THE EXPLORER:

The EXPLORER: Saigon/Mekong/CanTho/DaNang/HoiAn,
$2400/person or $4500/couple

Highlights:  This trip allows travelers to visit the big city of Saigon, the fertile countryside of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam's vibrant and friendly rice bowl capitol Can Tho, and several days in the historic UNESCO Heritage town of Hoi An.  Built in to the itinerary are several opportunities to meet the locals and engage with them as they live their daily lives.  

•  Navigate back alleys in Ho Chi Minh City to select eateries and cafes.
•  Sit down at a street stall and eat one of the best soups you'll ever eat.
•  Be well supplied with amazing photo opportunities.
•  Visit ancient Khmer ruins My Son Sanctuary near Hoi An, a Unesco Site.
*  Meet all manner of interesting locals and other travelers along the way.
•  Visit the ancient town of Hoi An, a hands-down favorite for most travelers.
•  Visit the rising-star city of DaNang, see a dragon-bridge that snorts fire (weekends only).
•  Stroll the riverbank at sunset, view the fishing boats coming in.
•  See the amazing Cai Rang floating market, the largest of its kind in Vietnam.
•  Visit the friendly Mekong Delta city of Can Tho and stroll along its bustling waterfront - take a photo with a giant Ho Chi Minh statue!
•  Take an excellent art tour in Ho Chi Minh City with museum/gallery visits.
•  Engage students who want to practice their English on you at the park.
•  Sip coffee with men who gather daily to socialize their caged birds.
•  Go with locals to karoake.
•  Go for a bicycle ride through the countryside with your camera.
•  Bargain like a pro at the many markets and street-stalls.

THE EXPLORER: 
ITINERARY - This trip can be booked with as little as 4 travelers. Departure is flexible Oct through Feb, please inquire about upcoming departure dates and/or putting together a small private group trip.

DAY 1 – SAIGON
•  Check in at hotel, relax, orientation to neighborhood – not like Kansas anymore.
•  Enjoy a spa visit after your long flight.
•  Gather for happy hour at rooftop bar & discuss evening activity options.
•  Dinner - Saigon streetside BBQ!
•  Enjoy the lively nightlife on Bui Vien Street near hotel.

DAY 2 - SAIGON
•  Rise early and enjoy coffee/soup stall pho with Dan (or buffet at hotel).
•  Sip coffee on a busy street corner and observe lively life of locals.
•  Visit a local wet market to see all that wiggles & squirms.
•  Explore your Pham Ngu Lao neighborhood.
•  Lunch then siesta.
•  Meet & chat with local students who are practicing their English, on you! (a trip participant favorite activity).
•  Visit famous Ben Thanh Market, home of everything (really). Dan will help you bargain like a pro.
•  Enjoy a fabulous nuoc mia (sugar cane juice), first one is on Dan!
•  Night market welcome dinner on Dan!
•  Absorb the vibrant Saigon nightlife street-side with a cold beverage of your choice.

DAY 3 - SAIGON
•  Rise early to have coffee near the fish market with Dan (optional).
•  Buffet breakfast at the hotel.
•  Visit a café full of men and their caged birds, both there to socialize with their respective species.
•  Walk though a lovely park & sculpture garden and see the historic Le Cercle Sportif. 
•  Consider visiting the War Remnants Museum (optional).
•  Visit a famous back-alley smoothie spot to cool down with a fresh fruit drink.
•  Lunch then siesta.
•  Enjoy a fantastic art tour at the HCMC Museum of Fine Arts.
•  Take an authentic cyclo ride to downtown, see Central Post Office, Notre Dame Cathedral for sunset.
•  Consider joining Dan for “adventure food night,” (if you dare).
•  Enjoy the lively nightlife in the Pham Ngu Lao neighborhood area.

DAY 4 – SAIGON
•  Rise early to eat bun bo hue with Dan on the street and sip coffee at the corner café (optional).
•  Buffet breakfast at the hotel.
•  Choose between a visit to the Cu Chi tunnels, Dam Sen water park, Vietnamese food cooking class, spa time, shopping or free time. 
•  Pack for following-day departure.
•  5pm - traditional water puppet show.
•  Dinner out on the town.
•  Enjoy the lively nightlife.

DAY 5 – SAIGON > CAN THO
•  Rise early to eat pho bo with Dan around the corner, then sip coffee & watch the scene (optional).
•  Buffet breakfast at the hotel.
•  Embark on Mekong Delta tour by van (4 hrs with stops)
•  Board a small boat to best reach the Mekong sights. (have your camera charged!)
•  Try rice-pancake making, see a family-run coconut candy workshop, visit the countryside folk.
•  Lunch with a local family then siesta in hammocks
•  Take a sampan ride through the mangroves.
•  Check-in at the hotel, go for a swim, freshen up.
•  Group dinner:  Can Tho BBQ!

DAY 6 – CAN THO
•  Early breakfast at the hotel.
•  Early transport to the world famous Cai Rang Floating Market, largest of its kind in Vietnam.
•  Visit a honey farm, see their bees, taste their honey-tea and sample their jelly.
•  Explore some back-door sights as we hop on & off our boat transport.
•  Lunch
•  Go for a swim at the hotel, freshen/rest up.
•  Seista at hotel.
•  Go get a foot massage down by the river.
•  Explore the riverfront esplanade & market, take a photo with a giant Ho Chi Minh statue.
•  Scope out an eatery that’s calling our name, & eat there!
•  Join some locals at a neighborhood drinkery and partake in a beverage with them.

DAY 7 – CAN THO > SAIGON > DA NANG
•  Buffet breakfast at the hotel.
•  Visit an ancient (and film-famous) Binh Thuy House, admire it’s French design, meet its friendly keeper.
•  Fly from Can Tho to Da Nang (1hr).
•  Check in at hotel, relax, meet for happy hour on the beach.
•  Enjoy local cuisine for dinner or join Dan at an award-winning burger place run by two Japanese guys - why not.
•  Enjoy the vibrant and fresh-air nightlife riverside in Da Nang City very near our hotel.

DAY 8  – DA NANG > HOI AN
•  Buffet breakfast at the hotel.
•  Sip a coffee at a traditional or modern café, many abound!
•  Visit the DaNang Museum of Cham Sculpture, stupendous!
•  Noon:  checkout and drive to Hoi An (30 min), enjoy an amazing marble art gallery along the way – you must see to believe.
•  Check in Hoi An, maybe grab a dip in the pool and then get town orientation from Dan.
•  Sunset happy hour and dinner near the river.
•  Cruise the colorful night market, score treasures (THE place to buy silk lanterns).
•  Enjoy Hoi An nightlife riverside.

DAY 9 – HOI AN
•  Buffet breakfast at the hotel, or…rise early and eat street food with Dan.
•  Join Dan at the Morning Fish Market (bring your camera).
•  Have coffee with new friends and experience getting to know them.
•  Walk through the Hoi An cloth market, buy a length of some fabric, take it to a tailor and get a custom shirt made in a day.
•  Hit the beach, it’s a 10 min taxi ride away.  Dan knows the best spots.
•  Lunch on one of the best banh mi sandwiches anywhere in the world.
•  Happy hour with friends at the river.
•  Bale Well banh xeo BBQ family style.  Come hungry.
•  Enjoy the Hoi An nightlife.

DAY 10 – HOI AN
•  Rise early to join Dan for coffee out on the street (optional).
•  Breakfast at the hotel.
•  Allow Dan to show you some active artisan workshops:  metalwork, ceramic, silk & needle work.
•  See silkworms make silk that’s then woven on a loom and dyed right there before your eyes.
•  Visit some tailors and consider their services:  made-to-measure clothing in a day (a must-do in Hoi An).
•  Eat lunch like the locals – Dan knows all the best spots.
•  Utilize your historic old-town-entrance ticket and visit the town’s heritage sights and ancient buildings.
•  Enjoy a meal in a local home with a Vietnamese family.
•  Meet friends and enjoy the Hoi An nightlife.

DAY 11 – HOI AN
•  Buffet breakfast at the hotel, or…rise early and eat street food with Dan.
•  Rise early and join Dan at the Morning Fish Market (bring your camera).
•  Have coffee with new friends and experience getting to know them.
•  Hit the beach, it’s a 10 min taxi ride away.  Dan knows the best spots.
•  Lunch then siesta.
•  Jump on a bicycle and cruise the mangrove trail through the countryside – Dan knows some fabulous routes.
•  Happy hour with friends at the river.
•  Bale Well banh xeo BBQ family style.  Come hungry.
•  Karoake anyone?, a lot of fun to do with some locals, Dan can arrange!
•  Enjoy the Hoi An nightlife.

DAY 12 – HOI AN
•  Buffet breakfast at the hotel …rise early and eat street food with Dan.
•  Self-select:  Marble Mountain,  My Son Sanctuary, cooking class, cycling tour, photo tour, beach…
• Consider a cycling cruise with Dan to some amazing countryside (Dan knows some top routes!).
•  Lunch
•  Comfort food night/non-Asian food – pick between Indian/Italian/Mexican, Dan vouches for each.
•  Enjoy your strolling the picturesque streets of Hoi An.

DAY 13  – HOI AN
•  Buffet breakfast at the hotel, or… rise early and eat street food with Dan.
•  Kick back at your favorite local café for a cup and a ponder.•  Cruise around with Dan, get your errands & to-do items handled, acquire those souvenirs.
•  Pack those bags.
•  Free afternoon to absorb your adventure, ponder the wonders of travel and wrap up any loose ends.
•  Beach time again?, especially if you want to go home with a tan!
•  Stroll the world-famous picturesque streets of Hoi An on your last evening in Vietnam.

DAY 14  – HOI AN
•  Buffet breakfast at the hotel, or… rise early and eat street food with Dan.
•  Kick back at your favorite local café for a cup and a ponder your travels.
•  Pack those bags.
•  Hotel check-out noon.
•  Transport to Da Nang airport for departure to home.

TRIP COST:  $2400/person, $4500/couple

INCLUDED:
•  Small group experience with no more than 8 travelers.
•  Dan will travel with you as companion, consultant & concierge.  
•  13 nights hotel (not including laundry, room service, mini-bar, etc.)
•  Travel insurance with MAJOR MEDICAL and emergency EVACUATION coverage.
•  Saigon Water Puppet Theater tickets
•  All group ground transportation.
•  1 inter-Asia flight > includes = 23 kg checked baggage and 7 kg carry-on.
•  Ho Chi Minh Art Museum admission.
•  3 day/2 night trip to Mekong Delta.
•  All breakfasts provided by the hotel.
•  2 lunches & 2 dinners
•  1 pre-arranged 30-day single-entry visa for a US citizen to enter Vietnam.
•  Entrance fees to Hoi An Old Town & War Remnants Museum in HCMC.
•  Welcome group dinner in HCMC on Dan!
•  Loan of an Android smartphone pre-loaded with a local cell service, your own personal phone number while in Vietnam (make phone calls and send text messages), contacts & handy apps.  
•  Unlimited pre-trip email & phone support with Dan to help travelers prepare.
•  Ground transport to/from DaNang/HoiAn.

NOT INCLUDED:
•  International airfare to Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) and home from Da Nang City (DAD), or, round trip to HCMC (SGN) and a domestic flight from Da Nang (DAD back to SGN at the end of the trip to catch your international leg home). 
•  Drinks
•  Meals (except breakfasts and 2 dinners + 2 lunches)
•  Laundry services.
•  Hotel bar or mini-bar charges.
•  Taxi trips outside of main itinerary activities.
•  Tips:  gratuities for guides & drivers.

ACCOMMODATION:
•  Based on Dan’s travel philosophy that emphasizes establishing an “oasis of calm” at the end of each day, we’ll be spending a large portion of the overall trip budget on convenient & comfortable hotels with all the amenities you’ll need to feel safe & well pampered.  Most hotels will have pools & gyms, all have nice lobbies & bars.  Receptionists speak English and there’s security at the door.

FLIGHTS:
•  Our trip consists of one domestic flight, which is included with your trip cost.  Air travel within Vietnam is booked on Vietnam Airlines, a world-recognized and reputable airline with an excellent safety record.  You are allowed 7 kilos of carry-on (15 lbs) and 23 kilos of checked baggage (50 lbs).  Please let us know in advance if you plan on needing an upgrade on your checked baggage allowance.

DEPOSIT:
• Please either use this site or contact Dan directly to book this trip via a 1/3 down payment, thank you. Visa/MC/Discover, Google Pay, Venmo, PayPal, checks, money orders accepted.

BOOKING TERMS:
•  At least 1/3 of the trip cost is required when booking - this deposit will hold your space - please try and pay the rest prior to 45 days before departure, thank you. Once a deposit is received, you then risk 33% of the overall trip cost if you cancel.  If you cancel within 30 days before a trip starts, you forfeit 50%, within 15 days 100%. 

• Payments may be made on this website or via Paypal (to GSideas@gmail(dot)com), or by check/money order to our mailing address:  Sure Flaneur Travel, P.O. Box 777, Port Townsend, WA 98368, USA. Venmo, Google Pay are also available methods, please inquire. You may also phone in a visa/mc/discover number to our secure voicemail number (206-713-567(eight)) and leave your 16 digit number, expiration and 3 digit code.  Phoned-in payments will appear as "Groussman Studios LLC," whereas payments through this site will appear as "Sure Flaneur Travel" on your statement.