VIETNAM WAR REMNANTS SITES

Welcome to Ho Chi Minh – Vietnam!
Upon arrival at Tan Son Nhat Airport, our guide will be waiting for you to take you to hotel. 
Ho Chi Minh City, still called Saigon by many locals, is a center of commerce, finance, culture and tourism in Vietnam. This bustling metropolis, contradiction of its northern counterpart, is crowded with bikes and motorbikes, excited by numerous shopping area and sidewalk café. 
Overnight  in Ho Chi Minh.
 

Breakfast at hotel. 
We’ll discover Saigon's historic landmarks including the Independence Palace, also known as Reunification Palace, this was home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the American War until the Fall of Saigon Government on April 30, 1975, when a Vietnamese Army tank crashed through its gates.
Move on to War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City first opened to the public in 1975. Once known as the 'Museum of American War Crimes', it's a shocking reminder of the long and brutal Vietnam War.  Graphic photographs and American military equipment are on display. There's a helicopter with rocket launchers, a tank, a fighter plane, a single-seater attack aircraft. You can also see a conventional bomb that weighs at 6,800kg. American troops had used these weapons against the Vietnamese between 1945 and 1975. 
Next visit the FITO Museum, it is the first museum of Vietnamese medicine. On display are nearly 3,000 items dating back to the Stone Age. Exhibits include tools used to prepare medicine, knives, mortars and pestles, documents and objects from a traditional pharmacy. The museum regularly screens a documentary about the history of medicine. Continue visiting to the 1880's General Post Office and the late 19th century Notre Dame cathedral, located in a peaceful part of the city.  
Ending at Ben Thanh Market or House of Saigon for shopping and café. 
will visit Cholon (China Town). Explore the highlights of this fascinating area at Thien Hau Pagoda, build by the Cantonese congregation and dedicated to the heavenly goddess.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh. 
 

Breakfast at hotel. 
Morning, transfer to visit the famous Cu Chi Tunnels, an incredible underground tunnel network constructed by Vietnamese resistance fighters during the long struggle for independence. The Cu Chi Tunnel system had been created long time back, from 1948 to assist Viet Minh in the combat with French. And it was continuing built over 25 years later. It was an underground city with living areas, kitchens, storage, weapons factories, field hospitals, command centers. In places, it was housed up to 10,000 people who virtually lived underground for years.... getting married, giving birth. During the American War the entire area of Cu Chi was designated a free fire zone and was heavily bombarded. From 1988, two sections of tunnels have been open for visitors.

Get back to City centre in the afternoon,  explore the secret basement in a hundred-year-old building in Saigon, located in Ho Chi Minh Museum (Ly Tu Trong Street, District 1). 

Go on to discover the Weapons Tunnel  of the Saigon Rangers (Saigon Special Forces) which located at 287/70, Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City used to be the hiding place of weapons, containing nearly 2 tons of weapons to prepare for the Tet Offensive 1969. After the battle, the house fell into the hands of the United States, but the United States did not know there was a weapons vault underneath.

Transfer to a coffee shop right at the historical relic Secret Box and tunnel of the Saigon Rangers. In here, you can just drink coffee, just explore the traces of the forces of the ‘legend’ in the past.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh. 

Breakfast at hotel. 
An early morning start to drive along the highway No 1 towards Bien Hoa and Long Binh, the former USARV (The U.S. Army Republic of Vietnam) head quarters.  Long Binh Post was located on the east of Đồng Nai river, 20 km northeast from Saigon (now called Hồ Chí Minh City). The base functioned as a U.S. Army base, logistics center, and major command headquarters for United States Army Vietnam (USARV). Long Binh Post was 7 km southeast from Biên Hòa Air Base. Long Binh Post was also unofficially known as "Long Binh Junction, influenced by the widely used initials of then-President Lyndon B. Johnson.

By mid-1967, United States Army, Vietnam (USARV), 1st Logistical Command and many other Army units dispersed in Saigon were moved to Long Binh Post to resolve centralization, security, and troop billeting issues. Long Binh Post was a sprawling logistics facility and the largest U.S. Army base in Vietnam, with a peak of 60,000 personnel in 1969.
 
The Viet Cong attacked the Long Binh ammunition supply point on 4 February 1967 destroying at least 15,000 high explosive 155 mm artillery projectiles. The base was attacked again during the Tet Offensive as well as 1969.

This area now is transformed into industrial parks developed by foreign investment. Along the way we also have a chance to make stop over Di An and Bear Cat. Turning southeast we are using slightly different route passing by the 11th Armored Cave’s former headquarters and Xuan Loc, the site of the last fierce ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) /NVA (the Army of the Republic of Vietnam) battle in 1975 before the fall of Saigon. 

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh. 
 

Breakfast at hotel. 
Check-out the hotel and leisure until our driver come to pick you to Tan Son Nhat airport for departure flight to Hue. 
Upon arrival at Phu Bai airport in Hue, pick up by our local guide and driver. 

We travel up the route No 9 to Khe Sanh Combat Base - was a United States Marine Corps outpost south of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) used during the Vietnam War.  Khe Sanh is the site of the most famous siege of the American War, the USA’s Khe Sanh Combat Base was never overrun, but saw the bloodiest battle of the war. About 500 Americans, 10,000 North Vietnamese troops and uncounted civilian bystanders died around this remote highland base. It’s eerily peaceful today, but in 1968 the hillsides trembled with the impact of 1000kg bombs, white phosphorus shells, napalm, mortars and endless artillery rounds, as desperate American forces sought to repel the NVA.

On arrival at Khe Sanh Base we have time to stroll around to visit some of the many battle sites and military camps. There were all but partly cleared by villagers. Move on to Khe Sanh Combat Base Museum, visit the once iconic Ta Con Airport, now the, contains a boneyard of several captured U.S. tanks and aircraft destroyed during the Battle of Khe Sanh. According to the official accounts provided by the museum, 197 U.S. planes were shot down or captured during the 170-day battle.
 
Overnight in Dong Ha.   

Breakfast at hotel. 
This morning, we transfer to The Vinh Moc Tunnels is a steel fortress helped North Vietnam army to fight against the Americans during the Vietnam War and helped the civilian population to protect themselves from the American bombing (period of 1965 – 1972).
Visit the Hien Luong Bridge over Ben Hai River, Truong Son National Martyrs cemetery, Con Co island stack rock pile and the tunnels and museum of Vinh Moc.
Visit Quang Tri citadel on the bank of river Thach Han was the site of fierce battles during the US war in Vietnam. The site became the tomb of tens of thousands of Vietnamese soldiers who sacrificed their lives for national liberation. The site now attracts many foreign and Vietnamese tourists.
Visit some other military bases, which today is jungle and war machine abandoned, e.g. military bases Con Tien, Doc Mieu, and camp Carroll.

Transfer back to Hue. 

Overnight in Hue. 
 

Breakfast at hotel. 
From Hue, transfer to Danang over the Hai Van Pass & My Khe beach. Stop at Red Beach where the first U.S. combat marines landed in 1965.  The Red Beach of Da Nang is now known as Xuan Thieu Beach. This is a historic landmark – in 1965, American Marine Corps landed here, beginning the US “Local War” strategy in Vietnam. Before 1975, this Xuan Thieu beach was reserved for US troops because it was a military zone, a field of airfields and US military warehouses and defense systems protecting the city of Danang from the north. US soldiers called Xuan Thieu beach “Red Beach” – perhaps because of the visual sense of sunrise and sunset, red water reflected in the sea.
On the way, visit Nuoc Man Base Air - Old Airfield, Nguyen Van Troi Bridge built by the US, now named for VC martyr who tried to blow up former Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara.

Then we visit Marble Mountain - a cluster of five marble and limestone hills. 

After that, we visit Museum of Cham Sculpture in Danang , this is the largest exhibition of Cham sculpture in the world, the museum displays almost 300 terracotta and stone works of art ranging from the 7th to the 15th centuries.

Visit Linh Ung Pagoda, where exists the highest Goddess of Mercy Statue of Viet Nam. The pagoda offers stunning views of Danang beach and Cham Islands in the distance. 

Overnight in Danang. 
 

Breakfast at hotel. 
From hotel in Danang, transfer to Tam Ky to visit Ky Anh tunnels  which played a vital role in the American war . 
Then, visit Statues of Vietnamese Heroic Mother  -  The statue, which stands 18.6m high and is 120m wide at its base, is the biggest statue of its kind built in Vietnam. The statue resembles "Heroic Mother" Nguyen Thi Thu, who was from Dien Thang Commune, Dien Ban District, in the province and whose 11 children and grandchildren all died in Vietnam's liberation fight. 
Move on to visit Dien Ban museum , which is the earliest district museum of Quang Nam province, as well as in the country, with 500 pictures, photos, exhibits in the period before 1930 and from 1930 to 1975 of Dien Ban district. Today, the museum was more than 1000 exhibits, with many type of rich and diversity.

Transfer directly to Hoi An to have an overview about Hoi An ancient town. The ancient architecture of Hoian is a fascinating combination of Vietnamese traditional characters with Chinese and Japanese influence. There are plenty to see in this delightful town, some of which are the famous Japanese Covered Bridges, the Pottery Museum, the 200 years old Tamky House, the Chua Ong Pagoda, the vibrant market. Today we include these on a walking tour past many low tiled houses scattered along the small streets and assembly halls which reflect the town's multi-cultural past. We also have time to stroll around many shopping areas.

Transfer back to Danang. 

Overnight in Danang. 
 

Breakfast at hotel. 
Transfer from hotel to My Lai (Son My) Massacre Memorial (around 3 hours driving – 160km). Take a look back at the darkest days of the Vietnam War with a tour to the village of Son My, site of the infamous My Lai Massacre. With a chance to meet with the village's people, plus a visit to the museum dedicated to the event and its victims, you can see the stark legacy that the violence left behind. Your guide introduces you to the place that suffered one of the largest 20th-century massacres of civilians by United States soldiers in March 1968. With insightful commentary, you retrace the story of how a hunt for Viet Cong soldiers in the aftermath of the Tet Offensive devolved into the indiscriminate killing of more than 300 unarmed townspeople. 

Transfer to Chu Lai airport, Chu Lai Airport (IATA code VCL) is an airport in Quang Nam province , located in Chu Lai open economic zone . During the Vietnam War , this was the Chu Lai Air Base of the Republic of Vietnam Air Force and the United States Air Force . On February 22, 2004, the passenger terminal was started construction. On March 22, 2005, the first commercial flight from Tan Son Nhat landed here.

Flight from Chu Lai airport in Quang Ngai province to Ho Chi Minh City. 
Via suggested flight VJ369 21:55 VCL 23:15 SGN
Upon arrival, transfer to hotel for check in. 
Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City. 
 

Breakfast at the hotel. 
If your flight is in the  afternoon, you will have a half day more for the sightseeing and shopping before the departure till check out time and transfer to the airport for the departure flight back to your sweet home. End of service!
Please note: Hotel Check-out time is around 12.00.