Vietnam > Ho Chi Minh City > Tour

Highlights:
Our tailor-made Vietnam vacations in the Central Highlands are unusual tours. They include impressive waterfalls, primitive forest, crossing Lak Lake by elephant, travelling by train to the north-west mountains, E De, Gia Rai and Ba Na ethnic minority villages, ?rong? commune houses, river rafting, hiking, stilt houses and homestays

Your tailor-made Vietnam holiday tour begins with .......
.........two days in Buon Ma Thuot. From Ho Chi Minh City, you?ll arrive at Buon Ma Thuot in the late morning. Once you?ve checked into your hotel and eaten lunch, it?s off to two large waterfalls in strikingly different locations.

After dinner, a gentle stroll takes you to an interesting E De village to hear traditional music and drink local rice wine. On the following morning, Lak Lake, a dugout canoe, M?lieng village and an elephant, complete with a rough open howdah and a mahout, await you. Definitely a photo opportunity!

Meals: one breakfast, two lunches and two dinners
Guide: from airport to dinner on the second day

Two days in Pleiku.
A 200km drive on a decent road takes to Pleiku, lunch and Pleibloum village. You can wander round this friendly Gia Rai ethnic minority village, meet the people, paddle in the river and enjoy the views before a barbeque dinner. Four Ba Na ethnic minority villages are the following day?s activity. They?re very friendly communities ? feel free to wander into houses to say hello! Both nights will be in local stilt houses.

Meals: two breakfasts, two lunches and two dinners
Guide: both days

Two days in Kon Tum, back to Pleiku for a day, and then back to Ho Chi Minh City
A short 50km drive, and you?re in Kon Tum. Your first visit is the town and its two churches. Then it?s a short trip to Konkotu village and a reasonably gentle 6km forest hike to a hanging bridge and the Dak Bla River. An inflatable boat will be waiting for you ? the return trip is by ?rafting? down the river, stopping for a picnic lunch.

Don?t expect white water, thrills and spills ? the experience is silently gliding through splendid scenery. If you do manage to fall in, your guide will be ready to take the hero (or maybe heroine) role, but as the river?s quite shallow, it probably won?t be necessary.

After a night in the village ?rong? house, and a short drive back to town, you?ll drop in at the local orphanage (it?s a ?feel good? experience ? the children are friendly and delighted to have visitors) before heading to PleiPhun, another Gia Rai ethnic minority village with a good cemetery. Visiting the dead sounds a bit grim, but most people find it a fascinating experience. Then it?s back to Pleiku for the night and your return flight in the morning

Meals: three breakfasts, two lunches and one dinner
Guide: two days

Our prices include:

• Breakfast and accommodation sharing a twin or double room.
• Pick-ups and transfers by private air-conditioned vehicle as specified in the itinerary above (Please note: pick-ups will be by a guide and driver or, where a guide is not necessary, a driver only. All unaccompanied drivers will be briefed in advance, and will carry a mobile phone to ensure smooth transfer arrangements)
• Domestic flight tickets: Ho Chi Minh City - Buon Ma Thuot, Pleiku ? Ho Chi Minh City, including domestic airport taxes.
• Elephant ride and dingy ?rafting' as specified in the programme.
• Travel in an appropriate private air-conditioned vehicle with an experienced safe driver.
• The services of experienced English-speaking guides as indicated in the itinerary (please note: guides will be on hand from pick-up until guests' return to their hotel or reaching their destination). Free days or part days will not include the services of a guide unless requested and included in the final itinerary.
• Where necessary, entry fees for all visits as mentioned in the programme.
• Lunches and dinners (as specified in the itinerary) in the best local restaurants, or picnics where no suitable restaurant is available.
• VAT and other taxes