A morning city tour of dynamic Ho Chi Minh City, still called Saigon by many locals, takes in the former Presidential Palace, the Notre Dame Cathedral, Old Saigon Post Office, a lacquerware factory and Thien Hau Pagoda in the city's bustling Chinatown. In the afternoon visit the Cu Chi Tunnels, an incredible underground tunnel network constructed by Vietnamese resistance fighters during the long struggle for independence. Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.

Leave Ho Chi Minh City after breakfast and head south to Can Tho deep in the Mekong Delta. Break the journey at My Tho, 2 hours drive south of Ho Chi Minh City, to visit the ornate Vinh Trang Pagoda and a family-run rice-noodle factory. Arrive in Can Tho and check into hotel. Leave the hotel mid-afternoon for Thot Not 45km to the north of Can Tho. Visit the bamboo basket making hamlet of Long Thanh before continuing to the Thot Not Stork Sanctuary. Watch from a viewing tower above the tree tops as thousands of egrets and herons arrive to roost in the branches. Return to Can Tho in the late afternoon. Overnight in Can Tho.

After breakfast check out the hotel and head northwest to Chau Doc, situated on the Cambodian border. Transfer to hotel on arrival. In the afternoon take a boat visit fish farms where fish are bred in wooden cages suspended under floating houses on the river. Continue by boat to visit a village of stilt houses belonging to the Cham minority where colourful traditional textiles are woven on old wooden looms. Return to the dry land in time to drive up Sam Mountain to watch the sun set over the Cambodian border. Overnight in Chau Doc.

Leave Chau Doc after breakfast and head back towards Ho Chi Minh City via Vinh Long. Break the journey at Vinh Long to take a boat trip to visit Phan Thanh Giang Confucian Temple and the cottage industries of Cho Cua village. Visit a ceramic tile factory, a tofu and fish sauce factory, a blacksmith's, a roof thatcher's and a rice husking factory. Continue to Cai Be Floating Market and rejoin the car to drive to Ho Chi Minh City. Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.

Transfer to the airport to take 1 hour flight to Dalat, the city was established as a hill station at the beginning of the century, Dalat is reminiscent of an alpine town with its French chalets and pine forests. An afternoon of sightseeing in Dalat takes in the art deco former summer residence of Emperor Bao Dai, the old Dalat Railway Station, Xuan Huong Lake, the Central Market and Lam Ty Ni Pagoda where a Buddhist monk, Vien Thuc, produces his abstract paintings and writes poetry. Overnight in Dalat.

An early start for the drive northwards to Lak Lake, near Ban Ma Thuot. Arrive around noon and in the afternoon take a 45 minutes elephant ride through M'Lieng Jarai village and along the shore of Lak Lake. Take a pirogue (a canoe made from a hollowed out tree trunk) on the lake before retiring to Jun village for dinner. After dinner join in the traditional dancing and gong playing of the Jarai minority and try the potent local rice wine. Overnight in a basic but clean communal longhouse at the village or hotel in Ban Ma Thuot.

After breakfast at the village it is a scenic morning's drive down to the coastal plain and the beach city of Nha Trang. On arrival in Nha Trang transfer to hotel. An afternoon city tour includes the Po Nagar Cham Towers and Long Son Pagoda with its enormous white Buddha statue. Overnight in Nha Trang

Leaving for Ho Chi Minh City after breakfast, the road follows the coast southwards past salt ponds and vivid green rice fields. Break the journey at Phan Rang to visit the 13th century Po Klong Jarai Cham Towers perched high on a rocky hill surrounded by prickly pear cacti. Arrive in Ho Chi Minh City in the late afternoon and transfer to hotel. Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.