s guidance, you will have chance to cook three dishes and 1 dessert and enjoy what you have done.

After lunch at the cooking class, you will visit the famous Cu Chi tunnels, an incredible underground tunnel network constructed by Vietnamese resistance fighters during the long struggle for independence.

The network included innumerable trap doors, specially constructed living areas, storage facilities, weapons factories, field hospitals, command centers and kitchens.

Come back to Saigon in the late afternoon.

Depart Saigon for Ben Tre, the gateway to the Mekong delta. Upon arrival, get a boat trip round Ben Tre river, explore the waterways and stop off at some home factories to see how the local make brick, salt, coconut, mat. Take to motor cart (xe loi) passing through rice fields, fruit and vegetable farms. Stop at one of local family to enjoy the lunch with Mekong specialties. In the afternoon, take a rowing boat a long water palm creek. Continue to Vinh Long for homestay - a unique opportunity to experience the local culture and cuisine. Prepare the dinner with the host to understand more about the traditional southern cuisine.

Start your morning with Cai Be floating market, cruising among local barges with full of fruits and vegetables… After that, come back Saigon for your flight to Danang. Upon arrival in Danang, the tour guide will pick you up and transfer to Hoi An. You will have time to discover street food in Hoi An. Check in hotel and free time.

Today, you will have the experience of working and living with the local farmer in Tra Que village - one of famous vegetable village in Hoi An. You will cycle to the village with your guide.

A short stroll will take you around the vegetable garden and then you can join the farmers in preparing the land and fertilizing it with seaweed from the local lake. Following steps are raking the ground, sowing, watering, picking vegetables and many other gardening activities. After all these activities, you will take a short rest and enjoy foot bath before getting to preparing lunch with a local family. Your lunch will consist of many local delicacies including ‘Tam Huu” spring roll, Banh xeo or local pancake of people in Vietnam middle region. You can join the cooking with the chef on these meals. After your morning excursions and your lunch, you will take a Vietnamese traditional post-prandial nap before learning how to harvest and wrap the vegetables.

Around 14.00: bid farewell to your host family before riding back to your hotel.

Today is your free time in Hoi An. You might like to consider the following activities for your day:

Visit Hoi An Old Quarter with ancient households, and touches of Japanese, Chinese and Thai styles in the building designs. Historic sites of Phuc Kien Communal House, Tan Ky ancient commercial house, the iconic Japanese Bridge (featured on the 20,000 Vietnam Dong note) or Phung Hung Ancient Trading House.

Take a bike tour or leisurely stroll along Cua Dai beach, located about 5km from the town centre.

This morning, you leave Hoi An for Hue. On the way, you will have chance to the fascinating Cham Museum and Marble Mountain en route to charming Hoi An. Upon arrival, you will visit the Citadel and the Forbidden Purple City. You also visit Minh Mang tomb and Thien Mu pagoda. You also to visit one garden house - the unique feature of Hue. The houses are traditional, privately owned, and set in attractive formal gardens. You can feel the Hue traditional architecture associated with the natural environment. Enjoy the dinner at garden house to explore the center cuisine.

Reflect the imperial root, Hue cuisine is the sophisticated cooking techniques and the artful presentation. Join in cooking class at Y Thao Garden House to learn the typical Hue cuisine.

In the morning, you follow Ms. Vy - the chef of Y Thao Garden House to Dong Ba market, the most hustling market in Hue. She will give you an instruction on how to choose food for the cooking class. She also includes at least one of the Hue “Royal” dishes in the menu. Enjoy the food you prepare there.

After that you will go to the airport for the flight to Hanoi. Upon arrival in Hanoi, pick up and transfer to your hotel. You have time to have a walking tour in the old quarter of Hanoi. You can try to drink local brew “Bia Hoi” or enjoy street food.

Today you will go to Halong bay - the UNESCO World Heritage. The driver pick you up at 8 am. After about 3.5 driving hours, you will arrive in Halong bay. Board a traditional junk for an overnight cruise. Halong Bay is widely considered to be one of the natural wonders of the world. Thousands of towering pillars of sea and wind-carved limestone karst make the bay an unforgettable sight. After lunch, explore some of the huge limestone caves dotted around the bay and visit a floating fishing village. Then the captain will find a secluded spot where you can swim, soak up the sun on the top deck, or try your hand at kayaking. In the evening enjoy a seafood feast for dinner.

Enjoy an early morning swim (during the summer), followed by breakfast as you cruise through more spectacular scenery. The cruise arrives at the harbor by noon. The driver will pick you up and then transfer back Hanoi. Check in hotel and free time.

Enjoy the last cooking class in the tour to complete the picture of Vietnamese cuisine. The northern cuisine is very different to other regions with fewer spices and sweetness.  It helps to characterize this cuisine almost as much as fish sauces. In this class, the chef will show you about the difference with some old Hanoian favorites and some lesser known dishes from the highlands. After finishing all dishes, enjoy the meal with the food you have made and more!

In the afternoon, you will visit some highlights of Hanoi such as Temple of Literature - the first university in Vietnam, Vietnamese Women’s Museum that offers a broad insight to 54 ethnic groups through a lens of women’s topics. In the later afternoon, enjoy water puppet show.

Free at leisure until you are transferred to the airport for the departure flight. Cảm ơn và chào tạm biệt.