Your host this morning is one of the very best of these craftsmen. You will be shown the steps of the creative process, and you are encouraged to make a souvenir for yourself.
You will now proceed to visit a local fisherman’s family. We recommend that you use bicycles for this part of the excursion, although your vehicle will be headed to the same destination. The approximately 5-mile ride is on flat country roads with no traffic, and the scenery is extremely charming. At the end of the ride you will meet the friendly family and learn about their simple lifestyles, followed by a lesson in Vietnamese net fishing!
A very short drive after this will end at an organic farm, where again you will learn from the farmers on how they cultivate their crops. Enjoy some of their herbal tea and snacks, and then, if you so desire, participate in their daily activities for a little while.
From here you are driven back to your gorgeous lodging and you are at leisure for a couple of hours for lunch and relaxation at your resort, until your bamboo platform dining experience.
Bamboo Platform Dining Experience: At 4:30pm your Tour Director will escort you to the banks of the river. You will be assisted in boarding one of the Hoi An regions iconic basket boats for a short cruise. After a few minutes you will arrive at your destination – a large floating bamboo raft, situated on a beautiful secluded part of the river, surrounded by tropical nature. Butlers and other staff will feed you unique local cuisine and fresh vegetables. At the end of the evening, at about 8pm, you will be driven back to your resort.
Day 9: Hoi An – Da Nang – Saigon. (Breakfast) Check-out of your resort in the morning and you are driven to Da Nang airport where you will board the noon flight to Saigon. Upon arrival, there is a break for a late lunch if you so desire, as airplane food will have been served on your flight.
From the airport area you can go directly to your lodging in Saigon, or proceed to Cu Chi, located in the countryside north of Saigon – this decision will need to be made soon after you reserve your tour. This area is famed for its elaborate network of over 200 kilometers of three-story underground tunnels hand-dug by local people during the Vietnam War.
You have the option to experience climbing down into a tunnel and crawling around to get a taste of how the North Vietnamese soldiers (Viet Cong) lived during the latter part of the war. There are displays of weaponry that was used, as well as life-sized statues of the North Vietnamese soldiers depicting the lives they lived.
After this experience you are driven to Saigon where you are assisted with check-in at Vietnam’s most luxurious city hotel, the Reverie, also ranked as Saigon’s top hotel. You are in the heart of Saigon’s downtown (District 1), and restaurants, bars, and shopping are right at your doorstep, as are historical structures such as the Opera House. Located near the mouth of the Mekong, this city was once nothing more than swampland inhabited by a few Khmer people. Today it is Vietnam’s largest and most metropolitan city, with its official name - Ho Chi Minh City.