A Taste of Vietnam - Halong Bay to the Mekong Delta

A really interesting trip with lots of variety, and several opportunities to help with preparing food, as well as trying the many tasty dishes. Visiting during TET made it a different experience from normal, a lot of places were closed for the holiday, but we enjoyed the colourful lights, flower displays and fireworks, and saw in the New Year with the hotel owners family. Our tour leader, Thin Ton, had to rearrange some things but he was very efficient, as well as being good company. It would perhaps be helpful to advise visitors travelling at this time of year that there may have to be changes to the itinerary, although I felt that the advantages outweighed the disadvantages.

This is a fantastic tour which covers many food experiences as well as culture, history and scenic areas. It is a packed itinerary, but very well organised. The food experiences ranged from street food tours, cooking and food prep, meals with local families, banquet, organic farm visit, markets, local delicacies demos etc - were all highly enjoyable. The tour guide, Bac, was outstanding and worked tirelessly to ensure the trip went perfectly. We had quite a lot of rain between Hanoi to Hoi An - during December - so bring quick drying gear if you have. If you have time, I'd recommend you turn up 1 or 2 days earlier in Hanoi, to allow some relaxing time to enjoy this city before the start of the tour, as the tour only spends 1 night in the hotel there. I would highly recommend this tour - especially if you like to combine sight-seeing with enjoying and learning about the fantastic culinary aspects of this country.

This was my first visit to Vietnam and my first experience with Explore. Everything Explore offered was just great - excellent pre-travel advice; knowledgeable and friendly in-country guide; great accommodation and food throughout the tour. I have no hesitation at all in recommending Explore to anyone looking for an insightful introduction to countries with which they may be unfamiliar. Looking right now for my next Explore adventure.

Moira and Charlie would like to thank Explore and especially Bac, our tour guide for an amazing food and history tour of Vietnam. This tour has far exceeded our expectations. All of the accommodations were very nice and comfortable, especially the beautiful homestay and the very kind family. The transportation and drivers were excellent. We would especially like to thank Bac for everything he did for us. He is a very professional and knowledgeable tour guide. He went above and beyond the duties and responsibilities of a tour guide to make this trip so special and enjoyable for us. He was always courteous, helpful and friendly. His knowledge, experience and professionalism exceeded any tour guide we have had with any tour company. He was able to answer all questions asked to him and explained in detail so much about Vietnam history, its people, food and culture.

Our gastronomic trip to Vietnam was excellent. We experienced a very wide range of food and in a wide range of locations. We tried street food in Hanoi and Saigon, ate the freshest fish and seafood on boat journeys and had a delightful meal home-cooked by a family. We helped prepare food in several places including spring rolls, savoury pancakes, and Vietnamese bean cake. In addition to eating (lots) there was plenty of time to experience ancient historical sites and to scratch the surface of the relatively more recent wars that the country has suffered. Our tour guide, Hung, was excellent. He had a great sense of humour and was one of the best guides we have experienced. We were a small group - only 4 of us. We got on really well, meeting as strangers but parting as friends, including our guide. A great trip all round and would thoroughly recommend.