The essentials for this trip.
Cooee's most-booked Indochina itinerary, refined over 15+ years of running it. Three things to know before reading the day-by-day: it crosses three borders (we handle all visas), it works year-round but we operate Oct-Mar for the dry-season conditions at Angkor and Ha Long, and despite being our lowest-priced world tour, the inclusions match our other regions.
18 days, fully scoped.
Hotel category and meal plan listed for each day. "B" = breakfast, "L" = lunch, "D" = dinner. Days marked ✈ are inter-city flights (5 segments — all bundled). Days marked with country tags note the border crossings.
Welcome to Vietnam. Group transfer from Noi Bai International (HAN) to your Old Quarter hotel. Welcome pho dinner — meet your tour leader and fellow travellers. Pre-departure briefing on the days ahead.
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Temple of Literature (Vietnam's first university, founded 1070), Old Quarter walking tour with banh mi tasting. Evening water puppet show — the traditional Hanoi art form, 1000 years old.
Drive to Ha Long Bay (~3.5 hours). Board your overnight junk — converted wooden boat through 1,600 limestone karst islands. Kayaking, swimming, sunset deck dinner under the stars.
Morning Ha Long cave visit (Sung Sot — the Cave of Surprise). Drive back to Hanoi. Evening flight to Da Nang, transfer to lantern-lit Hoi An.
Old Town walking tour — Japanese Covered Bridge, ancient merchant houses, Cantonese assembly hall. Tailor visit (optional bespoke suit/dress order — 24-hour turnaround). Free afternoon. Lantern night-market evening.
Market shopping with chef, herb-garden visit, four-dish cooking class with a local family. You'll cook the staples — pho, fresh spring rolls, banh xeo, cao lau. Long lunch with the family. Free afternoon.
Fly Da Nang → HCMC. War Remnants Museum (a heavy but essential afternoon — Cooee briefs the day's emotional weight). Reunification Palace. Banh mi street-food crawl in District 1.
Drive to My Tho. Sampan boat through the delta channels. Cai Be floating market — produce traded from boat to boat, a centuries-old custom. Coconut candy workshop. Lunch with a delta family in their stilt-house garden.
Fly HCMC → Phnom Penh. Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. Evening Mekong cyclo (rickshaw) tour through old French colonial Phnom Penh. Welcome to Cambodia.
Choeng Ek killing fields and Tuol Sleng (S-21) genocide memorial. Emotionally heavy day — fully optional, with the alternative being free time at the Royal Palace and National Museum. Most travellers attend; we brief the day's gravity in advance.
Domestic flight to Siem Reap. Afternoon free for the Old Market and pub-street area. Apsara dinner show — traditional Khmer dance with set menu.
Pre-dawn 4:30am alarm. Tuk-tuk to Angkor Wat for sunrise reflected in the lily pond — the most-photographed scene in Asia. Bayon (the giant smiling-face temple) and Ta Prohm (the 'Tomb Raider' tree-engulfed temple) follow once the tour buses thin. Free afternoon.
Banteay Srei (the 'pink temple', 25km from main complex — exquisite carving). Pre Rup, less-visited outer circuit temples. Optional quad-bike sunset through rice paddies ($65 pp).
Fly Siem Reap → Luang Prabang. The colonial-era former capital of Laos — UNESCO-listed in its entirety. Night market and free evening for Lao food (tamarind-grilled fish, sticky rice).
Pre-dawn alms ceremony — silent procession of saffron-robed monks through the colonial-era town. Respectful participation, with full guidance from your guide. Royal Palace Museum. Wat Xieng Thong temple. Free afternoon.
Day trip to Kuang Si waterfalls — turquoise tiered pools, swimming option in the lower pools. Tat Kuang Si bear sanctuary visit (Lao moon bears rescued from poaching).
Slow-boat Mekong cruise upriver to Pak Ou caves — limestone shrine with 4,000+ Buddha images left by pilgrims over centuries. Whisky village stop on the way back. Sunset return down the Mekong.
Final farewell breakfast. Group airport transfer to LPQ. Most Brisbane connections via Bangkok or Singapore.
The moments that make this trip.
The experiences our travellers remember years later — the things you book this tour for.
Ha Long Bay overnight junk
Two-day, one-night cruise on a converted wooden junk through 1,600 limestone karst islands. Kayaking, swimming, sunset deck dining.
Hoi An lantern night
Old-town lantern festival night. Ancient merchant houses, tailors who can hand-make a suit in 24 hours, riverside food market.
Angkor Wat sunrise
Pre-dawn 4:30am entry to Angkor. The reflection in the lily pond before tour groups arrive. Followed by Bayon and Ta Prohm (the 'Tomb Raider' temple) once tourists thin.
Vietnamese cooking class
Hoi An morning — market shopping, herb selection, then four-dish class with a local family. Best pho lesson you'll ever have.
Mekong Delta floating market
Cai Be floating market by sampan. Coconut candy workshop. Lunch with a delta family in their stilt-house garden.
Luang Prabang alms ceremony
Pre-dawn alms ceremony — silent procession of saffron-robed monks through the colonial-era town. Respectful participation, with full guidance from your guide.
No hidden surprises.
A clear breakdown of what's covered. Indochina is famous for cheap-looking headline prices that quietly exclude inter-city flights, the Angkor temple pass, and visa support. Cooee bundles all of these — that alone is roughly $1,200 of value baked into the published price.
✓ Included in the tour price
- 17 nights 4-star centrally-located hotels plus 1 night converted-junk overnight Ha Long Bay
- All inter-city flights (Hanoi → Da Nang, Da Nang → HCMC, HCMC → Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh → Siem Reap, Siem Reap → Luang Prabang) — 5 flights, ~AU$1,200 value
- Daily breakfast plus 8 lunches/dinners as itemised
- All Angkor temple passes (3-day pass, ~AU$95 value)
- Ha Long Bay cruise: full board, kayaks, cave entry
- Vietnamese cooking class with market visit
- Mekong Delta sampan and family lunch
- Apsara dinner show in Siem Reap
- Visa application support for all three countries (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos)
- Expert local guides in every country (separate Vietnamese-, Khmer- and Lao-licensed guides)
- Group airport transfers (Hanoi arrival, Luang Prabang departure)
- All temple/museum entrance fees
- 24/7 emergency support
– Not included (typical extras)
- International flights to Hanoi / from Luang Prabang (typical AU$1,400 economy / $4,500 business via Singapore or Bangkok)
- Visa fees themselves: Vietnam eVisa $25 USD, Cambodia eVisa $36 USD, Laos visa-on-arrival $35 USD (~AU$150 total — Cooee handles the application paperwork)
- Travel insurance (mandatory)
- Optional: bespoke tailoring in Hoi An (suits from $250, dresses from $80), quad-bike Angkor sunset ($65), helicopter Angkor Wat ($199)
- Tipping: $5-8/day per guest for local guides (we brief fully — much lower than Africa or South America)
- Drinks at meals beyond included pairings; personal items
- Vaccinations: hepatitis A, typhoid, Japanese encephalitis (rural areas) recommended — consult travel doctor
2026 & 2027 departure dates.
Twin-share starting prices in AUD. Single supplement: from $895. Luxury upgrade (5-star hotels in cities, premium junk on Ha Long, Sofitel Phnom Penh): from $1,995 additional pp. We run dry-season departures only (October-March).
| Departure | Status | From (AUD pp) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2026 · 18 Oct | Available | $3,299 | Enquire → |
| Nov 2026 · 8 Nov | Few seats | $3,299 | Enquire → |
| Dec 2026 · 6 Dec | Few seats | $3,499 | Enquire → |
| Jan 2027 · 17 Jan | Available | $3,499 | Enquire → |
| Feb 2027 · 14 Feb | Available | $3,499 | Enquire → |
| Mar 2027 · 14 Mar | Available | $3,299 | Enquire → |
| Oct 2027 · 17 Oct | Open | $3,399 | Enquire → |
| Nov 2027 · 7 Nov | Open | $3,399 | Enquire → |
Reviews from this exact tour.
Our third Cooee tour and still the best value-per-day trip we've done anywhere in the world. Angkor Wat at sunrise is worth the 4:30am alarm. Hoi An by lantern light is extraordinary. Luang Prabang is the quiet highlight nobody told us about.
Solo at 35, slightly nervous about Asia for the first time. Cooee made it effortless — visa support before departure, local guides everywhere, the group dynamics fantastic. The Mekong floating market was a personal highlight.
Ready for Indochina?
From $3,299 pp twin-share. Lower price-per-day than any other Cooee world tour, same inclusions standard. Deposit of 20% confirms your booking. Speak directly to a Brisbane-based Asia specialist who has run this exact route.
Specific to this tour.
Enquire about Vietnam, Cambodia & Laos
Tell us your preferred departure month and any specific concerns (first-time Asia, dietary, mobility). We'll come back within 1 business day with availability, full itinerary PDF, visa briefing for all three countries, and a tailored quote — including international flight options from Brisbane.