Gate 1, a tour operator we have recommended before, wants you to know there are three capital cities in Vietnam, and it will take you there (and more) for as little as $2,059 this fall on a 12-day/10-night tour, airfare included.
The firm's 10-day tour, price noted above, is lower than usual by $300, a discount offered if you travel between September 8 and December 8, 2002. The package includes roundtrip airfare from Los Angeles to Bangkok and Vietnam, first class lodging, most meals, comprehensive sightseeing with entrance fees, plus the services of a tour escort in Vietnam and Cambodia, with local host service in Bangkok. Airport taxes and visa fees are additional.
The 15-day (13-night) itinerary starts at $2,699 after the discount. From December 15, 2002 through January 5, 2003, the per person price is $2,359 for the 12-day tour and $2,999 for the 15-day tour. On both tours, you visit Vietnam's three capitals and Bangkok, but only on the 15-day trip do you get to see Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat, until several years ago off limits to most western tourists.
Vietnam's three capitals are Hanoi (now the real capital but once capital of North Vietnam), Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon, then capital of South Vietnam) and Hue (the ancient royal capital), lying between the other two. The itinerary on both tours begins with two nights in Bangkok and an afternoon of sightseeing. You then fly to Vietnam, spending three nights in Hanoi, two in Ho Chi Minh City and a night each in Hue and the historic city of Hoi An. The last night on both tours is spent in Bangkok.
In Vietnam, you'll take a five-hour boat ride on Halong Bay (a World Heritage site), with its thousand islets and grottoes, take a boat trip on the Perfume River, and visit Hue's Forbidden City. In the former Saigon, you might enjoy the markets, the one-time presidential palace, and the underground tunnels built during the Vietnam War.
Those on the longer tour will call in at Cambodia's capital of Phnom Penh, then fly to Siem Reap, from where they will visit Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, perhaps the most exotic of all jungle monuments in the world.
There are low add-on costs to the fares from many U.S. departure cities. For more information, contact Gate 1 at their Web site, www.gate1travel.com, or by phoning 800/682-3333.