Notre Dame, Saigon

VIET NAM
March 17 - 26, 2007

ITINERARY:

March 17 (Saturday): Leave Honolulu for Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Viet Nam

March 18: Arrive in Saigon at night.

March 19:
*Morning: Take a short excursion to visit the former U.S Embassy, The Unification Hall (Old Presidential Palace), The War Museum.
*Afternoon: Notre Dame Cathedral built in the French occupation and Mai Lien Orphanage, the orphanage founded by Catholic nuns.

March 20:
*Morning: From Saigon, drive West to Tay Ninh City to visit Cao Dai Temple (Holy See Temple) founded in 1926. The religion is the product of an attempt to create religion through the fusion of the secular and religious philosophies of the east and west.
*Afternoon: Drive to Cu Chi Tunnel (30 kilometers Northwest of Saigon), which is a large underground network, built by the Viet Cong during the war against the French and the Americans

March 21: Visit Con Phung (Phoenix Island) on the Mekong Delta, in the South. The Mekong Delta is not only amazingly beautiful but it is also the rice basket of the country with its rich agricultural soil. The area is peppered with paddies and orchards with all kinds of fruits. Visit the Cai Be floating market and rice corn and coconut candy factories.

March 22 - 24: Visit the Phuoc Thien Orphanage in Binh Thuan Province and spend two nights at the beach resort in Mui Ne (Phan Thiet).
*Afternoon on March 24, arrive back in Saigon. Relax and shop.

March 25: Visit the Central Market (the biggest market in VietNam) and do some shopping in the morning. Leave for Honolulu via Seoul, Korea very late in the evening (12:50 a.m) and spend a day in Seoul.

March 26: Arrive in Honolulu