VIETNAM, CAMBODIA, THAILAND EXPLORER – 10 DAYS

Upon arrival Tan Son Nhat airport, after clearing all customs procedures, please proceed to exit gate and look for your guide who will be waiting at the lobby, holding the Youin Travel signboard with your name on it. Your guide will come to meet you and transfer you to hotel.

The regular check-in time is at 14:00; early check-in is NOT included and subject to availability 

Meals: None

Accommodation: Bay Hotel Ho Chi Minh

Upgrade Option: Caravelle Saigon

From Saigon, take a 2hr drive northwest to the famous Cu Chi Tunnels, an immense network of connecting underground tunnels started in 1948 to protect the Viet Cong guerrillas from the French air and ground sweeps. The tunnels also served as living quarters, communication and supply routes, and housed hospitals, food and weapons caches. Touring the underground compounds will provide a better understanding of the history of the tunnels, the hardship of life in the tunnels and the Vietnamese resilience during combat. Return to Saigon.

   • Suggested departure time: 08:30

  •  Tour duration: 05 hours

With over eight million inhabitants and four million motorbikes, Saigon is truly a city that never sleeps. Despite its modernity, Saigon maintains a strong link to the past and our city tour takes in some of Saigon’s most historic landmarks including the Notre Dame Cathedral, a red brick edifice with twin spires constructed from materials imported from France (entrance is only permitted when no services are being performed). Then head across the square to the Central Post Office, completed in 1891. A short drive away is the former Presidential Palace, the headquarters of the Saigon Government during the American War. Continue to the War Remnants Museum for a vivid perspective of the American War through the eyes of the Vietnamese. (Please note that some of the displays are very graphic.) Experience Saigon’s famed street coffee culture while your guide provides a brief language lesson as well as insights into daily life of a Saigonese before returning to your hotel.

• Tour duration: 04 hours
• Outside visit only due the renovation at Notre Dame Cathedral until late 2023

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Bay Hotel Ho Chi Minh

Upgrade Option: Caravelle Saigon

Depart Ho Chi Minh City for a 1.5hr drive to Ben Tre, the gateway to the Mekong Delta. Escape the high-energy city for a day of exploring sprawling rice paddies and colorful fruit farms. Arrive at the quaint An Khanh hamlet, where travelers will visit a small home factory that makes the traditional dish of sticky rice covered by coconut leaves. Meet with the owner and her hard-working team who will teach you about how they use century-old traditional methods to make this special and tasty cake. Continue this rural journey of discovery with a short drive to meet a local family in Quoi Son village, where you can sample exotic fresh fruits in the orchard of a local fruit farmer. After wandering through the lush gardens of this village, a motorboat awaits your arrival to begin a thirty-minute excursion passing peaceful scenes of countryside living. Trade boat for bicycle and enjoy a relaxing ride over easy, level terrain as you travel through narrow village lanes lined with fruit orchards and customary cottages. Here you will take auto rickshaw through the lush surroundings of the fruit farms before boarding a sampan and cruise along the narrow canals of the Mekong. End your excursion at a local farmer’s house where a lunch of Mekong Delta specialties will be served before driving back to Saigon.

• Suggested time: 08:00
• Duration: 7 hours 
• Capacity: 6 pax (Due to the small lane leading to the sticky rice cake factory, it can be available for only 16 seat vehicle)
• The cycling distance can be 3, 5, or 7 km, depending on your physical ability and length you desire.
  If you can’t ride bicycle, motorcycle can be arranged with a rider.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Bay Hotel Ho Chi Minh

Upgrade Option: Caravelle Saigon

9.25am meet with your guide and transfer from your accommodation to the airport for departure flight to Siem Reap.

Upon arrival Siem Reap International Airport, after clearing all customs procedures, walk to the main exit gate, you will be met by Youin Travel representative carrying Youin Travel signboard with your name on it.

Transfer from airport to your hotel with guide.

The regular check-in time is at 14:00; early check-in is NOT included and subject to availability 

Spend the evening with your private guide gaining a genuine insight into Cambodian food the way the locals like it. You will be picked up from your hotel in the early evening and whisked away by tuk tuk as darkness begins to fall. We begin the evening with a quick stop to sample a traditional Cambodian Tipple with a twist. You will rejoin your tuk tuk where you will continue on to Angkor Kyung Yu Road, otherwise known as Road 60 where busy street food stalls, well away from the cozy tourist bars line up along the streets. This area is hugely popular with local families who come out to dine in the early evening, it’s a real feast for the senses. You will sample a range of exotic fruits, grilled meats and if you’re brave enough fried insects. Cambodians love to eat and virtually anything is on the menu. A stop at a truly local restaurant will ensure that even those with the heartiest appetites will not go hungry. 

You can enjoy a local beer or two along the way if you so wish to wash all the tasty morsels down. If time allows you will take a walk through the alleys and side streets around the old market area tasting as you go. Our final stop of the evening will be to sample a flight of local craft beers to really finish of a great evening of culinary exploration. We will return back to your hotel or you can choose to stay and relax at the bar.

• Availability: Daily
• Suggested time: 5.00pm – 10.00pm 
• Duration: 4-5 hours
• Capacity: Maximum 8 persons
• Various snacks including fruit and meats, coconut, local beer or soft drinks are included for tasting
• Please note that vegetarianism and Veganism are not commonplace amongst Cambodians and not well understood, we therefore cannot provide an exclusively vegetarian or vegan tour. However, there will be items to sample which will appeal to all guests. We can provide the experience without pork or red meat involved if requested
• Please bear in mind this is a local street food tour, where locals dine every day of the week in well-known, well-respected street markets and restaurants

Meals: Breakfast, Street food

Accommodation: FCC Angkor managed by Avani

Upgrade Option: Anantara Angkor Resort & Spa

NO check out on 31 Dec

Wake up early and transfer by private vehicle to the West Gate of Angkor Wat from where the sunrise can be best observed. Enter the temple complex. Angkor Wat (early 12th century) is surrounded by 190-metre-wide moat 1.5 kilometers by 1.3 kilometers and is claimed to be the largest religious building in the world. It is certainly one of the wonders of the ancient world. You will be amazed by the sheer size of the temple, which took 30 years to construct & used the labors of up to 300,000 workers. Angkor Wat was built as the earthly representation of the universe with its’ central tower symbolizing Mt Meru which, Hindus believe, is at the center of the Universe. 

Return to the West Gate and breakfast can be enjoyed just outside of the Angkor complex at a local restaurant (own cost). Drive to visit Banteay Kdei built between the 12th and 13th centuries. The ruined condition of the temple in no way detracts from the grandeur of this walled temple. Banteay means fortified monastery and refers to the double wall surrounding it. 

Continue to Ta Prohm, this beautiful temple, built in 1186 as a Buddhist temple dedicated to the mother of Jayavarman VII, is one of Angkor’s jewels and is overgrown with fig trees, giving a haunting yet exotic atmosphere. The magnificent roots of the trees have merged over the centuries with the temple’s huge stone blocks, creating a ‘forgotten city’ feeling. Pause at Ta Keo, which would have been the finest temples in Angkor had it been completed. A short distance further are the twin temples of Chau Say Tevoda and Thommanon. Return to town for a rest and relaxation at the hotel in the mid-afternoon. 

Drive to Angkor Thom, not a temple, but an entire walled city of 9 sq km and served as the ancient royal Capital of the Khmer Empire from approx. 1181. With a probable population of 1 million, it was far bigger and grander than any city in Europe at the time. Your guide will take you to the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King. The center piece of Jayavarman VII’s Capital is the Bayon temple and, as you approach, you will notice the 216 giants, enigmatic, smiling faces looking into every direction. Return to the South gate where you will board a small, private boat out to Prasat ChrungTemple to watch the amazing sunset.

• Suggested time: 04:45
• Duration: 8 hours
• Note: 4pax/boat

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: FCC Angkor managed by Avani

Upgrade Option: Anantara Angkor Resort & Spa

10.25am meet with your guide and transfer from your accommodation to the airport for departure flight to Bangkok.

Upon arrival at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport (after you collected your luggage). Please proceed to the Arrival Hall on second floor. Please look for your guide holding a signboard with your name at Door No. 6. Transfer from the Airport to your hotel.

Meeting point: Door number 6 for international arrival.

Approximate duration: 1 hour – 1 hour 30 minutes

For guests stay at Novotel Suvarnabhumi airport (after you collected your luggage), please proceed to Gate No. 4 Arrival Hall on second floor where you will find the Novotel counter, exit the terminal here and find the shuttle van stopping at the curbside to welcome any visitor to the hotel free of charge and no guide accompanied. Driving time is less than 5 minutes, the hotel being located just opposite the terminal. Novotel’s shuttle van operates round the clock (24 hours).

The regular check-in time is at 14:00; early check-in is NOT included and subject to availability 

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Pullman Bangkok Hotel G

Upgrade Option: The Sukhothai Hotel Bangkok

Morning drive to Wat Pho – one of the oldest temples in Bangkok, Wat Pho houses the famous 45m (148ft) reclining Buddha as well as the original school of traditional Thai massage. From here, take a tuk-tuk ride via Pak Klong Taland Flower Market towards the spectacular Grand Palace, home to the most revered Buddha image in Thailand, the Emerald Buddha (which is actually made of jade or jasper, rather than emerald). Continue with a walk to the pier for a long-tailed boat ride along the “klongs” (canals) of Thonburi to get a flavor of local life. Stop at Wat Arun, once the grand royal temple to King Rama II. After lunch at a local restaurant, cross the river and drive to Chinatown for a first-hand look at Old Bangkok. Walk along Yaowarat Road with shops selling everything from gold and garments to antiques and musical instruments. Explore the bustling Talad Kao Market where a variety of food, fresh and dry fruits, and Chinese herbs are on offer before returning to your hotel.

• Suggested departure time: 08:30
• Approximate duration: 8.5 hours
• For temple visits, it is recommended women wear short/long-sleeved tops with full-length trousers or knee-length skirts and men wear trousers and short/long-sleeved shirts. No sandals or flip-flops allowed
• The monk’s chanting ritual only in the morning and subject to change without prior notice. (please contact with Travel consultant if guests wish to attend this activity in the morning)
• The Grand Palace closes at noon on 13 October 2022, 23 October 2022; 05 December 2022. On 09 November 2022, the Grand Palace closes at noon and The Chapel of The Emerald Buddha will close all day
• Please bring a copy of your passport for security check before entering the palace
• These following clothes are strictly not allowed in Grand Palace: Shorts, mini-skirts, short skirts, tight fitting trousers, and tights; See-through shirts and blouses, as well as culottes or quarter length trousers; Sleeveless shirts or vests; Sandals (without ankle or heel straps); Rolled-up-sleeved shirts; Sweatshirts and sweatpants, wind-cheaters, pajamas and fisherman trousers
• In the event of extreme traffic conditions, our driver may take you to the pier (located directly across from the Peninsula hotel) to transfer you by their shuttle boat in order to save time; or vice versa. Our guide will accompany you to and/or from the Peninsula

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Pullman Bangkok Hotel G

Upgrade Option: The Sukhothai Hotel Bangkok

Morning departure from Bangkok on a 2.5hr driveto Kanchanaburi Province. Visit the world-famous bridge over the River Kwai, built over 16 months to span the River Kwai Yai. The bridge was part of the Death Railway and was destroyed in Allied bombing raids towards the end of World War II but later rebuilt by the Japanese as war reparations. Continue to the Don Rak War Cemetery, the final resting place of the 6,982 Allied POWs who perished during the construction of the railway and learn more about this enormous endeavour at the interactive Thailand-Burma Railway Center Museum featuring photographic and physical memorabilia dating from the Second World War. Take a one-hour train ride on the historic railway while taking in the views of the lush jungle scenery. Lunch at a riverside restaurant. before returning to Bangkok in the late afternoon.

• Suggested departure time: 08:00
• Approximate duration: 08 hours.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Pullman Bangkok Hotel G

Upgrade Option: The Sukhothai Hotel Bangkok

Free day at your leisure.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Pullman Bangkok Hotel G

Upgrade Option: The Sukhothai Hotel Bangkok

Pick up at your hotel and transfer to airport for your departure flight.

The regular check-out time is at 12:00; late check out is not included and subject to availability.

Meals: Breakfast