Tracey Lister's Five Flavours of Vietnam SWEET, SALTY, SPICY, SOUR & BITTER Culinary Tours 2019-March 10th & May 19th Experience Vietnamese home cooking, high end dining, street food and royal cuisine while taking in Vietnam s breathtaking beauty...
all the Ingredients for an exceptional Vietnam Culinary Tour while seeing the sights in comfort and style Explore Northern and Central Vietnam s cuisine and culinary traditions with Tracey Lister as she shares with you her extensive knowledge of the country she called home for over a decade. Experience the sights and foods she has shared with chefs, food writers and food lovers alike on her well-loved culinary tours. The tour starts in the vibrant Vietnamese capital Hanoi with its mix of fragrant broths and hearty cooler climate fare. After a short a break on Ha Long Bay the tour moves to Hue, the Imperial city known for its royal cuisine, reflected in the many small dishes created to please Emperor Duc in the 1800 s. Then it s over the dramatic Hai Van Pass to picturesque Hoi An, known for its abundant seafood and its use of lemongrass and chilli. As we visit these cities we will feast in local restaurants, noisy bia hois, the occasional upmarket restaurant, as well as in people s homes and, Tracey s favourite. dining with locals perched on small stools at roadside curbs.
ITINERARY: Day 1 and 2 Day 1 6pm: Welcome to Hanoi! Meet in the hotel foyer before heading out for a flaming pho cocktail and dinner in a local restaurant. Day 2 9.00am: Street Food Tour Life in Vietnam happens on the streets and there is no better way to start your tour by exploring some of the hidden alleyways of Hanoi. Slurp your way through some of Hanoi s most famous dishes like pho, bun cha or for the more adventurous, fertilized duck eggs. Finish the tour with a Vietnamese brew of rich sweet coffee with yoghurt or egg in one of Hanoi s oldest cafes. 12 noon Free Time pm: Movable Feast A food tour with a difference. Start with canapes and champagne in a private home, then travel by electric buggies to different fine dining establishments across Hanoi, while immersing yourself in Hanoi by night as we travel to a new destination between each course. You will pass Hanoi landmarks including West Lake s Tran Quoc Pagoda, Dinh Bien Phu Street with its famous street light illumination, and Hoan Kiem Lake. Continue by electric buggies through the Old Quarter, to our final course at the Hotel Metropole,
ITINERARY: Day 3, 4 and 5 Day 3 am: Farm visit and cooking class. A taste of the Vietnamese countryside when we visit a family farm in Song Phuong Village an hour outside of Hanoi. 6pm: Dinner in a lively family restaurant featuring food from the Northern highlands. House specialties include crispy fried sticky rice, river fish or buffalo in banana leaf and, for the more adventurous, there is an extensive insect menu! Day 4 am: Ha Long Bay Enjoy two days relaxing on spectacular Ha Long Bay on a 4 star junk. Pamper yourself with their onboard full service spa, enjoy the incredible scenery as you relax on deck Day 5 Ha Long. Return to Hanoi 6pm: Dinner Bia Hoi A casual evening of street food and beer at a local outdoor venue. Bia hoi venues are raucous, open-air beer gardens serving Vietnamese pub grub. Popular bia hoi items include BBQ pork ribs, buffalo wrapped in betel leaves, and tofu pillows in fragrant tomato sauce.
ITINERARY: Day 6 and 7 Day 6 5am: Chef s Tour of Long Bien Wholesale Market followed by a cooking class in a family home. Led by a local chef and designed for visiting chefs, food writers and photographers, this tour takes you behind the scenes of Hanoi s main food market, situated off the beaten track in the Long Bien district. start the day with a bang at this vibrant, noisy produce market that supplies Hanoi s restaurants with the freshest seafood, meat, herbs, tofu and other specialties, followed by a cooking class using produce from the market. This is a perfect opportunity for some early morning photography. Fly to Hue then 6pm dinner sampling Hue royal cuisine. Day 7 Bia Hoi, fresh beer, is collected daily from the factory gates and must be consumed on the day. The brew is low-alcohol, unpasteurized and free of preservatives. 9am: Perfume River Tour Enjoy a relaxing sight-seeing tour down the Perfume River visiting the beautiful gardens and royal tombs before a vegetarian lunch prepared by monks, in a local pagoda. Continue your journey to the Imperial Citadel, home of Vietnam s last royal family and now a UNESCO World Heritage site, then visit the Hue Royal Antiques Museum to see an impressive collection of ornaments from Hue s royal past. 6pm: Dinner in a local family restaurant
ITINERARY: Day 8 and 9 Day 8 am: Street Food Tour Enjoy a local breakfast of pork ribs braised with lemongrass and peanuts served with sticky rice, one of Hue s famous dishes. Bun Bo Hue is a must, a rich beef broth with rice noodles and perfumed with perilla and coriander. 11am: free time Stroll along the river, have a massage or explore the river-side market. 4pm: Cooking Class Learn local Hue dishes and royal cuisine in one of Hue s most famous high-end restaurants and cooking schools. Enjoy finding out more about Vietnam s hidden cuisine from the experts, in a gorgeous architect-designed restaurant. Day 9 am: Depart for Hoi An Experience one of the most beautiful journeys on our tour a drive over the Hai Van Pass, a coastal road with spectacular views. Lunch is at a local roadside café, chosen by our driver. 2pm: Take a stroll through Hoi An, a pretty little town set on Thu Bon River. Hoi An town features preserved pagodas, merchant houses, ornate historical Chinese buildings and the famous Japanese covered bridge 6pm: Dinner Try some Hoi An specialties such as crispy stuffed rice flour pancake, white rose dumplings, squid filled with pork, and cellophane noodles and prawns on sugar cane.
ITINERARY: Day 10 and 11 Day 10 am: Visit Cham temples Tour My Son, a site featuring abandoned Hindu temples built by the kings of Champa from the 4 th to 14th century. Free time for shopping, spa visits, photographing beautiful Hoi An. Day 11 am: Free time in the morning before lunch at An Banh Beach overlooking the East Vietnamese Sea pm: Vespa food tour with Phi. Phi, a former student of Tracey s, will take you on a Vespa tour of the countryside around Hoi An. You will visit craft villages, local coffee roasters, with roadside snacks and coconut water. pm: Sunset boat trip to our cooking class in an open kitchen on the river Day 12 AM: Final group breakfast to say hẹn gặp lại!
Terms and conditions Price includes: 11 Breakfasts, 9 lunches, 11 dinners 11 nights at 4 star hotels One domestic flight Excursions: Street food tour in Hanoi and Hue, Movable Feast by electric buggies in Hanoi, Wholesale market tour, Cooking class in the northern Vietnamese countryside, one near the river in Hoian and a Royal cuisine class in Hue, Vespa tour in Hoian, Overnight cruise on Ha Long bay, Morning cruise on perfume river with lunch in a pagoda Fully escorted by Tracey Lister & a national tour escort in Vietnam Cost per person: $3,900 aud (based on twin share accommodation, land only arrangement) Single supplement: $450 aud (paid in addition to the above package price, land only arrangement) Deposit: $500 required upon booking -50% refundable up to 4 months prior to departure. Final payment due 11th December for March tour and July 7 th for the October tour Tour does not include: international flight, Vietnam visa, travel insurance, beverages (other than listed) or items of personal nature such as telephone, mini bar and laundry expenses. For further details contact Tracey Lister traceylister@hotmail.com Phone: +61 422 778 442