Southern Vietnam Traditions

Xin Chao and welcome to evocative Saigon, known officially as Ho Chi Minh City. Upon arrival to Tan Son Nhat International Airport, a Topas representative will welcome you before heading to the heart of the city to your cozy accommodation for the next few days.

Enjoy the day at leisure exploring old Saigon’s most popular attractions, mainly Notre Dame Cathedral and the Old Post Office before heading to the historic Caravelle Hotel for Happy Hour, sipping cocktails with a view of what you’ve seen from above. Then, sup at the contemporary Quan Bui Original for dinner amidst modern office skyscrapers, Oriental styled pagodas, and food stalls, sensing the dynamic urban feel of the new Ho Chi Minh City.

Included meals: Dinner 
Distance and activities: 45’ drive

Discover Saigon through the years with Sophie this morning, a long-term resident of Ho Chi Minh City and an expert in Vietnamese art. View private collections of work housed in a traditional Saigon villa, seeing the similarities between Vietnamese students of the 1920s and their contemporaries in Paris.  Then, move on to a private home converted into a gallery to see a collection of Vietnamese Combat Art and Propaganda Art, created during times of war. End the fascinating experience at the impressive HCMC Fine Arts Museum, learning about how artists were used by the government during resistance, revolution, and finally, the reunification of the country.

Lunch at Dining Room, a traditional Vietnamese Restaurant with a contemporary plating and enjoy the flavors of the set menu, which depend on the day.

The afternoon is at leisure for you to discover Ho Chi Minh City on your own until making your way to the Saigon Opera House in the early evening for the award-winning A O Show. A mix of cirque nouveau, acrobatics and modern dance, this performance brings tales of rural and urban life to the stage through usage of bamboo props and unique live music.

Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Distance and activities: 3h sightseeing tour – 1.5h A O Show

Leave the glitz and glamor of district 1 and discover a whole new world in the exotic alleys of Cho Lon, Ho Chi Minh City’s Chinatown. Peer inside ancient temples, traditional medicine shops, and more on your way to Vietnam Silver House. Learn about the history and development of the silver industry in Vietnam before joining a silver-making workshop guided by artisans and try your hand at both simple and complicated techniques to create your own masterpiece.

Return to district 1 for lunch at Bloom Saigon, a vocational training restaurant working to empower disadvantaged youth in Ho Chi Minh City by providing culinary training. The food is a mix of traditional Vietnamese and Asian fusion, served in a big French Colonial Villa.

The afternoon is at leisure to discover Ho Chi Minh City on your own.

Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch 
Distance and activities: 1.5h sightseeing tour – 1.5h silver workshop 

Leave the hustle and bustle of Ho Chi Minh City behind today, heading into the fertile rice bowl of Vietnam: the Mekong Delta. Watch the lush land of palm trees and great rivers pass you by on a 3.5-hour ride to Can Tho, the largest city in the Mekong, traditionally known as “the river of poems” in Vietnamese. Check-in to the Can Tho Ecolodge, one of the most eco-friendly accommodation options in the entire Mekong Delta, dedicated to environmental protection and cultural preservation.

The afternoon is at your leisure save for a traditional southern Vietnamese cooking class to introduce you to the special flavors of the Mekong.

Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Distance and activities: 3,5h transfer – 2h cooking class 

Spend the day getting to know the enchanting Can Tho a little bit better. Stretch your legs with a morning cycling tour, getting close to nature on quiet paths hugging winding rivers and rice paddies. Then, in the afternoon, join a private workshop to gain insight into the daily lives of Mekong locals, whether its massage therapy, wood-carving, or seasonal farming.

Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch 
Distance and Activities: 3h cycling – 3h traditional workshop

Wake up in time for a sunrise breakfast cruise to Cai Rang Floating Market, the largest wholesale floating market in Southeast Asia. Bargain with merchants for the tastiest fruits, freshest vegetables, warm noodle soups, and regional handcrafted products. Since it is a wholesale market, you will see a bustling trading center as opposed to floating markets seen in Bangkok, Thailand.

Head back to Can Tho Ecolodge to pack your things in order to board your overnight Mekong River cruise to Cai Be at noon. Watch scenes of life pass you by as the boat lazily makes its way downstream, stopping at either a rice-farm or fruit orchard to meet with locals. Don’t forget to enjoy a sundowner on the deck of the ship as the sky turns radiant shades of red, purple, and gold.

Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Distance and Activities: 2h sunrise breakfast cruise – overnight sightseeing cruise

Let the sounds of the Mekong River Delta act as your alarm this morning, as the ship begins to cruise at 6:30. Watch locals going about their daily lives drying fruits and building ships in small wooden yards while eating breakfast.

Afterwards, board a sampan, a type of traditional Vietnamese rowboat, and wind through the canals of Cai Be, another river town, although much smaller than Can Tho.

Leave the boat and return to Ho Chi Minh City by road, stopping in Vinh Long for lunch. Transfer can be arranged to your hotel in Ho Chi Minh City or Tan Son Nhat International Airport for onward booked travel.

Included meals: Breakfast

Distance and Activities: 2h transfer