Take a 5 Day Hanoi & Saigon City Break in Vietnam

5 Day Hanoi & Saigon City Break in Vietnam

This trip takes you into the heart and soul of Vietnam as you travel to its most famous and iconic cities. You will get to experience the wonderful cultural diversity in your journey from North to South and begin to understand the forces at play in sculpting modern Vietnam. This five day Vietnam tour pulls out all the stops and takes you right to the very heart of what it means to be Vietnamese in this constantly changing world.

We start of in its capital city, the quirky, extravagant, simple yet sophisticated Hanoi. The experience begins with a full tour of the city, with stop offs at all the key locations. You will also get the opportunity to visit the mausoleum of the man responsible for modern Vietnam, the much revered Ho Chi Minh. In your walk about his former residence and the places in the city that have inspired him, you will learn about the man himself and how and why he has been embraced by the Vietnamese.

A stopover at the renowned Museum of Ethnology is a great way to learn about the cultures and people that make up this beautiful land. Take a break from all the activity by the banks of Hoan Kiem Lake which is really an oasis in the city. Later we get on a cyclo and head into the crazy winding streets of the Old Quarter. There you will discover the Asia of old, the one that you read about in books, filled with magic and mystery and a touch of the exotic. The evening ends off with a brilliant display of water puppetry, a traditional Vietnamese art form.

It is then on to Ho Chi Minh City where we hit the ground running with a tour of the city. The Post Office and the Notre Dame Cathedral are two stunning examples of French colonial architecture in HCMC. This is also where we really immerse ourselves in the tumultuous history of Vietnam.

The War Remnants Museum gives you an insight into the war and the impact it left on generations of young Vietnamese people. It is a great introduction to the Vietnam War, especially since the journey then takes you to the tunnels of Cu Chi. This highly complex network of underground tunnels were used by the Vietcong during the war. You will get to crawl right into this extensive maze and experience for yourself what it must have been like for the people that lived their lives in these confined burrows.

We then head on over to Tay Nihn, the centre of the Cao Dai religion which beautifully combines Asian beliefs and religious practices with aspects of Christianity. Watching them worship in their long white tunics is not only spiritual but a visually stunning experience.

This Vietnamese experience is a real opportunity to understand modern Vietnam, its cities and its people who have very much retained their cultural identity and integrity in their push to modernisation and economic growth.

Hanoi in the North to Saigon in the South of Vietnam

Our 5 day exploring Hanoi- Ho Chi Minh experience is an opportunity to venture deep into the mystery and lure of modern Vietnam.

Hanoi

The Vietnamese capital is a city of contrasts, with the beautifully serene Hoan Keim Lake at its centre. From there, the city sprawls out into different districts, each with its own flavour. The most captivating part of the city is definitely the Old Quarter,with its winding narrow streets of clogs and clothes and cuisine and even a stretch that is entirely devoted to shops that brew their own beers.

On every street there is an opportunity for the quintessential Vietnamese experience of coffee served up the traditional way and enjoyed while seated barely inches from the ground, just the way the locals do it. The life and legacy of Ho Chi Minh is interwoven into the appeal of Hanoi, just watching the locals pay respects at his Mausoleum is an experience in an off itself. Hanoi captivates you with its rich culture and charms you with how elegantly it marries the old and the new.

Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City

This place is a brilliant assault on the senses, from the motorcycles and crazy traffic that never seems to come to a standstill, to the smell of piping hot bowls of Pho, the national dish of delicious noodle soup. It is a great place to explore the history of Vietnam, from the French influence on their architecture and lifestyle to the legacy of the Vietnam War.

Tay Ninh and the Cu Chi Tunnels

There are over 200km of tunnels that make up this underground network forming what essentially is an underground city. While the nearby Cao-Dai temple is both a visual spectacle and a great example of how Vietnam has combined its local traditions with foreign influences.
 

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