5D4N Overseas Service Learning Trip to Ho Chi Minh City

TRIP HIGHLIGHTS

• Haft day Service Learning at a Local Orphanage
• Haft day School Immersion Program at a Local School
• Enjoy Water Puppet Show
• Ho Chi Minh City Tour, visiting various famous and historic sites in HCMC, such as Reunification Palace, War Remnants Museum, Saigon Central Post Office and Notre Dame Cathedral
• Visit Cu Chi Tunnel
• Hand-on Activities: Making Vietnamese Bread, Cooking class
• Observe Vietnamese Coffee making procedures by Trung Nguyen Coffee
• Flexible food choices: Vietnamese food, Halal food, Vegan food

DAY 1: ARRIVAL AT HO CHI MINH ARRIVAL – CITY TOUR 

(Lunch/Dinner included)                                        

Arriving at Tan Son Nhat – Ho Chi Minh Airport, you will be greeted by our enthusiastic local tour guides, waiting at the arrival gate with their hands waving our Luco Travel flags.

Then, we will enjoy local Vietnamese cuisines (Halal food/Vegan food on request) together for lunch.

Our City Tour will be integrated with various small activities for students to enhance their learnings in each location and gain more knowledge on Vietnamese history and cultures.

• Beginning our Ho Chi Minh City Tour at 2 P.M., we will head to the Independence Palace, also known as the Reunification Palace – which symbolizes Vietnam’s victory, peace, and territorial integrit, where students will be learning and sympathizing with Vietnam’s history of consistent fight to obtain national freedom and independence. Based on their observations and learning, they will be challenged with the ‘Rooms of Power’.

• Then, you will have a chance to visit Saigon Central Post Office and Notre Dame Cathedral, two must-visit destinations for any traveller located in the heart of HCM City. Here, students will given a challenge called ‘Architectural Treasure Hunt & History Match’, which aims to help students understand colonial influences in Saigon’s architecture.
• If weather permits, we will have a walking tour in the City Hall Square.
• Next, we will pass by Saigon Opera House, built in 1898 by the French architect – Eugene Ferret, following the “flamboyant” style of the French Third Republic. Here, students will face another challenge ‘Pose & Present – The Power of Architecture’, giving students an opportunity to observe and appreciate French colonial architecture and its symbolic use in Saigon.

• Finally, students will be watching Water Puppet Show at Vietnamese Historical Museum. This traditional content of water puppet performance will provide students with knowledge on daily life of Vietnamese farmers (cultivating, tending buffalo, catching fishes…), communal entertainment (swimming contest, dragon dancing…), and/or historical legends (Le Loi returns precious sword…), with a performance that has appealed to audiences for centuries

Moving on, we end our first day with a cozy Vietnamese dinner (Halal food/Vegan food on requested) before go to the hotel and rest.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh, organized by Vietnam Educational Tours

DAY 2: CU CHI TUNNEL – WAR REMNANTS MUSEUM – BEN THANH NIGHT MARKET

(Full-day meals included)

After having breakfast at the hotel, we will head to Cu Chi Tunnels – a historic remnant of Vietnam Wars against the French in the 1940s and the American in the 1960s.

• The tunnels were dug with simple tools and bare hands during the wars to provide refuges and a defensive advantage for Vietnamese soldiers over the enemies. Despite all the bombings, the Cu Chi people were able to continue their lives beneath the soil, where they slept, ate, planned attacks, healed their sick, and taught their young. Specifically, we will have a quick look at the Vietnam Wars’ stories and have a chance to walk beneath the tunnel, watch some videos which talk about how to build it, while enjoying a local special food called “Cu mi”.

After lunch, we will visit one of the most significant historical sites in Vietnam, showing the heroic past of the nation – The Vietnam War Remnants Museum – a poignant display of the futility of multiple Vietnamese wars. Here, students will be tested their history knowledge gained from the exhibits through the challenge ‘Curated Questions & Reflection Puzzle’.

At the end of the day, after dinner, students will get to experience HCMC’s night life at Ben Thanh Night Market, where they can shop for various Vietnamese souvenirs while trying numerous delicious local food.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh, organized by Vietnam Educational Tours

DAY 3: SCHOOL IMMERSION – LOCAL ORPHANAGE

(Full-day meals included)

This is a day of building international connections and making meaningful impact as students will be visiting a local school and doing charity. Specifically:

First, after breakfast, students will be visiting and participating in a Cultural Exchange Program at a Local School, in which they will be playing Vietnamese traditional kid’s games together with Vietnamese students, then sharing both nations’ cultures to each other. This activity will help students get better understanding about cultural diversity and construct international relationships.

Second, after lunch, for VIA activity, students will visit an orphan in suburban HCMC to donate toys and stationery goods to the unfortunate children, in which they will get to realize how privileged they are and learn how to always be grateful for what they have.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh, organized by Vietnam Educational Tours

DAY 4: BREAD WORKSHOP – COOKING CLASS

(Full-day meals included)

This is a full day of new experiences, when students will learn how to make bread and cook through the workshops we offer. Specifically:

In the morning, after breakfast at the hotel, students will be invited to attend a Bread Workshop at a Bakery, where they will be learning about the advantages of bread and step-by-step how to make a bread, all under the observation and guidance of experts.

Then, after lunch, we will visit Trung Nguyen Coffee Shop with demonstration, before joining a cooking class, where they will be taught how to make a traditional Vietnamese dish.

Finally, we will enjoy a cozy dinner before returning to the hotel and rest.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh, organized by Vietnam Educational Tours

DAY 5: DEPARTURE DAY

(Breakfast included)

In our last day, you will have time to relax and enjoy breakfast at the hotel. Then, our lovely tour guides will escort you to Tan Son Nhat Airport for returning flight back home.

Have a great journey with Luco Travel!!!

Quality Guarantee:

• All local Tour guides is proficient in English and experienced, licensed for guiding youth groups.
• Transportation safety will be carefully secured.
• Every possible risks are already projected and planned for management.

Kindly note:

• Rates are in SGD per person.
• Please note for any kind of payment: Bank fee is responsibility of the sender.
• Above itinerary is only a proposal and is subject to change.
• At time quotation, no reservation has been made / no confirmation of visit at time quotation.
• Approval with local school is subject to approval and confirmation

Tour Price Includes:

• Private all transfers and transportation with air-con vehicles 29-45 seats
• 04 Breakfast, 04 Lunches, and 04 Dinner mentioned in itinerary
• All of entrance frees mentioned in Itinerary
• All activities mentioned in Itinerary
• Unlimited drinking water with at least 2 bottle/pax/day
• 04 nights hotel in Ho Chi Minh
• English-speaking Tour Guide
• Tip for tour guide and driver
• Material cost to buy necessary things for VIA activities and school immersion
• Itinerary is flexible and can be suited according to requirements

 Tour Price Excludes:

• Laundry, telephone calls and expenditure of a personal nature
• Visa & international flights in and out the country
• Other services & meals than mentioned
• Bank transfer fee if any.
• Tips, travel insurance