Washington and Lee University
Seasoned travelers to Vietnam recall lush landscapes checkered with a patchwork of rice fields, rural villages unchanged by time, a few teeming cities intent on 21st-century commerce, and the enduring tranquility of a Buddhist disposition toward life. Indeed, Vietnam is a country of great natural beauty, warm hospitality, extraordinary culture, and a deep history of which most Americans are unaware. In this ambitious 14-day exploration of Vietnam, we’ll have ample opportunity to savor the many fascinations of the country and to understand those places and traditions that recent history has often obscured.
We’ll begin in the capital Hanoi, a city designed by the French with treelined boulevards and colonial architecture. Here we’ll tour Ba Dinh Square, including the marble and granite mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, the Presidential Palace, and 1,000-yearold One Pillar Pagoda.We’ll also enjoy a full-day excursion to Ha Long Bay, a breathtakingly beautiful inlet dotted with 3,000 islands and islets and surrounded by a shoreline of limestone cliffs and hidden caves.Thereafter, we’ll fly to the ancient imperial capital of Hue, where we’ll cruise the Perfume River on a sampam to the lovely Thien Mu Pagoda, a Buddhist Monastery and one of the city’s most important sites. In Da Nang we’ll tour the acclaimed Cham Museum with its fine collection of sculpture and artifacts dating from the 7th to the 15th centuries. In Hoi An, a colorful village where cars are prohibited and ancient traditions still preside, we’ll enjoy a stroll through the Old Town, also a UNESCO World Heritage site; then in rural Hoa Chau, we’ll witness the daily life of a local farming community where rice paddies occupy every spare patch of ground, water buffaloes plow the fields, and villagers still ride their bicycles to market.
Following our flight to Saigon, we’ll continue by coach and ferry to the busy river port of Can Tho in the famous Mekong River Delta.We’ll spend two days exploring the maze of tributaries and floating markets of this vital river system before returning to Saigon for three days in Vietnam’s most vibrant city. An optional post-tour extension to Cambodia offers tours of Angkor Wat and the capital city of Phnom Penh.
Our journey through Vietnam is anticipated by a campus Alumni College, “Vietnam: A Retrospective,” in late June of 2009.
Download the complete itinerary and reservation form (.pdf)
