Vietnam,
March 2020
$5000
From March 20-30th, 2020, we will be exploring cacao, chocolate and culinary traditions in Vietnam. This trip, Sunita will be joined by chocolate making expert and soon-to-be PhD in Food Science, Alan McClure of Patric Chocolate, as well as tree-to-bar chocolate maker Seneca Klassen, of Lonohana Estate Chocolate.
Join us as we explore Ho Chi Minh City, cacao farms in the Mekong River delta, travel up to historic Hoi An and Hanoi, and finally cruise around Ha Long bay to see the famous limestone mountains, like the ones we saw in Viñales, Cuba (but this time cropping up out of the ocean!)
Ten seamless action packed days in Vietnam, covering the culture, cuisine and everything cacao & chocolate, hosted by travel, food and chocolate experts, is $5000. The cost for this trip includes everything other than flights to and from Ho Chi Minh City, and souvenirs and additional services like massages.
If you are interested, please reach out to us so we can make sure we are a good fit all around. To secure your spot, we need your non-refundable $1500 deposit by July 31st. We require that you obtain travel insurance for all our trips, and recommend insurance for your trip deposit as well.
Contact us for a more detailed itinerary or with any questions! Scroll down to get the visual feast summary of our Vietnam adventure.
We will begin by gathering in Hoc Chi Minh City, and settling in for a first night dinner before the chocolate adventures here in the south begin. We will rigorously taste through all that Maison Marou has to offer, as well as heading off and see what else HCMC has to offer, including Belvie Chocolate and others, but also we’ll make deep dives into the cultural and culinary uniqueness of Vietnam.
We’ll take a Vespa tour, check out the local craft beer scene, hit up the delicious food markets, wander our way into pagodas to drink in the silence and stillness, and leave refreshed and ready for more sights, smells and sounds.
Our foodie tour through the sights, sounds and smells of Ho Chi Minh City. One of the excellent ways for us to move around and experience more of this vibrant city.
We’ll head down to the river delta, to expore Ben Tre, seeing where the cacao that Marou and other makers originates.
We will explore the Ben Tre cacao farms—one of the regions Marou and other makers get their unique cacao to make delicious bean to bar chocolate.
After hot days of tasting food, finding great chocolate and truffles, and walking the hot streets, we will retire to our lush, green hotel and take a dip in the pool.
After a few days and nights in Ho Chi Minh City, and a wander down to the cacao farms in the Mekong Delta, we will take an internal flight (included in trip cost) to Danang, and transfer to Hoi An to explore this city and take some cooking classes. There is nothing like learning what goes into the complex, delicious and mouthwatering Vietnamese cuisine to really appreciate the long tradition of cuisine in this country.
Hoi An river scene. Wandering the streets of this Unesco World Heritage site in the center of Vietnam will certainly live up to the meaning of its name: Peaceful Meeting Place. We’ll also dive into understanding the local cuisine and roll up our sleeves to do some applied learning.
Hoi An is an old trading port, and is a true blend of indigenous and foreign influence. Also, no cars allowed in the old town!
After days spent wandering the streets of Hoi An, a refreshing dip before a delicious meal will send us intently into more evening exploration.
A couple of nights in Hoi An, and we’ll be ready to fly up to Hanoi, where we will start things off on the right foot, exploring the famous pho from this region. Alan has been making home made pho these past weeks (everything from scratch other than the noodles) in order to refine his palate and his understanding of the delicate flavor mixing needed to get the broth and accoutrements just right!
No words, just let me into this image and give me those chopsticks!
Next we will be whisked away to be floated around Halong Bay, seeing those unusual limestone formations and visiting Cat Ba island. We will cruise for one or two nights, maybe we’ll opt for a night on Cat Ba island. Once we have reset to boating life, we will get a quick taste of Hanoi again before we hop back on a plane to Ho Chi Minh City for one last night and our goodbye dinner.
Sailing around on a luxury junk will give us views of floating towns like these, and time to digest our first days in Vietnam. And have some fun group time together, enjoying the views, playing games and eating more delicious local delicacies.
Captivating cliffs and magical house boat living. There are only three places on earth that have this style of limestone formations: China, Cuba and Vietnam. Shall we head to China next to complete our rounds?