Vietnam
Suggested Itinerary
The following are examples Remote Lands’ recommended activities that can be incorporated into our clients’ bespoke itineraries.
Destinations include: Saigon, Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An and Can Tho & Chau Doc.
Saigon
Explore the streets of Saigon and see some of the gorgeous old colonial architecture, such as the stunning Opera House, the former Hôtel de Ville town hall (now the People’s Committee Building), Notre Dame Cathedral and the lovely Continental Hotel, made famous by Graham Greene’s novel The Quiet American.
Take a private city tour of Saigon, including some of the following depending on time and your wishes: The History Museum; The War Remnants Museum; and The Reunification Palace Museum.
For lunch try the bustling Quan An Ngon, an amalgam of the city’s best street vendors that the owner found and hired before the restaurant’s opening in 2001. Now 20 or more former vendors stand in the restaurant’s open-air dining area preparing specialties such as spring rolls, bun cha (char-grilled meat and peanuts over rice noodles) and bun bo hue (spicy soup with seafood and pork).
Go shopping in the lively Ben Thanh Market, where you can buy some lovely handmade silk goods and other Vietnamese handicrafts. Check our destination guide for other off the beaten path listings.
Have a delicious seafood dinner at Maxim’s, an upscale Vietnamese restaurant rated amongst the very best in Saigon.
Visit District 5, the huge Chinese neighborhood called Cholon. Here, you can have lunch at any one of a number of delicious Chinese eateries; we recommend My Huong, a bustling restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating that serves superb, authentic fare, including a noodle soup with duck.
Explore the district’s many religious sites, which include places to worship Chinese, Christian, Islamic and Buddhist deities. Start at Giac Lam Pagoda, the oldest pagoda in Saigon.
Cha Tam is Cholon’s small Catholic cathedral, with high vaulted ceilings surrounded by the stations of the cross. This little cathedral is a cool place to take a break and see an enormous white statue of Jesus, a standing statue of St. Francis of Assisi and a large relief of the Last Supper.
Chua Quan Am Temple is a classic Chinese temple wafting with incense. Nearly 20 resident monks and a cherubic abbot are on hand to welcome foreign visitors. In fact, they’ll even take the time to show you around and allow you to take photos, but the expectation is a small donation in the alms box at the altar. Just outside the entrance, observe the busy cabinet makers at work in a large street-side workshop.
Thien Hau Temple was originally built in A.D. 940 and has been rebuilt many times, most recently in 1900. The temple pays homage to a special psychic lady who was said to be able to predict the weather and protect sailors.
The clean lines and lack of ornamentation of the Cholon Mosque provide a stark counterpoint to its gilded Buddhist neighbors. In the courtyard is a pool for ritual ablutions; note the tiled niche in the wall (mihrab) indicating the direction of Mecca. Built by Tamil Muslims in 1932, the mosque has served the Malaysian and Indonesian Muslim communities of Saigon since 1975.
Have dinner at Com Nieu Saigon, an elaborately carved wooden house decorated with lanterns, where a 100-year-old bodhi tree in front of the gate adds to the romantic ambience. Try the signature dish, com dap – crunchy rice cooked in a clay pot.
Discover the famed Cu Chi tunels, an interconnecting network of subterranean passageways under Saigon used during the Vietnam War as a means of evading the American military and staging campaigns such as the infamous Tet Offensive.
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Hanoi
Explore the bustling and hectic streets of Hanoi’s Old Quarter, with its small shops and charming cafés. You will notice that some of the alleyways are named for the guilds that established themselves in this area during the 13th century.
One of the most notorious sites from the Vietnam War is the Hanoi Hilton. It was built by the French in the late 19th century to house Vietnamese political prisoners – those opposed to colonization – and called Maison Centrale. Its Vietnamese name derived from the street it is on, Hoa Lo, and is far less tongue-in-cheek sounding; it literally means stove but can be translated as “fiery furnace.”
Visit the serene Temple of Literature, built in the 11th-century to honor academics. The Temple grounds also housed Vietnam’s first university, in operation there until the 19th century, and include Hanoi’s best-preserved buildings and immaculate gardens.
With an expert guide, visit the stunning Buddhist Tran Quoc Pagoda, perhaps the oldest pagoda in the country, purportedly founded 1,400 years ago by King Ly Nam De with the name “Khai Quoc” (Establishing the Nation).
Visit Thang Long Water Puppet Theater, which, if you can forgive the canned music, is a good opportunity to see this traditional Vietnamese art form. Puppets of fighting and footballing dragons, dogs and people are brought to life with grace and precision on the surface of the water in this 20-minute show.
Get a peak behind the scenes at the Opera House, a smaller scale version of Palais Garnier in Paris and a remarkable example of French colonial architecture. Depending on the opera’s schedule, you will have a chance to chat with performers during breaks in rehearsal for an upcoming show.
Hanoi’s Museum of Ethnology offers a comprehensive overview of the country’s 54 ethnic minorities through its colorful, interactive displays. You will be able to see the similarities and differences in tradition, clothing, language, and other markers of cultural identity among these diverse groups of people. We will arrange for you to meet with a senior curator, who will take you to see his/her favorite parts of the collection.
Stop in the Hanoi Sports Department to learn how to play sepak takraw, which combines elements of volleyball, gymnastics, martial arts, and soccer. The sport is called da cauin Vietnam but is known internationally as sepak takraw, from the Malay word sepakfor “kick” and the Thai word takrawfor “woven ball.”
Go for an early morning bicycling or walking tour of Hoan Kiem Lake (which means “Lake of the Returned Sword”), a tranquil and scenic spot where locals come to relax and socialize. The surrounding park is a popular spot to practice the ancient, meditative art of tai chi.
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Halong Bay
Embark on your private junk, a traditional wooden boat that has been luxuriously fitted with traditional Chinese rosewood furniture and design elements in each of the two bedrooms. Fresh gourmet meals will be prepared by your private chef.
Cruise through the islands and explore their secrets – some of the islands are hollow, hiding caves and grottoes, and support floating villages of fishermen, who ply the shallow waters for 200 species of fish and 450 different kinds of mollusks. Many of the islands have names reflecting their unusual shapes, such as Voi (elephant), Ga Choi (fighting cock), and Mai Nha (roof)
Sail to Bai Tu Long Bay, passing through extraordinarily shaped islands with other such evocative names as Poem Mountain, Teapot Islet and Goat’s Head Islet. Swim in the pristine water here before heading to the tranquility of Cong Do and the hidden wonder of Thay Cave.
Enjoy swimming and kayaking around Cong Dam and the white-sand beach of Doi Non Island.
Pass through thousands of islands and islets on the cruise to Tra San Beach for more sunbathing, swimming and kayaking.
Enjoy a gourmet barbecue lunch on the beach.
Take a rowboat to visit the Vung Vieng fishing village, where you can interact with the local fishermen and see them at work.
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Hue
Take a cruise along the Perfume River, during which your expert guide will elaborate on the eight relatively intact royal tombs scattered along the river valley. Each was built when the emperor was still alive and was meticulously planned right down to the last detail. Hidden for years by sworn vows of secrecy, they are now open to the public.
For lunch, dine like the Hue royals at Tinh Gia Vien, a wonderful old Hue-style garden villa on a quiet side street. Formerly the residence of a princess, the restaurant was converted by a bonsai enthusiast and serves Imperial cuisine.
Stop at Thien Mu Pagoda where you will meet with the senior resident monk in his private chambers, which are normally off-limits, and learn about Buddhism and his monastic life.
Check in to the charming boutique Hotel La Résidence, set in a former colonial governor’s mansion right on the banks of the river facing the citadel, and have dinner at the hotel’s stylish French-Vietnamese restaurant, le Parfum.
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Hoi An
Stay at the Nam Hai, one of the most exclusive and luxurious resorts in Southeast Asia.
Explore the confluence of cultures in the old city of Hoi An, where Chinese, Vietnamese and Japanese aesthetics mingle in the area’s architecture. In fact, the entire old city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Your expert guide will illuminate the history and architecture of a number of notable buildings, including: The Japanese Covered Bridge; The Fujian Chinese Congregation Assembly Hall; Old House of Phung Hung; and others.
Spend a morning snorkeling at Nam Hai’s remarkable stretch of China Beach.
Have lunch in town at the colorful Mango Rooms, whose menu features fresh local ingredients combined in innovative recipes, such as pan-seared red snapper seasoned with ginger, onion and roasted pepper and served with a mango and tomato infused garlic sauce.
Indulge in a treatment at The Spa at the Nam Hai, which features eight tranquil spa villas surrounded by a lotus pond.
Take a cooking class at Brother’s Cafe, where you will also have dinner. This grand U-shaped colonial by the Thu Bon River is a window into a bygone era, with its gourmet Vietnamese cuisine and romantic garden courtyard.
Explore the abandoned Hindu temples of My Son, a UNESCO World Heritage: The temples were constructed by the Champa kings between the 4th and the 14th century A.D. and are dedicated to the worship of the god Shiva.
Beyond the beauty of the temples themselves, My Son area is home to rich scents emanating from neighboring coffee plantations and the sound of freshwater streams running through the tropical forest. Your guide will expand upon the sculptural details you will see here that are specific to Cham-design, as well as more about the history of this period.
Have lunch at Cargo Club. Opened in 2001, Cargo Club is a charming restaurant situated in a restored colonial building. Al fresco dining is available, and the restaurant’s patisserieis highly regarded.
Take a private boat to the Cham Islands (30 minutes). These islands are a quiet little fishing area populated by ethnic Cham people, an Austro-Asiatic group that fought the north Vietnamese for this territory for centuries. The islands are famed for salanganes, swallows whose nests have long been considered a delicacy by aristocrats and the wealthy.
The islands are also a fine place to go snorkeling so feel free to bring your swimming clothes such that you can take a dip in their coral- and tropical-fish-filled waters. Snorkeling equipment will be available on your private boat.
Take a day trip along the Thu Bon River on a private luxury boat. Pass through Hoi An and take in the fisherman and local markets along the riverbank before continuing upriver, where you will find yourself immersed in the sights and sounds of sleepy rural Vietnam.
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Can Tho & Chau Doc
Board your own private boat to explore this unique environment. Visit the many small villages in the area and the city’s remarkable network of canals, where the traffic moves at a far more relaxing pace than on the streets buzzing with cars and cyclos.
Finish your day with sunset cocktails and gourmet snacks aboard your boat, before returning to the hotel.
Visit a local orphanage, home to around 35 children that are of school age and can speak some English. Spend time with the children at play and in their classes to learn about their lives. You will have the opportunity to teach a short, 30-minute English or Spanish lesson to the children, or whatever subject you prefer.
Have lunch with a local family and hear stories about the odd local tradition of mouse hunting. The process involves climbing coconut trees to find the mice and using dogs below to catch any that fall. The mice are used for cooking, and are typically prepared with rice wine.
Continue to explore the city’s waterways, teeming with activity. Visit the Cai Rang floating wholesale market, where all the business of a typical Vietnamese market is conducted over water.
Visit Sam Mountain, a famous complex of dozens of pagodas and temples, some set in caves, whose construction reflects the area’s multicultural blend. Climbing the peak is more like a leisurely uphill stroll than mountaineering, but nevertheless the top offers amazing views of the delta’s pancake- flat, low-lying terrain.
Explore the town of Chau Doc, wandering among the narrow streets and visiting the main market, a bustling spectacle of buying, selling and haggling where your senses will be stirred by the colors, unusual fragrances and new tastes.
Cruise the “Three Rivers Crossing” in a traditional sampan. Visit authentic floating houses, a floating fruit market, and some of the area’s unique floating fish farms.
Meet with a local family at the market, choose ingredients for lunch, and return to their home to prepare your meal, eat together, and learn about their lives in this unusual environment.
Visit Phu Hiep, a community of the Cham people of Malay origin who are practicing Muslims. Phu Hiep has several mosques including the “Mubarak” mosque, which was a gift from the Egyptian president.
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