Countrywide Heritage  & Hanoi Volunteer Tour

Today you arrive in Saigon. Known as Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City is a city of contrasts. The pace of life is frenetic, and yet the wide boulevards and parks help the city retain an air of calm. Classic French architecture competes for attention with brand new high-rise buildings. The port hosts vast tankers and cruise-liners while tiny sampans dart around them on the Saigon River. The eclectic mix of old and new in Saigon is the legacy of the many occupiers of the city since the Khmers used the area for hunting five hundred years ago. Upon arrival, you will be welcome at the airport and transfer to your hotel for a rest after long flight.

After breakfast, enjoy a visit to the History Museum, which displays antiques, Phu Nam civilization, Cham arts and Mekong Delta arts. You can also enjoy the Zoo and Botanical Gardens, which are located at the same site as the Museum. Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant. Then you will enjoy a short city tour, which will take you around the busiest city of Vietnam, from downtown Saigon to Chinatown. You will get to know its history and culture with stops at History Museum, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Municipal Post Office, etc and Thien Hau Temple (China town). You will not only learn about the past but also get a glimpse of the daily life of stall and street vendors at the Binh Tay Market and see other places of interests such. Have dinner at local restaurant and stay overnight in Saigon.

The trip is a chance to get a close view of local people in the Delta, to understand more about their lives that live along with water with canals & river around. Some 136km from Ho Chi Minh City, Cai Be occupies the heart of the Mekong Delta. After a two-hour drive, we arrive in Cai Be. We will take a boat trip to visit local villages where you have change to learn how people make rice-pastes, coconut candy, pop-rice or pop-corn. Continue your journey and you will have the chance to see how to make ricepaper for spring-rolls; fish sauce & soy sauce; as well as cooking salt. There is also a chance to see how to sew coconut-leaves for the common cottage roof. Enjoy a rest and lunch with a local family while you are served Mekong specialty dishes. After lunch, the rowing boat will take us deeper into the countryside on smaller canals. Next, we will visit a nursery garden where one can meet the well-known farmers – Mr Tiger & his son. Take a seat in their garden and enjoy seasonal fruits & taste homemade rice wine when listening to the traditional music and learn about his successful farming life. Late this afternoon you will check-in with your local homestay family. Then we will dress in farmers’ clothes to experience the challenge of helping locals catch fish in traditional, ancestral ways of the Mekong Delta. You will draw out many kinds of local fish, shrimp etc. Though you may be a bit muddy, it is quite enjoyable. Then we can cook our own dinner and enjoy a wonderful feast. This evening you can sit around, have a cup of tea and talk together with your homestay family to learn more about the local culture. Stay over night at the local homestay house. Mekong Homestay / stretchers with mosquito net

 

This morning, we depart to Can Tho and head to the airport for flight to Hanoi at approx. 09:00/11:10AM. Upon arrival in Hanoi you will be welcomed by your tour guide and transfer to your hotel for relaxing and settling in. Stay overnight in Hanoi.

Optional: Early morning, Tai Chi section practicing with experienced teachers.
The morning city tour in Hanoi comprises: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, opened on September 2, 1975, and stands on the historical Ba Dinh Square. We will visit the One-Pillared Pagoda (Mot Cot Pagoda), built in 1049 in the shape of a lotus flower. According to a legend, King Ly Thai To, who had no male offspring, once saw in a dream the goddess of compassion (Avalokitesvara) sitting on a lotus who handed a boy to him. The King later married a young peasant woman he had met by chance and a son was born to them. As a token of gratitude, he had the pagoda built and dedicated it to the goddess. We will also visit the the most beautiful lake in the city near the Ngoc Son Temple, which was built in the 19th century, and dedicated to the god of literature, which is linked with the bank by a beautiful curved bridge called The Huc (morning sunshine). You can also visit the Temple of Literature, a famous historical and cultural relic which has become part of Vietnam’s first university. Have lunch at local restaurant. The rest of day is for relaxing at your own leisure and you can venture out and find dinner at local restaurant in Hanoi.

We will arrange for you and your family to volunteer at a local orphanage, or you may wish to reserve this day for visiting your child’s orphanage and/or birth family connections. This day is customized at additional cost according to the family’s expectations.

This morning, you will go to a restaurant and have a lesson on how to prepare Vietnamese cuisine. The cooking lesson includes a tour of the famous Hang Be market where you will learn the ingredients of Vietnamese dishes. After assisting with preparation back at the restaurant, enjoy your own Vietnamese creations and receive a detailed recipe cards as your souvenir. This late afternoon, you will enjoy a cyclo ride tour through Hanoi Old Quarters, followed by a water puppet show, a traditional and unique Vietnamese art.

After breakfast, you have a little time in the morning for last minute shopping (embroidery items, silk, lacquer ware, etc...) or enjoy a rest before checking-out and transferring to Noi Bai airport for your flight home or other destinations.