THE BEST OF SOUTHERN VIETNAM
10 Days/9 Nights

Day 1: Arrive Ho Chi Minh City
Arrive in Ho Chi Minh City. Meet your Amistours guide and transfer to hotel. The rest of the day is at leisure. Overnight in HCMC.

Day 2: Ho Chi Minh City-Cu Chi-Ho Chi Minh City
A morning city tour of dynamic Ho Chi Minh City, still called Saigon by many locals, takes in the former Presidential Palace, the Notre Dame Cathedral, Old Saigon Post Office, a lacquerware factory and Thien Hau Pagoda in the city's bustling chinatown. In the afternoon visit the famous Cu Chi Tunnels, an incredible underground tunnel network constructed by Vietnamese resistance fighters during the long struggle for independence. Overnight in HCMC. (B)

Day 3: Ho Chi Minh City-Can Tho
Leave Ho Chi Minh City after breakfast and head south to Can Tho deep in the Mekong Delta. Break the journey at My Tho, 2 hours drive south of HCMC, to visit the ornate Vinh Trang Pagoda and a family-run rice-noodle factory. Arrive in Can Tho and check into hotel. Leave the hotel mid-afternoon for Thot Not 45km to the north of Can Tho. Visit the bamboo basket-making hamlet of Long Thanh before continuing to the Thot Not Stork Sanctuary. Watch from a viewing tower above the tree tops as thousands of egrets and herons arrive to roost in the branches. Return to Can Tho in the late afternoon. Overnight in Can Tho. (B)

Day 4: Can Tho-Chau Doc
After breakfast check out the hotel and head northwest to Chau Doc, situated on the Cambodian border. Transfer to hotel on arrival. In the afternoon take a boat visit fish farms where fish are bred in wooden cages suspended under floating houses on the river. Continue by boat to visit a village of stilt houses belonging to the Cham minority where colourful traditional textiles are woven on old wooden looms. Return to the dry land in time to drive up Sam Mountain to watch the sunset over the Cambodian border. Overnight in Chau Doc. (B)

Day 5: Chau Doc-Vinh Long-Ho Chi Minh City
Leave Chau Doc after breakfast and head back towards Ho Chi Minh City via Vinh Long. Break the journey at Vinh Long to take a boat trip to visit Phan Thanh Giang Confucian Temple and the cottage industries of Cho Cua village. Visit a ceramic tile factory, a tofu and fish sauce factory, a blacksmith's, a roof thatcher's and a rice husking factory. Continue to Cai Be Floating Market and rejoin the car to drive to HCMC. Overnight in HCMC. (B)

Day 6: Ho Chi Minh City-Dalat
Leave HCMC after breakfast for a scenic drive through rubber and tea plantations en route to the cooler climes of Dalat, 300km from HCMC. Established as a hill station at the beginning of the century, Dalat is reminiscent of an alpine town with its French chalets and pine forests. An afternoon of sightseeing in Dalat takes in the art deco former summer residence of Emperor Bao Dai, the old Dalat Railway Station, Xuan Huong Lake, the Central Market and Lam Ty Ni Pagoda where a Buddhist monk, Vien Thuc, produces his abstract paintings and writes poetry. Overnight in Dalat. (B)

Day 7: Dalat-Nha Trang
Leaving for Nha Trang after breakfast, the road descends to the arid coastal city of Phan Rang. Break the journey here to visit the 13th century Po Klong Jarai Cham Towers perched high on a rocky hill surrounded by prickly pear cacti. After Phan Rang Highway One turns north and follows the coast past salt ponds and vivid green rice fields to Nha Trang. On arrival in Nha Trang transfer to hotel. An afternoon city tour includes the Po Nagar Cham Towers and Long Son Pagoda with its enormous white Buddha statue. Overnight in Nha Trang. (B,L,D)

Day 8: Nha Trang
A morning boat trip on Nha Trang bay visits some of the nearby islands and there are opportunities to swim and snorkel in the clear warm waters. Return to shore after a fresh seafood lunch on one of the islands in the bay. The afternoon is free to relax on the beach. Overnight in Nha Trang. (B,L)

Day 9: Nha Trang-Ho Chi Minh City
At leisure until transfer to airport for flight to Ho Chi Minh City. Transfer to hotel on arrival in Ho Chi Minh City. The rest of the day is at leisure for further exploration or shopping. (B)

Day 10: Depart Ho Chi Minh City
At leisure until transfer to Tan Son Nhat Airport for onward flight. (B)