Your Vietnam & Indochina DMC
Tour Overview
Welcome to the rich cultures and breathtaking landscapes of Vietnam and Myanmar! On this unforgettable 12-day Adventure Tour to Vietnam and Myanmar, ready to explore the bustling streets of Ho Chi Minh City, delve into the historic Cu Chi Tunnels, and cruise through the mesmerizing Halong Bay. Then, wander through the countless temples and pagodas of Yangon, the unique architecture of Bagan, and experience the serenity of Inle Lake in Myanmar.
This tour is perfect for curious travelers who crave a diverse cultural experience and a mix of historical exploration, natural wonders, and vibrant cityscapes. Read the full itinerary to discover all the hidden gems on this Vietnam Tour with Asia Links Travel!
Tour Highlights
- Take a trip to Vietnam’s capital city and stop by the Ho Chi Minh Memorial
- Complex, the Temple of Literature, and the largest museum in the city Museum of Ethnology
- Enjoy an extraordinary cruise in Halong Bay - World Heritage
- Go on an underground adventure in Cu Chi Tunnels with exciting activities
- Immense in the vibrant urban of Ho Chi Minh City - the city that never sleeps
- Visit hundreds of magnificent temples and pagodas in Yangon
- Explore the unique architecture of Bagan City with thousands of red-bricked “cave" temples
- Experience the life of the rural people with stunning landscapes and cool temperatures in Inle Lake
- Join in the lively pace of living of the inhabitants in the city of Mandalay
Itinerary
Welcome to Hanoi - the capital city of Vietnam! Asia Links Travel's driver awaits your arrival and escorts you to the hotel to check-in.
Meal: On your own account
Accommodation: Overnight stay in Hanoi
On the first morning, you will be introduced tourist attractions in Hanoi City with a city-tour that stops by Ho Chi Minh Memorial Complex, Ho Chi Minh’s Stilt house - where keeps many of Ho Chi Minh's belongings in former form and is the place of the last days of his life.
Thereafter, we move forward to the Temple of Literature to have a better understanding of Hanoian's study background as it is considered the first university in Vietnam.
In the afternoon, you will head to the Museum of Ethnology, which is the largest museum in Hanoi and stores displays from 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam. The museum exhibition sites are both indoors and outdoors.
Later on, we’ll head to the Old Quarter area where you can enjoy the true authenticity of Hanoi vibe and try street foods and variety of souvenirs such as lacquerware, silk clothing, etc.
Meal: Breakfast at the hotel
Accommodation: Overnight stay in Hanoi
After having breakfast at the hotel, you will head directly to Vietnam’s precious gem lying in the north - Halong Bay. On your way reaching Halong City, you will pass by green paddy fields and ranges of mountains of the countryside areas of Northern Vietnam. Lying in the Gulf of Tonkin, Halong Bay is shaped by towering limestone pillars creating a fusion of emerald water and limestone karst landforms with a total of more than 1,600 islands and islets.
You will board a ferry and go on a ride for a short transit from the main harbor to board the Junk Boat for an excursion among this extraordinary seascape, stop on a few islands to explore caves with spectacular stalactites and stalagmites.
En route, we will stop in the middle way to jump in the warm water of the East Sea and have a close-up view of the bay with the romantic lights of the sunset. Tonight, you will spend your night on board.
Meal: Breakfast at the hotel
Accommodation: Overnight stay on Halong Cruise
It is one of the best chances to wake up early in the middle of the sea to bathe under the warmth of the sunrise and to take a deep breath of the wind breeze. Breakfast is served on board during boating time. The Junk Boat will dock at the harbor by noon, you will wait for the shuttle bus to ride back to Hanoi.
Bach to Hanoi, you will take a private car to Noi Bai International Airport to take a flight to Ho Chi Minh City.
Driver and private car will be waiting at Tan Son Nhat International Airport to transfer you to hotel in Ho Chi Minh City.
Meal: Breakfast & Brunch on Cruise
Accommodation: Overnight stay in Ho Chi Minh
You will start your first day in Ho Chi Minh City with the most remarkable construction of underground tunnels built from the days of the American war in Cu Chi province by private vehicle. This sophisticated tunnel network is a complex labyrinth, which stretches more than 230 km all the way to the border of Vietnam - Cambodia. It was first used as hideouts, living quarters and supply routes for nearly 20,000 communist guerrilla troops to combat American force. You can also have a chance to try AK47 shooting rifles at the battle-field in the area of Cu Chi tunnels.
Lunch on your own expense, we will provide some options for you to choose from.
In the afternoon, we are going to take a round trip of Ho Chi Minh metropolis and stop by some highlight spots including the Old Saigon Post office, Notre Dame Cathedral, and the Opera House and the famous Reunification Palace where marks the most significant milestone of Vietnam’s Independence.
Our last stop for the day will be at Cho Lon (Big Market) at the Chinese town district.
Meal: Breakfast at the hotel
Accommodation: Overnight stay in Ho Chi Minh City
Transfer without the tour guide from Tan Son Nhat International Airport for your flight to Yangon, Myanmar.
Warmest welcome from Myanmar, Mingalabar!
The city Yangon is formerly the capital city of Burma and still remains the largest city of the country. Ever since the day Myanmar started to open up with the world again, Yangon became Myanmar's commercial and artistic hub with its religious remarks and distinctions of South East Asia. Your tour guide will meet and pick you up from the airport to the hotel.
For the afternoon, we'll head to visit the Kyaukhtatgi Pagoda, which owning a 70-meter reclining Buddha statue. Next, you will witness the way the Buddhist monks in Myanmar with their traditional routines.
On your next stop, you will spend most of your time in the day for this highlight of Yangon. You’ll go sightseeing in Kandawgyi Park and watch the sun slowly goes down behind the roof of the Shwedagon Pagoda. The most magnificent view in the pagoda is the last sunlight shining upon the gold-covered (over 40 tons) chedi. It is possible to buy some small offerings, incense, monk robes, and other Buddhism-related objects at the front gate of the pagoda. Our guide will explain the detailed instructions for the rituals of religious objects that you have bought. Shwedagon Pagoda is a mesmerizing place even for Burmese people, too!
Meal: Breakfast at the hotel
Accommodation: Overnight stay in Yangon
We will transfer to the Mandalay Airport to catch the flight to Heho - the center of Shan State.
From the airport of Heho, you will take a 1-hour drive (approx 30 km) to Nyaung Shwe Village, the Inle Lake’s entrance.
On the way to the lake, you will stop by some of the local workshops that have long practiced Shan paper making and handcrafted umbrellas. And another site that you would not want to miss is Shweyanpyay, where craftsmen immense in their work of wood carving.
Your adventure at Inle Lake begins with a remarkable boat ride around the lake. The lake’s bank is featured with thousand of plants and dotted with fishing canoes, which creates a perfectly balanced atmosphere between human and nature. The plants, crawling upon the bamboo poles, on the lake are mostly the local’s “floating gardens” and there they grow vegetables as well as fresh fruits.
Next, you will arrive at Nga Hpe Chaung Monastery, the home of hundreds of Shan Buddha images. The place was used to be called “Jumping cats”, but nowadays, we can barely see any kittens jumping around the area. Then we will move to the next location - the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda, where you can see in the person of the Buddha images made from gold leaves.
We also offer some optional destinations, where you can shop for traditional crafts of the Inle Lake such as woven items, cigars, and silversmiths.
Meal: Breakfast at the hotel
Accommodation: Overnight stay in Inle
You will start your morning with morning breeze from the local market (the market runs every day except for the dark moon and full moon days). The earlier you arrive at the market, the more fresh products from the local you can get.
After the visit to Inle’s morning market, you will take a 1-hour boat ride on the small canal, which will lead you to the Pa-Oh village of Indein on the west side of Inle Lake. You should follow the stairway, along with the greenery trail, to the top of the hill. Once you get there, there comes the view of the historic Buddha statue among hundreds of ruined stupas.
Then, trek down the Sae Ma village, you can catch the panoramic scene of the purest nature’s beauty and normal life of the village’s inhabitants.
Meal: Breakfast at the hotel
Accommodation: Overnight stay in Inle
As the day begins, we will have ourselves a little treat for breakfast. Then you will pack your bags and depart to the airport for the domestic flight to the city called - Bagan.
The city Bagan, standing by the side of the Irrawaddy River, holds a huge number of temples, stupas, and pagodas and was considered the country’s center from the 9th till the 13th century. The most stunning trademark of the city is more than 4000 red-brick temples situated all across the city, which creates a breathtaking view from above.
Explore your Bagan in a unique way! The excursion in Bagan is not only about the ancient temples but also about the identity of the Burmese people as well as the culture. Lying gently by the bank of the Irrawaddy River, Bagan has its own features that are ready to be uncovered with many unusual “cave" temples. The most outstanding example is the Ananda Temple, thus, we will try to make arrangement to visit this temple when it is the least crowded to enjoy the ultimate tranquility as well as the panoramic view of Bagan.
Then a short walk to get to know the Old Bagan and visit the famous Shwezigon Pagoda, which was built since the 11th century by King Anawratha to commemorate Buddhism events. The rest of the morning is the time to wander around the area to explore many other hidden beauties of the daily life of the residents in Bagan.
Follow the schedule, we will have time to visit one of the oldest workshops in Bagan, where artisans practice their traditional skills and technique, which inherited from generation to generation, in making lacquer wares and shop for eye-catching accessories.
Meal: Breakfast at the hotel
Accommodation: Overnight stay in Bagan
Your first visit of the day will be Nyaung Oo Market, the commonplace of the locals to trade fresh food and goods. Then a short walk to get to know the Old Bagan and visit the famous Shwezigon Pagoda, which was built since the 11th century by King Anawratha to commemorate Buddhism events. The rest of the morning is the time to wander around the area to explore many other hidden beauties of the daily life of the residents in Bagan.
An excursion will be arranged for you to stopover the highest temple in Bagan - Thatbyinnyu, the distinctive brickwork from the great Dhammayangyi Temple.
Meal: Breakfast at the hotel
Accommodation: Overnight stay in Bagan
After breakfast, you should be ready and set off to another transfer to Mandalay for 4 hours.
Once you get there, you will have your time to check-in and relax.
Then we'll head to the Mandalay Palace Kyauktawgyi Pagoda with gigantic marble turned into Buddha statue. The following site is the Kuthodaw Pagoda, which famous for its footage of old sayings from Buddha - the “World’s Biggest Book” made out of 729 marble tiles.
Thereupon, we’ll make a stop for the Shwenandaw Monastery, which is still keeping the wood-carving art of Royal Palace’s structure from the beginning of the 19th century.
We will finish our day with a short walk or a bus to the U Bein Bridge, which is in the meantime still the longest teakwood bridge in the world’s record. As the sun goes down, it is the best chance to capture the most beautiful moment of the sun shines through the wooden poles. This historic bridge marks the remains of the Royal Palace.
Meal: Breakfast at the hotel
Accommodation: Overnight stay in Mandalay
On the last morning of the tour, the guide will take you to Mahamuni Pagoda. The most impressive characteristic of the Pagoda that will surprise tourists is the Buddha statue inside is covered with gold leaves by the male devotees.
We then take a ride to the former capital city of Myanmar - Amarapura, to visit the Mahagandayon Monastery, where the majority of the monks in Myanmar gather and study monastic and religious disciplines. As the sun begins to be at its peak, you can see thousands of monks walking along the streets and queuing for lunch. A moment worth a shot of the camera.
Then transfer to Mandalay International Airport to take your departure flight home.
Meal: On your account
End of tour services with Asia Links Travel!
What's included
Trip Notes
Time travel: Possible to travel all year around.
Rooms are available from 14.00 on arrival day until 12.00 on departure day, room supplement charge will be added for request of early/late check in/out.
Airfares (if any) may change without notice prior to e-ticket issuance.
Price for infants and children will be quoted as follow:
- Children under 2 years old: Free of charge (Maximum 1 child under 2 years old travels with 2 adults; from the second child, 50% of the regular fare will be applied)
- Children from 2 to 5 years old: 50% of the regular fare will be applied
- Children from 5 to 11 years old: 75% of the regular fare will be applied
- Children from 12 years: 100% of the regular fare will be applied
During Peak Season and special occasions, surcharges may be added to the price:
- Christmas and New Year’s Eve: Compulsory meals would be added during these times of the years, depends on hotels or resorts you will stay overnight.
- Vietnam Lunar New Year: 24 January – 27 January: Extra fee will be applied during holiday.
- Myanmar New Year: 12 April – 18 April: Extra fee will be applied during holiday.
Visa requirements:
For Vietnam: You must have a valid passport and a visa (or pre-approval letter for a visa on arrival) to enter Vietnam. Our consultant will be happy to advise you on visa requirements.
Your passport must be valid for six months beyond your planned stay, and you must have at least one blank page for each visa stamp.
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