Vietnam's leading travel operator Saigontourist has launched two programmes for international travelers eager to enjoy the Lunar New Year Festival (Tet) in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta.
The Mekong Delta tour will run from lunar December 23 - 29. Visitors will have the chance to experience the bustling pre-Tet atmosphere in My Tho City, exploring the local flower market and Vinh Trang Pagoda.
A number of families have offered to let tourists observe their busy festival preparations including making Banh Tet (a bundle of sticky rice, fatty pork, and soy bean paste compacted into a banana leaf cylinder), traditional confectionary, and customary festival meals.
The Ho Chi Minh City tour will last from lunar January 1 - 4.
Visitors will be taken from their hotels to Tao Dan Park for its Spring Flower Festival. They will then admire a number of sacred temples and pagodas, wander around Cho Lon's Chinatown, and relax with a city cyclo ride before sampling traditional meals with locals.
Initiated in 2003, the two tour packages have enabled foreign tourists and expatriates to experience some the annual Tet celebration's excitement and festive cheer.