Private transfer: Upon arrival in Ho Chi Minh City, you will be welcomed to Vietnam by your local guide and transferred to the Grand Hotel Saigon in a chauffeur driven car for a two-night stay.

Afternoon tour of Saigon: This afternoon, you will visit some of Saigon's historic landmarks, including the 1880's General Post Office and the former Presidential Palace which was once headquarters for the Saigon Government during the "American War". Next visit the late 19th century Notre Dame Cathedral, located in a peaceful part of the city, and finally the War Remnants Museum.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Grand Hotel Saigon (Deluxe Room)

Morning local life tour: Wake up early this morning and start your day like a real Saigonese does! Your guide will show you things that make Saigon so different compared to other parts of Vietnam, from the morning crowded street coffee places to the lively local outdoor markets where people shop for their daily needs. Your first stop is a Vietnamese bread stall which is believed to be the first bread stall in Saigon. Sit down together with the local people inside a small alley to enjoy this simple yet delicious breakfast. After breakfast, zig zag through the alleys and stop at a market for a cup of tea or coffee in Saigon’s oldest café. This coffee shop, now in its 78th year of operation, is something of a Saigon landmark. Meet the owner for a talk to learn how she makes coffee with such a special yet traditional method, a kind of “stocking coffee” which was originally the method of Chinese coffee vendors and involved a long, stocking-like fabric filter, a charcoal stove, and traditional clay pots. Continue to wind your way through nearby street markets to see how people bargain for fresh vegetables, seafood and other local delicacies. Carry on to the “flower alleys” – the biggest flower market in Saigon. Take the opportunity to see the colourful blossoms and interact with the sellers. Stop at some vendors to try some favourite Saigonese snacks and desserts such as sponge cakes and sweet soups before heading back to your hotel to freshen up.

Afternoon at leisure: This afternoon you have time at leisure in this bustling Asian metropolis. Relax at your hotel, or explore independently. Great shopping opportunities can be found in busy Ben Thanh market as well as numerous glitzy modern malls, while great food can be found on every corner either on the street or in a number of fantastic upmarket restaurants.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Grand Hotel Saigon (Deluxe Room)

Meals: Breakfast

Road journey to Can Tho, via Ben Tre: After breakfast, you will be met by your guide at the hotel and depart south into the Mekong Delta region. After 1-2 hours, you will stop in Ben Tre province in the heart of the delta. On arrival you will board a short cruise on the river, a great way to see local life. A stop will be made to visit a traditional brick workshop where people still make bricks by hand. At another point on the river you will disembark and be provided with a bicycle to set off with your guide on a gentle ride along the picturesque village roads. There will also be a stop to visit local gardens and fruit orchards as well as a visit to Mr Sau Khanh, a local character with an interesting collection of antiques and stories to tell. Lunch today is provided at a local restaurant and the excursion ends back at Ben Tre Pier at around 3pm, when you can continue your journey on to Can Tho, another 2-3 hour drive.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Victoria Can Tho Resort (Superior Room)

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Breakfast cruise to Cai Rang floating market: You will be picked up at the Victoria Hotel's jetty to board your private boat. Breakfast will be served on board as you approach Cai Rang, the largest floating market on the Mekong. The seemingly chaotic gathering is mostly large boats wholesaling vegetables and fruit, but there are also local traders selling groceries to the larger boats. Weave around the vessels and observe the frenzied trading from the comfort of your private boat. The cruise ends at around 10am where you will be dropped back at the Victoria Hotel's jetty.

Guided cycling tour around Ba Lang: After some time to relax back at your hotel set off by car and board a ferry to the rural village of Ba Lang, set in the heart of the Mekong Delta. After some time exploring, you will be provided with bicycles and taken on a leisurely 6km ride along narrow, shade covered village lanes, past fruit orchards and rice fields before reaching a garden, where you will  stop for some interaction with the locals and some snacks.  Then continue your ride back to the ferry, before returning to your hotel with your guide.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Victoria Can Tho Resort (Superior Room)

Meals: Breakfast

Road journey from Can Tho to Chau Doc: After breakfast this morning, set off by road to Chau Doc, with a short sightseeing stop on the way. At the village of Binh Thuy visit an ancient house that was the location for the classic French film “The Lover", directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. Continue south to Chau Doc, a busy town on the banks of the Hau Giang River close to the Cambodian border.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Victoria Nui Sam Lodge (Superior Room)

Meals: Breakfast

Guided tour around Chau Doc: Set out with your guide to explore village life around Chau Doc – either by car or on bicycles. First take a small sampan to a floating village, where you can observe a cottage industry of small fish farms raised under the floating houses. Continue across the river to a Muslim Cham village, where you will visit the local mosque and attached Arabic school. Next you will visit Sam Mountain, a popular pilgrimage site where you will find a large collection of Chinese, Cham and Khmer temples before returning to your hotel, where you have the remainder of the day free at leisure to relax.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Victoria Nui Sam Lodge (Superior Room)

Meals: Breakfast

Road journey to Ha Tien, via the Tra Su Forest: Set off early this morning and head south by road towards the Cambodian border at Ha Tien. After travelling around 20km from Chau Doc you will visit the Tra Su forest, a former plantation covering 850 hectares that was turned in to a wildlife reserve in 1983. There is a network of canals running through the flooded forest which provides a habitat for a variety of wading birds (including storks), turtles, snakes and freshwater fish. Explore this lush landscape in a long tail boat, paddled by a local guide. Drift through the vibrant green waterways whilst you keep an eye out for many bird species and aquatic life. In the centre of the reserve is a 20m watch tower where you can enjoy a panorama of the vast greenery dotted with the white of storks below. After your visit to Tra Su continue south to the Cambodian border near Ha Tien.

Road journey from Ha Tien to Kep: Having completed the border formalities at the Ha Tien / Prek Chak crossing into Cambodia, you will be met by your Khmer guide for the drive to Kep, a journey of around 1.5 hours.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Knai Bang Chatt (Sea View Room)

Meals: Breakfast

Morning tour of Kep’s markets and the Kampot Pepper farm: This morning your guide will meet you at your hotel and take you on a guided tour of the local markets. Witness the local fish market in action and then visit the fresh market to see the different types of fruit and vegetables that are cultivated in the region. Afterwards visit a local pepper farm where the famous Kampot pepper is being re-introduced to the region after years of dwindling interest in this fantastic spice. Return to the hotel around lunchtime and enjoy the rest of the day free at leisure.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Knai Bang Chatt (Sea View Room)

Meals: Breakfast

Hiking in Kep National Park: After breakfast this morning set off on a guided nature hike. Towering over the coastline is Kep National Park, a protected national forest with a well-marked 8km trail. The hike takes you through lush jungle in the hills, with spectacular views over the canopy and coastline. The length of today's walk is flexible, and a suitable route can be discussed and agreed with your guide.  At the end of your hike we would recommend stopping for a late lunch or early dinner at Kimly Restaurant for their excellent crab in Kampot Pepper sauce, and other fresh seafood dishes (payable locally).

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Knai Bang Chatt (Sea View Room)

Meals: Breakfast

Road journey to Phnom Penh with sightseeing: At a convenient time today, depart Kep and travel northeast to the capital, with sightseeing and a stop at Kampot en route. This quiet riverside town has bags of charm and is a lovely place for a stroll along the waterfront to absorb the faded glory of the French colonial architecture. The town is a centre of salt and pepper production, and also is famous for its fish sauce and durians - look out for the durian roundabout, as bizarre a landmark as one is likely to see.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Penh House Hotel (Deluxe Room)

Meals: Breakfast

Morning tour of Phnom Penh: Start your tour of Cambodia’s capital at the stunning Royal Palace complex, home to the Cambodian royal family and a symbol of the nation. Here you will see beautiful gardens landscaped with tropical plants and the Throne Hall where the royal receptions are held and the Cambodian king's coronation took place. Continue to the Silver Pagoda, named after the 5000 silver tiles covering the floor, each weighing 1kg. Inside are some of the country's most cherished treasures, including a life-size gold Buddha studded with 9584 diamonds, the largest weighing 25 carats.

Leave the Royal Palace and continue to the nearby National Museum, home to the world's finest collection of sculpture from the Angkor period. The exquisite building was completed between 1917 and 1920 and features a lush courtyard garden surrounded by collections from the pre-Angkor, Angkor and post-Angkor periods.

Finish your tour at Wat Phnom, which has become a symbol of the city. Located on one of the few hills in this pancake-flat capital, the first pagoda was originally built in 1373 to house Buddha statues discovered in the Mekong by a woman named Penh. This gives us the modern name of the city, Phnom Penh or Hill of Penh. Cambodians come to the shrine to pray for luck in love and life, employment and exams, so there it is always a bustling place.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Penh House Hotel (Deluxe Room)

Meals: Breakfast

Road journey from Phnom Penh to Battambang: After breakfast this morning, travel by road from Phnom Penh to Battambang, a journey of 180 miles. En route you will stop to visit Udong, capital of the Khmer kingdom between 1618 and 1866. Today Udong consists of a collection of temples and stupas containing the ashes of several kings, and precious Buddha relics. The ruins are sprinkled across two ridges and are generally very quiet - it is possible that you will have the site all to yourself. At the base of the ridge is a memorial to victims of Pol Pot, containing the bones of people buried in the 100 or so mass graves found in the area. On arrival in Battambang you will be taken to check in to your hotel.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Bambu Hotel (Superior Room)

Meals: Breakfast

Morning Soksabike cycling tour: After an early breakfast this morning you will be met by your guide and taken to the Kinyei Cafe in Battambang's colonial quarter for a coffee and briefing from your cycling guide. Set off on a half day bicycle tour of Battambang and the surrounding countryside that will offer an insight into the traditional livelihoods of rural Cambodians. The emphasis of the tour is to show the reality of life in rural Cambodia, and ensure that the visit makes a positive impact on the local communities – economically, socially and ecologically. The cycling guides are all Battambang locals, many of whom are students at the city's university, and they will encourage you to learn a few words of Khmer so that you can interact with the locals you meet. The trip stops at a rice paper making village, a wine making village, a village that makes Prahok (fermented fish paste) and a cake making village. The trail follows quiet, flat, partially shaded country roads and the total distance travelled is 25-30 km.

Afternoon tour of Battambang: This afternoon drive a short distance out of town to the Bamboo Train "station". The train comprises of a simple bamboo platform on four wheels with a small motor and was created by local villagers to facilitate the transportation of goods. Travel 8km on the train to the next village through beautiful landscape and rice paddies. On arrival at the village visit a workshop specialising in wooden sculpture. Please be aware that the bamboo trains do not have seatbelts and can travel at some speed, so you will need to maintain a firm grip on the side of the platform. Continue to the hilltop temple of Phnom Sampeau, a sacred mountain dotted with interesting pagodas and stupas. There is also a moving memorial to Khmer Rouge victims who were thrown into one of the many caves that pepper this holy mountain. Finish the tour with the dramatic spectacle of thousands of bats leaving one of the caves in streaming dark clouds as dusk descends (local conditions permitting).

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Bambu Hotel (Superior Room)

Meals: Breakfast

Private boat trip across Lake Tonle Sap to Siem Reap: This morning, depart Battambang on a private local boat journey across Lake Tonle Sap to Siem Reap on one of the most beautiful river journeys in Cambodia, a trip of between 6-7 hours. Enjoy views of the Cambodian landscape and the daily life along the river. See the incredible network of bamboo fish traps, areas of water hyacinth and pass the Prek Toal Biosphere where you may be lucky enough to see some rare large water birds. Travel across Lake Tonle Sap, which feels like a vast inland sea, until the journey ends at the floating village of Chong Kneas. From here you will be transferred to your hotel in Siem Reap by road.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Jaya House River Park (Deluxe Room)

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Cycle the backroads to Angkor:  Today you will set off explore some of the most impressive temples at Angkor on two wheels with your guide, taking advantage of back roads and jungle paths to get off the beaten path and experience Angkor without the crowds. Leaving Siem Reap early, you will use a forest path to avoid the traffic and wind your way past the walls of Banteay Kdei to the North Gate of Ta Prohm. The ‘jungle temple’ has been abandoned to the elements, a reminder that while empires rise and fall, the riotous power of nature marches on, oblivious to the dramas of human history. Left as it was ‘discovered’ by French explorer Henri Mouhot in 1860, the tentacle-like tree roots here are slowly strangling the surviving stones, man first conquering nature to create, nature later conquering man to destroy.         

You will then cycle on to Ta Nei, a small temple that has been forgotten in the jungle and sees few visitors. You will have to carry the bikes across an old French dam to cross the Siem Reap River before entering the immense walled city of Angkor Thom, the masterpiece of King Jayavarman VII, through the Victory Gate and continuing to the East Gate. You will then ascend the walls of Angkor Thom and ride around the southeast quadrant to stop at atmospheric Prasat Chrung, a seldom-visited temple overlooking the vast moat of Angkor Thom. Continue your cycling from South Gate to the Bayon and explore the main temples of Angkor Thom, including Baphuon, Phimeanakas, Preah Palilay, Terrace of the Leper King and Preah Pithu. Bayon temple is famous for its enigmatic faces of Lokesvara, the Buddha of Compassion, said to bear an uncanny resemblance to the great King Jayavarman VII himself. Baphuon is nicknamed the world’s largest jigsaw puzzle as the French took it apart stone by stone in the 1960s for restoration, only for all records to be destroyed by the Khmer Rouge. Cycling along the back paths to the lesser known temples of Angkor Thom such as Preah Palilay and Preah Pithu is a rewarding experience. Later you will head back to your hotel in town. Lunch today is included in a local restaurant during the tour.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Jaya House River Park (Deluxe Room)

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Full day tour of Kbal Spean, Banteay Srei & the Landmine Museum: This morning journey north to the Kbal Spean. The original ‘River of a Thousand Lingas’, Kbal Spean is an intricately carved riverbed deep in the foothills of the Cambodian jungle. The river flows down to the Tonlé Sap lake, and in ancient times its holy waters breathed life into the rice fields of the empire via the most complex irrigation system the world had ever seen. The Khmers venerated its limestone bed with a riot of carvings, including the delicate deities Vishnu and Shiva with their consorts. Lingams are phallic representations sacred to Hindus as fertility symbols and hundreds, perhaps thousands, are carved into the bedrock here. The carvings were only rediscovered in 1969 when French researcher Jean Boulbet was shown the river by a local hermit. A trip to Kbal Spean is one of the easiest ways to experience a short jungle trek in the Angkor area, as it is a steady but scenic climb to reach the river carvings. The path winds its way through knotted vines and big boulder formations and occasionally offers big views over the surrounding jungle. And there is a small waterfall below the carved riverbed, perfect for cooling off after the hot climb.

After Kbal Spean, continue to Banteay Srei, Angkor’s ultimate art gallery. This petite pink temple is the jewel in the crown of Angkor-era sculpture. The elaborate carvings here are the finest found in Cambodia and the name translates as ‘Fortress of the Women’, thanks to the intricate detail here, considered too fine for the hands of a man. Originally believed to date from the latter part of the Angkor period, inscriptions at the site suggest it was built by a Brahman in 967. However, some architectural historians have suggested that the inscriptions may date from an earlier structure on this site and the temple is in fact later, marking a high-water mark in Khmer sculpture.

On the way back to Siem Reap, you will stop to visit the Cambodia Landmine Museum and learn more about the scourge of landmines and the shadow they cast over rural communities in Cambodia with a visit to this flagship museum promoting mine awareness and education. The Landmine Museum displays a large collection of weapons of war, including guns, rifles, rocket launchers, mortars, bombs and landmines. The site includes a mocked up minefield and visitors can attempt to locate the deactivated mines. The museum is a rich resource of information about landmines and UXO with many educational displays detailing how certain mines are used and in what situations. There is also a DVD available telling the story of landmines and UXO in Cambodia and the disastrous impact they have had on the population. Not only a weapon of war, they are a weapon against peace. The Landmine Museum promotes land mine accident prevention awareness and public education; and provides educational facilities, programming and rehabilitation facilities for survivors of land mine injuries. It also provides education and support for dozens of at-risk, land mine-affected children who have suffered overwhelming hardships. The Cambodia Landmine Museum was created so that it might serve as a place of healing for bodies, hearts and minds.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Jaya House River Park (Deluxe Room)

Meals: Breakfast

Day at leisure: Today is at leisure to explore more of Siem Reap independently or relax at your hotel.

Private transfer: Late this afternoon, you will be met by your guide and transferred to Siem Reap for your Vietnam Airlines flight to Hanoi Noibai Airport. 

Flight: VN842 Siem Reap - Hanoi 20.30 - 22.25