VIETNAM CULINARY EXPERIENCE 12 DAYS

12 days - 11 nights
Wifi Available

Vietnam is well known in the world by its natural beauty, war, and foods. Vietnam has an enviable natural bounty, and the cooking techniques enhance the offerings from land to sea to great advantage. The cuisine is heaven-sent and the divine flavors are as diverse as the areas in which they are offered. The marriage of cooking techniques and ingredients from the aged-old colonialism with nowadays foreign influence.

ITINERARY

Day 1Saigon arrival – Discovering Saigon after dark (D)

Welcome to Vietnam! Upon arrival, our staff picks you up at the airport, transfer to the hotel. Check-in and free at leisure until 18:00 pm.

Hop on our vintage Vespas and explore Saigon like a local! We’ll take you to fabulous eating, drinking and music venues where you’ll get a true taste of Saigon nightlife..

The evening kicks off with drinks at a rooftop bar. Join your Vespa Adventures guide and fellow travelers for a toast while enjoying views over the Saigon skyline! Then the Vespas take you through the city, weaving through the buzzing thoroughfares of Saigon as well as narrow back alleys. Sitting on the back of our Vespas, you’ll be able to soak it all in: the glittering illuminated sites, the smells of streetside food stalls, the sounds of the city and more!

The tour includes stops at a mix of venues, allowing you to experience a truly local night out. We take you to two popular restaurants where you’ll sample several beloved Saigon dishes, all washed down with a cold drink. You’ll also kick back at a Vietnamese-style cafe, enjoying live music while sipping a beer or cocktail. And the night wraps up at a lively music bar where you can groove to the tunes alongside the hip young Vietnamese crowd

All food and drinks are included- all you need to bring is your appetite and sense of adventure! This tour is sure to be a highlight of your Vietnam holiday!

Tour guide: English Speaking Guide

Meals: None

Day 2 Ho Chi Minh cooking class – Cu Chi Tunnels (B, L,-)

Exploring Vietnamese cuisine” class is the best way to discover the natural products from growing, harvesting, selling, cooking and finally eating the cooked dishes.

Breakfast in the hotel. At 7:30 am, our guide and driver will pick you up from your hotel in Ho Chi Minh city then drive to the farm.

8:45am: Visit and understand the local wet market.

8:45am – 9:45am:

– Understand different kinds of fruits, seafood, meats and dry stock in the market

– Buy some ingredients or souvenirs at a low cost when following our local guides if you want

– Compare the difference between organic and normal ingredients that are sold in the market

– See behind the price building of farming products, the price the farmer gets for his goods and the price the middlemen sells it for in the cities

– Explore the organic farm by visiting HCM Agricultural Villages

9:45am – 10:45am:

– Visit cow and buffalo herds

– Visit rice fields

– Visit fish, prawn, chicken and duck areas

– Visit big herbs, spices, vegetables and mushroom plantations

– Challenges in the garden. Become a real Vietnamese farmer wearing a traditional Vietnamese hat and harvest a lot of Herbs, spices, vegetables and mushrooms in the garden

– Cooking challenges

10:45am – 3:00pm:

– Hands on cooking class with three dishes and 1 dessert and enjoy what they have done. Enjoy delicious and healthy cooking tips.

– Continue a short drive to Cu Chi Tunnels, a Viet Cong base during the war, explore the tunnels yourselves to understand more about Vietnamese and the history.

– Return to Ho Chi Minh city in the late afternoon.

Tour guide: English Speaking Guide

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 3Ho Chi Minh – Mekong Delta (B, L,-)

After breakfast, leaving busy Ho Chi Minh and drive to Mekong.

Discover the lush beauty of the Mekong Delta as you wind your way down narrow canals on a sampan that glides along with fruit orchards, paddy fields and sleepy villages; visit a floating market, where vendors display the delta’s bounty of fruits and vegetables on their boats. However, busy selling and buying, they will never forget to throw happy smiles and waves at you. Overnight onboard.

Tour guide: English Speaking Guide

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 4Mekong Delta – Ho Chi Minh – Da Nang – Hoi An(B, )

Breakfast on board, then continue to cruise the Mekong delta before you head back to the wharf where your vehicle is waiting to take you back to HCMC.

We transfer to the airport and fly to Da Nang. Arrive at Da Nang Airport, you are picked up by our driver at the airport and transferred to your hotel in Hoi An.

Overnight in Hoi An.

Tour guide: English Speaking Guide

Meals: Breakfast

Day 5Hoi An cooking class – Afternoon walking tour (B, L, -)

We start the day (8.15am) with a welcome drink at Hai Scout Café (98 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Hoi An Ancient Town, Tel: 0235 3863210) – our meeting point.

Visit Hoi An’s colorful main market, and experience its amazing sights, sounds and aromas. We will have the

opportunity to interact with the local sellers, to see and taste the wonderful variety of foods on display.

We board the Red Bridge boat for a leisurely cruise (25 minutes) along the Hoi An River to the Red Bridge Cooking

School. This is a chance to view local river life, so make sure your camera is handy.

On arrival, we explore the cooking school’s herb and vegetable garden, before learning about some of Hoi An’s

and Vietnam’s best-known dishes. The cooking lesson runs for about 2 hours – each dish is first demonstrated by

the Red Bridge chef’s, before we prepare the same dish ourselves.

Included in the class is a brief introduction to Vietnamese food carving (plate decoration).

After the lesson, we sit down and eat exactly what we have cooked.

Making fresh Rice paper
Fresh Rice Paper Rolls of Shrimp
Crispy Hoi An Pancakes with Shrimp, Herbs & a Peanut Sauce
Seafood Salad with Tra Que Herbs
Mi Quang Chicken Noodles
Food Decoration – Tomato Rose & Vietnamese Cucumber Hand Fan

Finish at approximately 2.30 pm – transfer back to central Hoi An arriving at approximately 3.00 pm.

We start the walking tour to visit Hoi An Old Streets though the picturesque streets of this 16th-century trading port, where the buildings remind us of its Chinese, Japanese, French and Vietnamese architectural styles; visit the Chinese Embassy Halls, Japanese Covered Bridge, Phuc Kien Pagoda & Tan Ky House.

Overnight in Hoi An.

Tour guide: English Speaking Guide

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Day 6Halong - Drive back to Hanoi airport - Flight to Hue (B, L)

Wake up on the bay to the sounds of waves, fresh air, and breeze. A brand new day comes. Following breakfast, you can discover a breathtaking limestone grotto before returning to the boat for a scenic cruise back to the dock.

Your boat will arrive at the harbor by 11:30 am, and your driver is waiting to take you to the airport to take a flight to Hue. Arrive in Hue, meet our guide and driver then depart to the hotel. Overnight in Hue.