The final stop on Imprint’s Vietnam Tour was Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City, as it is officially known today.  The locals still refer to it as Saigon and that seems appropriate.  I must admit, Saigon was not my favorite stop.  It is a big, busy, bustling city.

At the end of our Vietnam tour we had two of the best experiences of the trip.  We had a Homestay visit in the Mekong Delta and visited the wartime Cu Chi tunnels outside of Saigon.  Both were interesting and served to connect us to the Vietnamese culture – always a goal on an Imprint tour.

I should begin with the fact that Hoi An was my favorite stop on the initial Imprint Vibrant Vietnam tour back in 2015.  Halong Bay was more spectacular, but Hoi An has that great cultural vibe I’m come to love in my travels.

Halfway through our Vietnam tour we were halfway down the country in the charming town of Hue.  After Hanoi and the north we jumped aboard an overnight train and chugged south through the Vietnamese night.

On day two of our Vietnam tour we visit the stunning landscape of Tam Coc.  It has been said that Tam Coc is the terra firma version of famous Halong Bay.  Like Halong, it is the geology that is special here, with karst stacks and towers jutting up from the valley floor. 

In 2015 Imprint Tours had its first tour of Vietnam.  As there is currently an Imprint group in this up and coming Southeast Asian nation, and another scheduled again next February, it seems an appropriate time to share some of the recollections from that first foray.