Trek along jungle paths, slopes and rivers atop an elephant in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and learn about daily life for members of its hill tribe villages.
5. THE HISTORIC PORT CITY OF HOI AN After visiting a local kindergarten, head south from Da Nang to Hoi An on the banks of the Thu Bon River. A busy international trading port from the 15th to 19th centuries, Hoi An is known for having preserved the traditional streets, temples and housing that reflect its multicultural heritage. Highlights include an 18th-century Japanese-style bridge with its own pagoda, the Phung Hung House and a riverside street market. Meals BD
6. HO CHI MINH’S CU CHI TUNNELS Take a morning flight to Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon. Stop first to visit the battlefield memorial site near Ben Duoc to learn about the tunnels of Cu Chi, the Viet Cong’s underground fortress beneath the jungles of South Vietnam. Dug by hand, the amazing network was begun during the country’s war for independence from the French, then expanded over time to include hospitals, bomb shelters and storage during the Vietnam War. Meals BLD
7. DISCOVERING THE CITY OF HO CHI MINH In the former Presidential Palace of South Vietnam, you’ll learn from a local expert about its role in the country’s history; it was renamed “Reunification Hall” after negotiations rejoined North and South in 1975. Next get an overview of the city’s key sights, including the U.S. Consulate, the former U.S. Embassy in Saigon which saw some of the crucial events of 1975; the grand Central Post Office designed by Paris’ Gustave Eiffel, and Notre Dame Cathedral, built by the French in the late 1800s. Meals BL
8. CAMBODIA’S ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE Fly to Siem Reap, Cambodia, for a two-night stay near the UNESCO World Heritage Centre of Angkor. This complex of ancient temples, built by the Khmer civilization from the 9th to 15th centuries, includes the remains of more than 100 stone temples, wooden palaces, public buildings and homes. The
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temple remains are astonishing architectural and artistic tributes to the Khmer people. Today’s visit will focus on Angkor Wat, an enormous temple consisting of five nested walls and moats, precisely oriented along the Earth’s north-south axis. Meals BLD
9. ANCIENT KHMER TEMPLES,CITY & TERRACE Your visit continues at Ta Prohm Temple, preserved within a stranglehold of centuries-old trees to give a sense of what the ruins might look like in the absence of modern conservation efforts; the ruins of the ancient city of Angkor Thom, including its Terrace of the Elephants, once a royal viewing platform; and the Buddhist Bayon Temple, hallmarked by more than 200 carved images of eerily smiling faces. Later, take an optional cruise among the floating villages of Tonle Sap Lake. Meals BLD
10. NORTH TO CHIANG MAI & DOI SUTHEP Fly to Bangkok this morning and on to Chiang Mai, Thailand’s “Rose of the North,” a modern city with an ancient artistic and cultural heritage. Your accommodations at the Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai feature a Lanna-style pavilion overlooking gardens, rice paddies and mountains. A scenic drive into Doi Suthep Nat’l Park includes a visit to the Buddhist temple, Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, overlooking Chiang Mai. Meals BD
11. TREKKING BY ELEPHANT IN A THAI FOREST Find yourself marveling at the dignified presence of these “beasts of burden” on a visit to a camp where you’ll have the opportunity to feed elephants and watch them bathe before they demonstrate the skills which have long made them valued workers in the teak industry. Then climb high aboard an elephant’s back – solo or with a companion – for a trek* through the forest. Meals BLD
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