Culinary Culture Trip to Vietnam!

Vietnam Culinary Cultural Trip March 11th-20th, 2018 Total Price $2300 per person, with a deposit due upon booking of $1150 per person. We start the trip in Hanoi and end in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)  Airfare is not included in the tour price. Balance of $1150 ea due September 1, 2017

Itinerary: 

March 11th Day 1: Arrive in Hanoi where our guide will meet you at the airport and transfer you to our Hotel.  

Day 2: Enjoy a biking tour that explores Hanoi's spectacular surrounding countryside.  Cross floating pottery villages on the banks of the Red River and view lush rice paddies at every turn.  After touring the countryside, return to the hotel in Hanoi and get ready for an afternoon walking street food tour with a local food expert where we'll be sampling different dishes, visiting the city's famous 'wet market' and discovering the old quarter. 

Day 3: We'll join a local chef trained by the City's famous Ms Tuyet at her family home to have a hands-on cooking class of North Vietnamese dishes.  After learning Ms Tuyet's grandmother's family recipes, we'll feast on the lunch we've learned to prepare.  We'll then depart for our flight to Ho Chi Minh City in the afternoon and settle into our hotel.

Day 4: Our first day in Ho Chi Minh City has us learning southern style dishes at the hands of a local chef who will teach us at one of the city's culinary schools in a downtown historic building at the Hoa Tuc Cooking School. After a quick respite at the hotel, we'll spend the afternoon touring a couple of museums learning about Vietnamese culture and history.  We'll finish the day's activities at the home of Mrs. Tuyet Mai and Mr Dinh Linh, who studied music and art at the National Academy of Music.  They will show us traditional Vietnamese musical instruments, play for us and even give us lessons on the instruments. 

Day 5: Today we will depart for the Mekong Delta and arrive in Ben Tre Province and take a ride on the back of a xe-loi, a combination of two seat cart and motorcycle, through the paths, coconut palms and fruit farms.  We'll meet up with the 'Mango Cruise' and venture through the canals to visit local workshops and depart the cruise to hop on bicycles to visit Phong Nam village visiting a home where they process coconut by hand and then on to a rice noodle factory.  We'll then visit a family that lives on fishing and shrimp farming, exploring the winding maze of canals in the area. Back on board the Mango Cruise, we'll continue on to the Mango Home Stay where we'll dine on local dishes for lunch. After lunch and learning about rice paper and sticky rice production, we'll make our way to our boutique hotel on the Delta, the Island Lodge on Thoi Son Island (Unicorn Island), where we will be treated to splendid tranquility at the lodge. 

Day 6: Enjoy a short boat ride on the Tien River to meet our guide to take us on a 5 mile mountain bike tour of the area, through lush agriculture, stopping at a cacoa plantation, where the farmer will show us the planting, harvesting, and fermenting process of cacoa before it gets made into your favorite chocolate treat! After meandering through coconut palms, and rice paddies along the shaded paths of the delta, arrive back at the Lodge to freshen up and even take a dip in the pool before our lunch and afternoon departure. (roads along the bike path can be rough and muddy.  You may choose a less active morning and walk around the area upon request) Transfer back to Ho Chi Minh City.

Day 7: Start the day along side a local chef who will take us on a 'secret' street food tour.  We'll hop on the back of motorbikes, driven by experienced professional drivers as we wind our way around the city, sampling the local food. Get ready to try many local dishes you won't find on the average tourist plate!  Transfer back to the hotel in the afternoon and depart by plane to Phu Quoc Island.

Day 8-10 Spend the next two days and nights relaxing at the Mango Bay Resort on the beautiful tropical island of Phu Quoc.  We learned from our last tour of Vietnam, that a couple of days finishing up with laying on a beach and eating the freshest seafood grilled next to the waves is the perfect way to wrap up the tour. Enjoy the tropical end to the trip at also one of the best resorts on the island known for their food. We wouldn't have it any other way!

Day 10: Depart for arrival to Ho Chi Minh City and your flight home.

Info and disclosures:  Hotels: Hanoi: The Ann Hotel, Ho Chi Minh City: Liberty Central Riverside Hotel, Mekong Delta: The Island Lodge on Thoi Son Island, Phu Quoc: The Mango Bay Resort.

You will need to arrange a visitors visa in order to be allowed entrance in to Vietnam.  It is recommended but not required that you receive certain common travelers vaccines, please inquire with your health care provider. The price of the trip includes hotels, transfers, domestic Vietnamese flights during the tour and meals provided in the daily itinerary.  There may be meals that are an independent cost outside of our planned meals. (We've never gone hungry on our tours, however!) In the event you cancel your registration, $200 is non refundable at time of booking.  The full deposit is non-refundable after September 1, 2017. Itinerary details subject to change. 

Please Contact PCW's co-owner and trip organizer, Susana with any questions you might have.  [email protected]