Ho Chi Minh Discovery

Upon arrival at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, your private driver will greet you for a seamless transfer to your selected hotel. The remainder of the day is yours to unwind or begin exploring at your own pace. You might take a walk around the bustling Ben Thanh Market, relax at a rooftop café, or enjoy your first taste of southern Vietnamese cuisine at a nearby restaurant.

Meet your guide at your hotel and prepare for a private exploration of the rich, fertile and beautiful surroundings of the Mekong Delta; farmland interlaced with countless waterways crisscrossed by low-lying rice paddies. As you travel from Ho Chi Minh by private car to the Delta town of Nhi Quy, city skyscrapers give way to lush rice paddies and fruit farms. Your experience starts with a boat ride through a labyrinth of narrow canals before switching to a bicycle. Lunch will be hosted at a family home where you can expect a feast of local specialties. After lunch, continue by bicycle to the home of a tropical fruit farmer and take a walk around his orchard, perhaps sampling some of the fresh seasonal fruits grown here. Return to your boat and paddle slowly along canals lined by mangrove forests and lush vegetation. Disembark and continue your ride during which you will stop at local family-owned businesses where you will have the opportunity to learn more about the daily lives of the people in the Delta. (B,L)

Your private guide, driver and jeep will meet you at your hotel. Your first stop will be the picturesque Silver Bamboo Lake where you will learn about John McCain, who was famously shot down here during the war. Following an informative and eye-opening drive along Hoang Hoa Tham Street, which is full of bonsai, flower and pet shops, you will then take in Huu Tiep Lake where the fuselage of a B52 has remained since Christmas 1972. Here you will take the opportunity to stroll around the ‘Village’, observing local daily activities before continuing on by jeep. Pass stunning French architecture and the famous Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum before arriving at the Army Museum where you will spend approx. 45 minutes. Following refreshments at a local café, you will then proceed to Hoa Lo Museum where your guide will escort you around the exhibits. Finally, on the way back to your hotel, you will drive through the French Quarter where many former French Villas are now reincarnated as Embassies. (B)