8.00: Pick up at port gate. Depart for
Hanoi - the heart of Vietnamese nation, transfer takes 2.5 hrs.(using the new highway Halong - Hanoi)
Arrival at Hanoi, drive through bustling streets lined with French colonial style structures on your way to Ba Dinh Square to visit Ho Chi Minh complex where you’ll witness the impressive marble and granite tomb of the nation’s founding father – Ho chi minh final resting-place..
From there, take leisurely walk through tranquil carp-filled ponds and well-tended gardens leading to the humble stilt house, where "Uncle Ho" once lived & one Pillar Pagoda, which was founded by King Ly Thai To in 1049 - the structure is small but has become an important symbol for the people of Hanoi.
Next, visit to a Confucius temple -Temple of Literature founded in 1070 to honor Vietnam’s finest scholars. This place is considered Vietnam's first university, also referred to as Van Mieu, to educate Vietnam's royalty, mandarins and members of the elite.
Street food tour: Take walking tour that will introduce to you some of Vietnam’s finest authentic street foods. Our guide take you wandering to some typical places, market to get overview Vietnamese food, talking with artisan foodstuffs, street food vendors, stall holders, hear stories of the ingredients and history of Hanoi’s food culture and sample Northern Vietnamese cuisine. The menu has been chosen together between you and the guide from driving time to Hanoi. We will start with some light food such as fried sour spring rolls, crispy Hanoi “pillow” dumplings, varieties of sticky rice, Hanoi “ Pho” or “Bún chả” - one of the oldest favorites of north Vietnam cuisine … and finish the food tour at a nice coffee shop famous with the “egg coffee” in the Old Quarter.
After that, Visit Hoa Lo Prison - Known widely by the nickname ‘Hanoi Hilton’ given to it by the Americans during the Second Indochina War, Hoa Lo Prison was originally established by the French colonial government in 1896 for the purpose of detaining political prisoners and formed part of a northern network of ‘unjust and cruel prisons’. Many leading Vietnamese revolutionaries were incarcerated here during the French colonial period, Between 1964 and 1973 the prison’s inmates included several captured American pilots, notably Senator John McCain and Douglas 'Pete' Peterson, America’s first Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Enjoy half an hour trishaw (pericarp) ride through Old Quarter -This bustling area of narrow streets and alleys is home to literally thousands of small businesses and shopkeepers.
Alternative: Enjoy 45 minutes Water Puppet show, a unique Vietnamese art form depicting scenes from rural life...
Stroll around the Old Quarter discovering a number of Vietnamese handcrafts & shopping
Return to the cruise, drop off at tendered port at around 20h30 pm