Vietnam and Cambodia, from Hanoi to Angkor

Why Vietnam and Cambodia


I work with Vietnam and Cambodia because they’re two of the most rewarding countries in Southeast Asia to travel slowly through — and because the gay traveler arriving from North America can do this trip without the legal anxiety that complicates parts of Africa or the Middle East. Same-sex relationships have not been criminalized in either country (Vietnam decriminalized in 1945, Cambodia never criminalized them in the modern legal code), and both Hanoi and Saigon have visible and friendly gay scenes. The temperature of the welcome is what you’d expect in two countries that are deeply hospitable by culture and economically open to the world. The Vietnam and Cambodia I design for our clients move beyond the package-tour Halong Bay cruise into the longer arc — Hanoi’s old quarter, the imperial city of Hue, Hoi An‘s lantern-lit lanes, Saigon and the Mekong Delta, and finally the temples of Angkor. We stay in five-star properties throughout, with private guides in each city.

When to go


October — April (dry season)

Ideal length


13 — 14 nights

Price


From $7,800 pp (flights not included) (based on double occupancy)

The trip in a nutshell


Fourteen days that flow from north to south, starting in Hanoi and ending at the temples of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap. You move through six bases: Hanoi (the old quarter, the museums, the lakes), Halong Bay (an overnight cruise on a small wooden junk through the limestone karsts), the central coast at Hoi An and Hue (the city of lanterns and the imperial capital, paired together), Saigon (the energy, the Cu Chi tunnels, the colonial architecture), the Mekong Delta (a quiet two-day extension into the coconut-and-river country), and finally Siem Reap in Cambodia for the temple complex of Angkor.

The thread is craft and cuisine. Vietnamese food is, by most international rankings, in the top tier of world cuisines, and this trip is built around it — a private cooking class in Hoi An where you make rice paper from scratch, a Saigon street-food walk through the old market, a lantern-making workshop in Hoi An. The other thread is the long arc of history — French colonial layers in Hanoi and Saigon, Imperial Vietnam in Hue, the war years at Cu Chi and the War Remnants Museum, the Khmer Empire at Angkor. The pace is comfortable: no early starts apart from the Angkor sunrise visit if you want it, and most days end with a slow dinner.

What we take care of


A tailor-made itinerary, built around your pace


Handpicked hotels in the right neighborhoods


Local experts, guides and key reservations


Private door-to-door transfers


Experiences designed around you, never a checklist


24/7 support — before and during your trip

Who this is for


This trip is for the gay traveler who’s wanted to see Vietnam and Cambodia for a long time and wants to do it as a proper long-form journey, not a five-day Halong Bay extension. Who would rather have a private cooking class in a Hoi An garden than a tour bus to a silk factory. Who knows that the right way to do Angkor is early — three mornings, the central temples on day one with a guide, Ta Prohm on day two, the outer circuit on day three — and not the day-trip from Bangkok.

It’s not a budget backpacker trip and it’s not a tour-group circuit. The hotels we book are at the top of what’s available in each city. The pace is calibrated for adults who want to absorb places, not check them off. The Mekong Delta two-day extension is included as standard because it’s the part of the country most package tours skip, and it’s where Vietnam still feels most itself — a tuk-tuk through coconut villages, a hand-rowed boat through small canals, lunch at a family kitchen on the riverbank.

Sample itinerary


A representative fourteen-day flow from Hanoi to Siem Reap. Every itinerary is rebuilt around your dates, pace, hotel style, and how many nights you want in each base.

Your driver meets you at Hanoi airport — under an hour to the hotel in the old quarter. Welcome meeting with your trip host on arrival, a soft first evening with a welcome dinner at one of the city’s better restaurants. Hanoi at night is its quieter self, and the Old Quarter rewards a slow walk after dinner — the lake of the restored sword, the narrow streets organized by trade, the small bars and food stalls in side alleys.

Morning in the Old Quarter with your private guide — Hang Be Market for the morning produce, the Ngoc Son Temple on its island in Hoan Kiem Lake, the Turtle Tower in the middle of the same lake. Lunch at a traditional restaurant. Afternoon at the Museum of Ethnology — the best single explanation of Vietnam’s many cultural traditions in one place. Then the water puppet show in the early evening, a 1,000-year-old Vietnamese performance tradition where the puppets are operated underwater from behind a screen.

Three-hour drive to Halong Bay. Board your overnight cruise — a small wooden junk with private cabins, not the big tourist ships. Lunch on board as the boat sails into the bay among the limestone karsts. Afternoon kayaking through a hidden cave system, or alternatively a smaller boat to Trinh Nu Cave with its long sand beach. Dinner on board, then the bay at night — quiet, the karsts black against the sky, the boat barely moving on glassy water.

Tai chi session on deck at dawn as the bay lights up. Breakfast on board, then disembark and drive back to Hanoi airport. Domestic flight to Da Nang, the central coast. Transfer south to Hoi An, the lantern-lit ancient port town, and check in to a property near the historic center. Evening walk through the lanterns of the old town as they light up at sunset — the river, the small bridges, the dinner places lining the waterfront.

A craft and food day. Morning at a lantern workshop where you’ll make a lantern from bamboo and silk to take home. Then to the Tra Que vegetable village outside Hoi An for a private cooking class — rice paper made from scratch with rice and water, spring rolls (nem), bun bo. Lunch is what you’ve cooked. Afternoon in the mangrove forest at Bay Mau in traditional round basket boats, then back to Hoi An for free time at the beach or pool. As the sun sets, a boat ride on the Thu Bon river to release floating candle-lanterns at dusk.

Drive north over the Hai Van Pass to Hue, the former imperial capital. Private guide for the Imperial Citadel — the Forbidden Purple City, the Tu Duc Mausoleum, the gardens, the palaces. Lunch at a quality restaurant in town. Afternoon visit to a traditional crafts workshop — conical hats made by hand, incense sticks rolled the traditional way (a chance to try yourself if you’d like). Overnight at a heritage property in Hue.

A slower day. Cycle (electric bikes available) to Kim Long Village on the outskirts of Hue — a garden village where the houses follow traditional feng shui principles, with private gardens and water features. Tea and fruit with one of the local families, then a simple lunch in the courtyard of one of the garden homes. Afternoon free in Hue.

Morning transfer to Hue airport, fly to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Met at the airport by your Saigon guide. Afternoon orientation: Notre Dame Basilica, the Central Post Office (still operating, designed by Gustave Eiffel’s office), the Pedestrian Street, the river waterfront. Late afternoon at the hotel, then dinner on a small private river cruise — Saigon by night from the water, with the skyline lit up.

Morning at a heritage pho shop for breakfast (the right way to start a day in Saigon is a bowl of pho), then a guided walk through the old market and Ben Thanh Market for the layers of Chinese, Indian, French, and Vietnamese trading history. Lunch at the market’s food section. Afternoon at the Vietnam History Museum and the Le Van Duyet Temple. Evening at the AO Show — the dance-and-circus piece at the Saigon Opera House that uses bamboo and traditional movement in a contemporary register.

A heavier day, intentionally placed mid-trip. Morning visit to the Cu Chi tunnels two hours from Saigon — the underground network used by the Viet Cong during the war, with sections opened up for visitors to walk (or crawl) through. Lunch at a historic pho shop. Afternoon at the War Remnants Museum in Saigon — one of the most-visited museums in the world, and one of the more confronting visits in the trip. The pacing is deliberate: confronting, but framed so the rest of the trip can land afterward.

Out of Saigon to Ben Tre, two hours south — the part of the delta most package tours skip. A boat ride along the Mekong, then a smaller hand-rowed boat through the narrow canals between the coconut groves. Tuk-tuk through a quiet village. Lunch at a local family kitchen on the riverbank — home-cooked dishes with a view of the river. Overnight at a quiet property in the delta.

Return to Saigon airport, fly to Siem Reap (Cambodia) — under an hour. Met at the airport by your Cambodia guide. Check in to a boutique property in Siem Reap, then a slow afternoon: visit Kulen Mountain and the waterfall in Phnom Kulen National Park, see the Thousand Lingas riverbed (carvings of Hindu deities in the bed of the river, made over centuries). Evening at a traditional Apsara dance dinner — the classical Cambodian dance form, performed by trained dancers in elaborate costumes.

A full day at the Angkor temple complex with your private Cambodia guide. Angkor Wat first, ideally at sunrise if you’re up for it, or at the right morning light otherwise — the largest religious monument in the world, built in the 12th century, with its famous five-tower silhouette reflected in the moat. Then Angkor Thom (the walled city) with the smiling stone faces of the Bayon. Lunch break in the shade. Afternoon at Ta Prohm — the temple still being swallowed by jungle and strangler-fig trees, the one that became famous for film locations. Phnom Bakheng at sunset for the panoramic view back over Angkor Wat.

Final breakfast and a slow morning in Siem Reap. Driver to the airport for the flight home. Want a soft finale? We can add a few nights on the Cambodian coast at Kep or Koh Rong, or an extension to the temples of Beng Mealea and Koh Ker (the older, more remote precursors to Angkor, less visited). Or three days in Bangkok on the way home for the contrast.

Hotels we love


We use five-star properties throughout this trip. Each one is chosen for location (always walking distance to where you want to be), for the standard of the rooms, and for staff we’ve worked with who treat checking in two men together as the unremarkable thing it should be.


The Oriental Jade Hotel · Hanoi Old Quarter


A 5-star property in the historic heart of Hanoi — five minutes on foot from Hoan Kiem Lake and the water-puppet theatre, ten minutes from the Museum of Ethnology. Contemporary rooms with Vietnamese detailing, attentive service, and a rooftop pool and bar with a view across the Old Quarter rooftops that we built into the trip as a quiet wind-down between long museum days.


The Au Co Cruise · Halong Bay


A premium overnight cruise designed around the bay rather than around the buffet — 32 cabins across three decks, all with private balcony, jacuzzi on the sundeck, and an itinerary that routes through both Halong and the quieter Bai Tu Long Bay where the day boats don’t follow. Lunch and dinner on board, kayaking between the karsts, and the bay to yourselves once the day cruises turn back.


Pilgrimage Village Boutique Resort · Hue


A boutique resort set in nine hectares of gardens three kilometres outside Hue — village-style architecture, two pools, garden villas with private terraces, and the slower pace the imperial city deserves. Yoga at dawn if you’d like it, a spa for the afternoon, a bicycle for the ride into town. The kind of property where the day ends without effort.

Make this itinerary yours


Tell us your dates, pace, and how many nights you’d like in each base — and within 48 hours we’ll come back with a tailored version of this itinerary, adjusted for the dry season window you want, the kind of properties you prefer, and any extensions you’d like to add.


PLAN YOUR TRIP

Gay Up Travel

Travel as you are.