Off the Beaten Path in Vietnam and Cambodia - February 28-March 10, 2027

Order of activities could change. 

• Upon arrival, make your way to Immigration for passport control. Once cleared, proceed to the Baggage Claim
  area to collect your luggage, and go through customs.
• When you exit the Arrival Hall, our representative will be waiting to greet you at the Arrival Terminal.
• Private transfer to the hotel and check in.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• In the morning, the transfer by car to visit some of Hanoi’s iconic sites, including Hoan Kiem Lake, The Huc bridge, the old quarter, and train street.
• Transfer back to the hotel. Lunch on your own and time to rest or get a massage.
• Dinner at a traditional local restaurant that gained fame after Anthony Bourdain brought President Obama there. You will relish in the simplicity and deliciousness of the food, just as the locals do.
• Next, enjoy a Water Puppet Show, a marvelous local art form originating in northern Vietnam and best seen in
  Hanoi.
• Transfer back to hotel.

• In the morning, the guide transfers you from Hanoi to Ninh Binh ~ approx. 2.5 hours driving. This beautiful area is a landscape peppered with agriculture, rice paddies, local villages, and dramatic limestone
  mountains.
• Have a private cooking class in Ninh Binh. After Lunch at your cooking class, explore the rural farming and fishing communities nestled around the Van Long Wetland Nature Reserve. You can even join in the activities if you like – such as fishing or gardening.
• Transfer back to Hanoi, overnight.

• In the morning, the guide picks you up from your hotel for the next cooking class.
• Start with the market trip: the guide will bring you to a traditional market and tell you about the main ingredients in Vietnamese cuisine, so you can have a clearer overview about Vietnamese food and an insight into Vietnamese herbs and spices.
• After the market trip, you will come back to the kitchen and learn about the dishes’ principles and general methods, then see how the chef prepares the food, after which you will cook and enjoy your masterpiece.
• Free time this afternoon for shopping, relaxation, or spa visits.

• The guide transfers you to the airport for the flight to Saigon.
• Upon arrival, the guide transfers you to the hotel check in.
• End this day with a street-food Dinner. We walk over the most famous streets while listening to the presentation about the busy daily life activities, the typical architecture as well as the interesting histories about this city. Stop at some restaurants, food stalls or local market to contemplate and try typical Vietnamese foods and drinks those
  are really well-known and most popular for Saigon. Our guide will introduce the recipe and main ingredients, the historical backgrounds of each dish while tasting them.

• In the morning, the guide picks you up from your hotel for your next cooking class. Lunch to follow.
• In the afternoon, meet the diver and visit some of the city’s most known sites: Central Post office, Dong Khoi street, Ben Thanh market, China town.
• This evening, transfer to NOIR . Dining in the Dark Saigon for Dinner
• We invite you to experience a culinary journey through taste, smell, touch and sound. This is not simply dining, but rather a uniquely mind-altering experience. Noir in the dark is a special restaurant, most of staffs here are blind or visually impaired. You will go in a totally dark room, no tiny light or candle; where closed eyes or opened eyes do not matter. You will be instructed to sit down on your chair, one by one, and start enjoying your secret meal. Without vision, food is more mystic and unpredictable; it also heightens your sense of taste and smell and make this dining experience more enjoyable.
• Transfer back to your hotel.

• 8:30 Transfer with the car and guide to the Mekong Delta for 1 night ~ 3 hours driving.
• The program will start at Cái Thia pier, where you will board your boat (large boat that holds 14-18 passengers). Pass by Cai Thia church. Boat to Mrs Năm’s to see how this elderly lady makes rice paper in her local home.
• You will see orchards and traditional houses along the Mekong Delta. Come to a local and peaceful home, where you will taste cakes (local donuts) with hot tea.
• Finally, arrival and check in at Ut Trinh Homestay B&B, where you can make friends with members of the family and, in the late afternoon, have a pancake cooking class.
• Enjoy dinner and an overnight stay at the B&B homestay.

• 10:00 Check out and transfer back to Saigon airport for your flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia.
• Upon arrival, meet your guide and transfer to the hotel for check in.
• Dinner tonight at a local restaurant, complemented by a mesmerizing Apsara dance performance. This ancient form of dance is a classical and sacred art form that portrays the celestial Apsara spirits from Hindu and Buddhist mythology.
• Overnight in Siem Reap

• In the early morning, we visit Angkor. Angkor Wat is the national symbol and the highlight of any visit to Cambodia. The largest, best preserved, and most religiously significant of the Angkor temples, Angkor impresses visitors both by its sheer scale and beautifully proportioned layout, as well as the delicate artistry of its carvings. To approach the temple, first cross
  the vast moat, continuing along a broad causeway lined with naga balustrades.
• Upon entering the main structure, ascend through a series of galleries and courtyard before reaching the central sanctuary, which offers beautiful views back over the causeway and across the surrounding countryside. On the way, stop to enjoy the intricate stone carvings that adorn nearly every surface of the temple, with some 1,700 Apsaras, or celestial dancers,
  sculpted from the walls. Along the outer gallery walls run the longest continuous bas-relief in the world, which
  narrates stories from Hindu mythology, including the famous Churning of the Ocean of Milk. Angkor Wat is stunning at any time of the day, but sunrise and sunset are especially beautiful times to watch the play of light on the stones.
• Visit Angkor Thom – The fortified city of Angkor Thom covers an area of 10 square km. Enclosed by a wall and wide moats; the city includes many of Angkor’s most popular sights. Enter by the monumental South Gate over a causeway lined on either side by statues of demons and gods, each carrying a giant Naga.
• Back to the hotel, and time to rest.
• Siem Reap’s Street Eats in the late afternoon. We’ll travel off the usual tourist trail in a remork, the Cambodian tuk-tuk, to find food stalls and eateries popular with the locals. Along with our foodie guide, we’ll try out snacks and seasonal fruits such as yellow bean cake, dragon fruit, green mango with chilli, duck eggs, and the foul-smelling but sweet-tasting durian fruit. And then of course, there are the stalls selling fried insects, fried tarantulas, stuffed frogs – the brave can try all these if you want, but it is not required!
• We will end the day with a dinner of Khmer dishes at a local restaurant, followed by a fruit shake or fruits with condensed milk from a dessert stall.
• Overnight in Siem Reap

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Khmer Culinary Experience: Let’s roll up our sleeves and learn how to cook up traditional Khmer cuisine! A talented chef at a renowned Khmer restaurant and organic farm will be our culinary teacher today. We will take a walk through the farm to see the different fruits and vegetables, all grown organically. Then, armed with a box of ingredients, fresh from the farm, we will learn how to transform them into an organic Khmer feast.
• Afternoon and evening at leisure.
• Optional tour in the afternoon: Ta Prohm Temple which is mystically enveloped in the jungle.
• Overnight in Siem Reap

• Check out at noon.
• You will be picked up from your hotel to head to the airport for your flight home.