Legends of the Mekong

Once you have arrived at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, an airport representative welcomes you. Your private car transfers you to the city centre, without a guide.

The rest of the day is free to settle into Thailand’s capital, one of Asia’s most cosmopolitan cities. It is hot and crowded but fairly clean, with great shopping, plenty of culture, amazing temples, delicious food and a decent art scene. If you have the energy this evening, a night shopping market is a good first taste of a nightlife scene that runs from beer bars to exclusive clubs.

Today you have the day to explore Bangkok on your own. Most of the city’s sights are on the island of Rattanakosin, often called the Old City. The Grand Palace is the one sight you shouldn’t miss. Its complex also holds the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Keow), the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand. If you have time for more, Wat Pho and Wat Arun are two of the city’s other famous temples.

This morning, your driver picks you up from your accommodation and drives you to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport. Your direct flight lands at Siem Reap Angkor International Airport about 1 hour 20 minutes later.

An airport representative meets you on arrival. Your private transfer into the city centre, without a guide, then takes you to your accommodation, and the maximum waiting time is 60 minutes. Siem Reap is the capital of Siem Reap Province in northwestern Cambodia and the gateway to the Angkor region. It also has colonial and Chinese-style buildings in the Old French Quarter and around the Old Market. The souvenir and handicraft shops near the market are an easy way to spend your first afternoon.

You can start the day however you like, as today is free to explore independently. The Angkor temples are close by and are Cambodia’s most popular attraction, so they are the obvious place to head. Siem Reap’s museums are also worth a visit for background on the region.

In the morning, you might head out to the rice paddies in the countryside, or to the fishing villages and bird sanctuary near Tonle Sap Lake. In the evening, a traditional Apsara dance performance rounds off your time in Siem Reap nicely.

The day starts slowly, with the morning free in Siem Reap until your driver picks you up from your accommodation and drives you to Siem Reap Angkor International Airport. Your direct flight lands at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi about 1 hour 45 minutes after departure.

From here, a private transfer without a guide takes about 60 minutes to reach your accommodation in Hanoi’s city centre. The maximum waiting time at the airport is 30 minutes. Hanoi is Vietnam’s capital and its second-largest city. Years of foreign occupation have left their mark in its museums, historic buildings, pagodas and mausoleum, and in its own French Quarter.

After breakfast, the day is yours, and walking is the best way to get to know Hanoi. Most of the sights are in or near the small historic centre. Hoan Kiem Lake (the Lake of the Restored Sword) and the traditional buildings of the Old Quarter make a good start. You could also visit the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the traditional temple architecture of Quan Su Pagoda.

This morning, your driver picks you up from your accommodation in Hanoi. The drive to Halong takes about three hours. You reach Tuan Chau Harbour, where a tender takes you out to board the main boat for the cruise. Your guide is on board for the whole cruise. Over a welcome drink, the Cruise Manager gives a cruise briefing and safety introduction, and then you check in to your cabin.

Lunch is between 1 pm and 1:30 pm as the boat sails into Lan Ha Bay. This extension of Halong Bay is much quieter and has far fewer tourists. On the way, the cruise passes the well-known Finger Islet and Candle Islet, along with thousands of oddly shaped limestone towers and islands.

At 3 pm, you visit the Dark and Bright Cave, one of the most beautiful water caves on the bay. It is known for its untouched natural beauty and poetic seascapes, and it’s a great place for photos. Here you can choose to explore by kayak (two people share each kayak), take a bamboo boat (rowing sampan) or swim, and see Lan Ha Bay’s limestone mountains and blue sky from the water. Afterwards, there’s more swimming in the bay’s emerald green water.

You’re back on board at 5 pm for a sunset party, a good time for photographers as the sun goes down over Lan Ha Bay. You can also join a cooking class and try making Vietnamese spring rolls. Before dinner, the captain chooses the calmest spot to anchor for the night, and dinner is at 7 pm.

Afterwards, you can chat at the bar, watch a film in the restaurant or have a spa treatment, which needs to be booked in advance. You can also order from a wide choice of cocktails at the panoramic bar, or join squid fishing (the crew switches on the lights and sets up the rods) or karaoke. Tonight is spent on board.

If you’re up early, you can join a sunrise photo hunt and a tai chi session on the sundeck at 6 am to refresh body and mind. At 7 am, tea, coffee and a light breakfast are ready as the boat sails on past more karst towers in the fresh morning air.

At 8:15 am, you have the option to go kayaking or swimming in the Tra Bau area of Quang Ninh, the filming location for Kong: Skull Island. At 9:30 am you return to the boat to check out. A set menu lunch follows at 10 am as the cruise winds slowly back towards the harbour through emerald water and thousands of karst mountains. You leave the boat and say goodbye to the crew between 11:30 am and 12 pm.

From the cruise harbour, a private car takes about three hours to reach Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi for your onward flight. Your direct flight lands at Da Nang International Airport about 1 hour 25 minutes later.

A representative welcomes you, and your private transfer without a guide takes about 60 minutes to reach your accommodation near Hoi An’s city centre. The maximum waiting time is 90 minutes. Hoi An sits on the South China Sea coast in Quang Nam Province and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the 1st century, under the name Lam Ap Pho, it had the largest harbour in Southeast Asia.

Today is free for you to explore Hoi An. The Japanese Covered Bridge, at the west end of Tran Phu Street, is free to cross. You only need a ticket to enter the pagoda attached to one side of the bridge. Nearby, the historic Tan Ky House is one of the town’s best-known old merchant homes.

You have the morning free in Hoi An until your driver picks you up from the accommodation reception. The private transfer to Da Nang Airport runs without a guide, and the maximum waiting time is 30 minutes. Your direct flight then reach Tan Son Nhat International Airport about 1 hour 30 minutes later.

An airport representative welcomes you, and a private transfer without a guide takes about 60 minutes to reach your accommodation in the city centre. Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, is Vietnam’s largest city and its commercial centre. It is modern and economically busy, but it keeps a distinctly Vietnamese character, with signs of its colonial past still visible.

Today is free for you to explore the core area that locals still call Saigon, where many of the city’s main sights are found. Notre Dame Cathedral and the Reunification Palace are good places to start, and both show the city’s colonial and modern history side by side.

After your final breakfast, you have one more day in the city. You could see the Opera House or browse the city’s markets before you leave. In the evening, you’re picked up from the accommodation lobby for your private transfer, without a guide, to Tan Son Nhat Airport. The drive takes about 60 minutes.