SOME HIGHLIGHTS

• Being one of the very first persons to
  visit an isolated, unique ethnic group to
  which access has only just been permitted;
  
  
• Exploring the stunning Shwedagon
  Temple in Rangoon (Yangon), perhaps
  the most visually exciting single temple
  in Asia;
  
  
• Attending National Chin Day when hundreds
  of colorfully-dressed, facially-tattooed
  villagers gather to celebrate;
  
  
• Witnessing ancient Chin tribal rites of
  animal sacrifice and spirit worship;
  
  
• Watching the sun rise over 1,000
  Buddhist temples and pagodas at Bagan,
  the largest such concentration of
  religious structures on earth;
  
  
• Hot-air balloonong over the immense scatter
  of Bagan temples on the Irawaddy Plain;
  
  
• Visiting the many different craftsmen and
  artisans at work in historic Mandalay, and
  acquiring exotic art and artifacts at
  very low prices;
  
  
• Combing the beautiful beaches of SW
  Burma, and diving/snorkeling off some
  of Burma's Bay of Bengal islands
  
  *A great opportunity to explore a beautiful country of ancient kingdoms, hospitable people and exciting ethnic diversity—now opening rapidly to 21st century tourism.
  

SOME HIGHLIGHTS

• Exploring the beautiful, richly ornamented
  temples of Laos, a unique Asian architectural
  treasure chest;
  
  
• Probing one of Asia's knottiest cultural
  mysteries at the Plain of Jars—who made these
  one-ton stone jars, and for what reason?
  
  
• Visiting a colorful ethnic palette of traditional
  seldom-visited trlbal people in the Laotian
  mountains;
  
  
• Witnessing timeless Buddhist devotionals in
  image-filled grottoes and caves along the
  MekongRiver ;
  
  
• Enjoying the superb merger of French and
  Laotian cuisines in langurous French
  Colonial-flavored Luang Prabang;
  
  
• Meeting a warmly hospitable people still way
  off the beaten tourist track

THE DAY-BY-DAY BRIEF

DAY 1: Rendezvous in Hanoi with remainder of day at leisure. Water puppet show this evening. Night in Hanoi.

DAY 2: Tour the city: Hoan Kiem Lake & Tortoise Pagoda, Dong Xuan Market, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum& Museum, former "Hanoi Hilton" prison, snake-farm village, other sites. Night in Hanoi.

DAY 3: Trip up thePearl River in the mountains south of Hanoi to the Perfume Pagoda. Night in Hanoi.

DAY 4: Overland to NW Vietnam and hill town of Sapa with Montagnard village visits enroute. Night in Sapa.

DAY 5: Hike and drive to Hmong, Dzao and other tribal villages & markets near Sapa. Night train back toHanoi.

DAY 6: By car and ferry to Cat Ba Island Natl Park in Halong Bay. Cruise on local fishing boat among hundreds of karst formations as crew works the nets and hauls in the catch. Night in Cat Ba town.

DAY 7: Beach time on Cat Ba then Halong Bay ferry cruise to shore. Return to Hanoi, fly to Hué. Niight Hué.

DAY 8: Tour Hué: the Citadel, Thien Mu Pagoda, Royal Tombs of the Nguyen Dynasty, other sites. Night Hué.

DAY 9: Fly to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and tour the city: Jade Emperor, Giac Lam & Xai Loi Pagodas; Reunification Palace; old U.S. Embassy; cyclo run through the old city; other sites. Night HoChi Minh City.

DAY 10: Explore the Ben Thanh market, the Viet Cong's Cu Chi Tunnel complex outside the city, and Temple of Caodai in Tay Ninh town. Night in HoChi Minh City.

DAY 11: Go by hydrofoil down the Saigon River to Vung Tau on the South China Sea. Beach time plus cycling the Vung Tau Peninsula. Night in HoChi Minh City.

DAY 12: Loop drive through the Mekong Delta to Vinh Long with enroute village visits and Mekong River boat trip. Night in HoChi Minh City.

DAY13: Transfer to airport for onward departures.

SOME HIGHLIGHTS

• Cruising the incredible karstland of Halong Bay, one of the world's most stunning marine environments;
  
  
• Experiencing the heady dynamism of the streets and markets in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City;
  
  
• Discovering the great ethnic diversity and colorful traditional dress of northern Vietnam's hill tribes;
  
  
• Seeing historic remnants of the Vietnam War— the "American War" as referred to in Vietnam;
  
  
• Delighting in the marvelous authentic Vietnamese cuisine;
  
  
• Encountering a genuinely friendly, welcoming people;
  
  
• Enjoying a picturesque rural countryside of green mountains and rice paddies, small villages and lazy water buffalo, and peaked-cap farmers in their fields;
  
  
• Absorbing the rich temple architecture and ornamentation of unique Vietnamese religious sects