Private Tour: 11 Days Vietnam War Memory

Pick-up at Noi Bai International airport. Transfer to your hotel. Overnight in Ha Noi.

We will pick you up at your hotel and drive to the historic complex of Ba Dinh. Visit Ba Dinh Square, where the former Vietnam President Ho Chi Minh read the Vietnam’s Declaration of Independence on 2 September 1945. Visit Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum and One-Pillar Pagoda - a must-see monument in Ha Noi. One-Pillar Pagoda is an ancient Buddhist pagoda. Supported by only one pillar and resembling a lotus blossom, it was built in the early 11th century during the reign of King Ly Thai Tong. We will also visit Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature), the first Imperial school in Vietnam built in 1070 during the dynasty of King Ly. Lunch will be served at a local restaurant. After lunch, we will pay a visit to the Women’s Museum; listed among Asia’s top 25 museums (closed on Mondays). The museum honors Vietnamese women throughout history and includes displays of recent history as well. Exhibits include: “Women and Ethnicity”, “Women and the National Struggle”, “Vietnam Women’s Association and Feminism”, “Women and Traditional Costumes” and “Women’s Cultural Traits Expressed Through Handicrafts”. Then we take a cyclo (pedicab) ride around the “36 meandering streets” of Ha Noi’s historic Old Quarter and visit Tran Quoc Pagoda as well as Quan Thanh Temple. Overnight in Ha Noi.

After breakfast at the hotel, transfer to Noi Bai airport to go to Dien Bien Phu. Upon arrival at Dien Bien Phu airport, pick up and transfer to the hotel. Check in and relax. In the afternoon, we will walk around town to visit Dien Bien’s cemetery and museum, as well as explore the local market. Some of 15,000 Viet Minh Soldiers who were killed during the war were buried at this cemetery and this well-laid-out museum, contained in a space-agey modern structure, features an eclectic collection that commemorates the 1954 battle. Alongside weaponry and guns, there is a bath-tub that belonged to the French commander Colonel de Castries, a bicycle capable of carrying 330 kilograms of ordinances, and photographs and documents, some with English translation. Overnight in Dien Bien Phu.