Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi | 15 Days

passes by. After your tour, you’ll reboard your ship for an enchanting sunset cruise on the Tonlé Sap as you return to the Mekong River.

Day 9

phnom penh

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Founded in the 15th century, Phnom Penh is the thriving capital of the kingdom of Cambodia. It stands at the juncture of three rivers and is divided into three distinct districts: the French colonial area, a handsome residential district, and a rapidly changing Old Town.

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phnom penh city tour 71 A cyclo (a cycle rickshaw) will whisk you down wide boulevards laid out by French colonial administrators in the 1860s, when Cambodia was part of French Indochina, past old French-influenced buildings, beautiful pagodas, and (with a bit of luck) saffron-robed monks, on your way to the Royal Palace. Spacious grounds—you might notice a resemblance to formal French parterres—are home to a group of structures featuring classic Khmer architecture. Each one has a specific function: The Throne Hall, with its spires and flying celestials, hosts royal coronations, while the Moonlight Pavilion was intended as a venue for dance performances (but is now used for receptions). The famed Temple of the Emerald Buddha, commonly known as the Silver Pagoda, boasts a floor-covering of 5,329 silver tiles. In the center of the pagoda are both an emerald and a gold Buddha statue (the latter of which is studded with nearly 10,000 diamonds). You’ll also tour the National Museum, which features an incomparable collection of the nation’s archaeological and artistic treasures. Following lunch onboard, enjoy the afternoon and evening at leisure, taking in the shopping and lively entertainment venues of Phnom Penh.

Did You Know? Tucked among the traditional Khmer buildings on the Royal Palace grounds is an ornate white pavilion, complete with wrought-iron balustrades, that would fit perfectly in New Orleans. Napoleon III had it built for the opening ceremonies of the Suez Canal, then disassembled and sent as a gift to King Norodom.

Day 10

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choeung Ek memorial Stupa and grounds, and Tuol Sleng Genocide museum 71b It’s hard to reconcile the pastoral serenity of the orchards and rice fields surrounding Choeung Ek with the horrific mass executions that took place here during the brutal reign of the Khmer Rouge, yet the memorial stupa filled with the skulls of Pol Pot’s victims tells the tale. These were Killing Fields, where more than 17,000 men, women, and children were slaughtered and buried in mass graves. First, however, they were tortured in Security Prison 21 (also known as S-21), a former high school on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, now the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, which you will also visit today. The guards and staff of the prison were mostly adolescent males—aged 15 to 19— among whom was a young photographer whose job was to document the prisoners. Though many of his photos were destroyed, 6,000 of them remain, displayed on the walls here; as you look at these portraits, you’ll see grief, fear, and defiance—and you’ll be saddened to learn that out of the thousands held here, only seven survived. Those who were killed at Choeung Ek were just a small fraction of the almost two million Cambodians who died in a three-year period between 1975 and the beginning of 1979.

Optional Excursion: La Table khmer cooking school a71b Are you curious about the unique flavors of traditional Khmer cuisine? Cinnamon, garlic, chiles, fish sauce, coconut milk—many of the ingredients will be familiar, but they are combined in distinctive ways. Get some hands-on cooking experience as an expert local chef teaches you how to make several typical Khmer dishes in her modern demonstration kitchen, and then sit down and enjoy the fruits of your labors.

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Day 11

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Cross the Cambodian border into Vietnam to begin with a tour of Tan Chau. Traditional and modern lifestyle elements mingle in Tan Chau, where agriculture still reigns supreme but TV satellite dishes dot rooftops.

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Tan chau tour with visit to Evergreen Island, and fish farm 73S In the Mekong Delta, hardworking residents live and labor on the water, harvesting what the delta gives them and turning it into products they can sell to earn a living or food they can eat, wasting nothing. Today you’ll get a taste of this way of life during a sampan tour that carries you through the floating villages that line the banks of the great river to the town of Tan Chau. Stop at a temple devoted to Vietnam’s homegrown religion Cao Dai (a faith that incorporates most major world religions, including Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity, as well as a pantheon of saints that range from Joan of Arc to Thomas Jefferson and Victor Hugo); an image of the Divine Eye appears in every temple, and each color that decorates the temple has a specific meaning. After visiting the temple, hop aboard a rickshaw for a ride to a factory where you can watch baskets and mats being handwoven from reeds grown on the delta, and check out a floating fish farm. The raising and harvesting of seafood is one of Vietnam’s fastest-growing industries, and you’ll be amazed by the efficiency and ingenuity on display. You may even get a chance to feed the fish. Then return to your sampan to cruise through the canals to Evergreen Island, where a stroll through the village reveals the traditional agricultural underpinnings of the region.

Day 12

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Today’s itinerary features two towns that have been shaped by the Mekong in this agrarian but densely populated region, Sa Dec and Cai Be.

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Sa Dec canal cruise, brick and rice factories, and Huynh Thuy Le House 52S Take to Sa Dec’s narrow canals just as the locals do. Children frolic in the water; fishermen ply their trade; and women care for their families. Your sampan will carry you to a factory where bricks and tiles made with mud from the Mekong River lie baking in the sun; here you’ll see how rice husks from the rice-processing facility next door are used to fuel the brick factory’s kilns and how, in turn, the ashes from the husks are used as fertilizer—just a few examples of the Vietnamese people’s remarkable ingenuity. From here, you’ll head into town, where you will walk through a crowded and colorful local market— stands sell everything from snake blood, fresh fish, clothing, and flowers to mangosteens—on your way to the romantic, lacelike Huynh Thuy Le House, a late-19thcentury home made famous by best-selling French novelist Marguerite Duras. Duras spent her teen years in Sa Dec, and her prize-winning novel, The Lover, is said to be based on her doomed love affair with Huynh Thuy Le, the son of a wealthy Chinese landowner.

Did You Know? The French film based on Duras’ 1984 novel was the first Western movie to be shot in Vietnam since 1975. It was released in 1992 and was a huge hit in France.

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cai be sampan cruise, an kiet House, and rice-paper and candy-making shop 52S Step aboard a sampan and join the locals thronging the harbor of Cai Be. At the floating market here, merchants advertise their wares by attaching a sample—such as a watermelon, a coconut, or a bunch of bananas—to a tall bamboo pole so their potential customers can easily see what they’re selling. It’s a colorful and lively scene, typical of Mekong Delta towns, though few similar villages feature a handsome French Gothic–style cathedral as a background. You’ll sail into the town and land near the An Kiet House, built early in the 19th century for a member of the royal family. Its ornately carved antique screens and furnishings give you an idea of how wealthy Southern Vietnamese families lived. While you’re on solid ground, take a look at another aspect of life of the delta: Vietnam is one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of rice, and the Mekong Delta is known as the country’s “rice bowl.” You’ll learn all about this staple food and its importance to the region as you visit a local establishment where workers make everything from rice paper and rice wine to traditional rice candy.

Onboard your ship this evening, savor a delicious Vietnamese-themed dinner.

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Day 13

m˜ y tho, transfer to ho chi minh city

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Today you leave the river behind, disembarking and heading to the last stop on your Southeast Asian adventure, Ho Chi Minh City. History melds with the boisterous present in Vietnam’s largest city, where skyscrapers tower over ancient temples and motorbikes putter along picturesque alleys. It was founded in 1690; became the capital of French Cochinchina in the 1860s, when it was known as Saigon; and acquired its modern moniker in 1976, when it was named for Communist leader Ho Chi Minh.

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Ho chi minh city tour 51b A landmark in Vietnamese history is the first destination on your panoramic city tour today, as you travel the city’s busy streets, passing elegant French Colonial buildings and bustling shopping centers. On April 30, 1975, a North Vietnamese Army tank crashed through the gates of the building now called the Reunification Palace, symbolizing the downfall of the South Vietnamese government and the end of the Vietnam War. It’s a modern structure, commissioned in 1962 by the president of South Vietnam after his own air force tried to kill him by bombing the 19th-century French palace that had stood on the site. As you will see when you step inside, he intended to enjoy living here: It has a cinema and a nightclub—and, not too surprisingly, a spacious bomb shelter. A few blocks away, two monuments from the colonial days still stand: the lofty General Post Office, designed by Gustav Eiffel (of tower fame), and, across the street, twin-towered Notre Dame Cathedral, built entirely with materials shipped from France. Your motorcoach will carry you past other remnants of French Colonial glory—the Ho Chi Minh Municipal Theater (also known as the Saigon Opera House, built in 1901 and modeled on Paris’s Petit Palais) and the City Hall (based on the Hotel de Ville in Paris)— as well as the contemporary American Consulate. But the day includes more than sightseeing: Visit a lacquer showroom to learn a bit about the history and cultural significance of a craft that has been practiced in Vietnam for at least 700 years. The rest of the day is yours. Perhaps you’d like to explore on your own—or perhaps you’d enjoy joining one of our optional excursions. Optional Excursion: mai Home cooking class a51 Pho may be the nation’s best-known dish in the United States, but that’s just the beginning. Learn more about Vietnamese cuisine with a hands-on cooking class that starts with a visit to a local market, where a knowledgeable chef will meet you and tell you about the foodstuffs on display (some may seem quite exotic). Once you’ve gathered what you need for a delicious lunch, you’ll prepare it under the chef’s guidance at the Saigon Culinary Art Centre. You’ll leave with a new understanding of Vietnam’s traditional cooking, as well as a certificate of participation and a handbook of recipes.

Optional Excursion: a o Show a51b Join us for a visit to Ho Chi Minh’s handsome Municipal Theater, with its striking neoclassical facade. Built in 1900 and refurbished in 2009, it now hosts a variety of companies, including the A O Show, a lively theatrical performance featuring astonishing acrobatics and bamboo props—poles, baskets, boats—used in ways you never would have imaged.

Day 14

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cu chi Tunnels 72b Ready for an adventure? Explore a fascinating aspect of Vietnam’s long struggle to free itself from Western control. Begun by the Viet Minh on the outskirts of Saigon in 1945, as shelter from French air raids, these tunnels were expanded in the 1960s by the Viet Cong, who extended them for many miles. A network of booby-trapped tunnels led to underground chambers where people lived—in considerable privation, generally— wounds were treated, and children were taught. Only a small stretch of this network is open to the public, but if

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you’re venturesome, you may climb down into a tunnel for a close (and we do mean close—don’t expect to stand upright) look.

Following this morning’s tour you’ll enjoy lunch at one of Ho Chi Minh City’s well-known restaurants. Afterwards, enjoy the rest of the day on your own in this vibrant city.

Ho Chi Minh City is famous for the excellence of its food. Tonight you’ll be treated to a special Farewell Dinner at a local restaurant, featuring an exquisitely presented traditional meal and complimentary wine—the perfect finale for your Southeast Asian adventure.

Day 15

Depart Ho Chi Minh City

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Transfer to Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport for your flight home, or continue your tour with an extraordinary optional Bangkok extension or optional Luang Prabang extension program.

Note: Visit uniworld.com for visa information in the “Already Booked” section.

Note: Order of sightseeing may change throughout the itinerary. Substitute visits to other sites may occur during your trip due to water levels, closures because of public holidays, or other uncontrollable factors.

Note: All extras, such as optional excursions, bottled water, gratuities for the Cruise/Tour Manager and Crew, drinks, telephone calls, laundry, and items of a personal nature, are not included in the cost of the trip. YOU DESERVE THE BEST

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