Discover Vietnam & Bali

Glide through Tam Coc by sampan this morning, rowed along a quiet river that runs through the paddies and under the limestone in three low caves. After lunch in town, climb the steps of Hang Mua to the dragon on its summit for the view over the whole valley.

After breakfast, drive to Noi Bai Airport for the flight south to Hue, the old imperial capital on the Perfume River. For two nights you stay in a Honeymoon Pool Hut at Pilgrimage Village, with its own gate, a garden and a plunge pool.

Spend the morning with a guide inside the Imperial Citadel, seat of the Nguyen emperors: the Flag Tower, the Noon Gate, the Nine Dynastic Urns and what remains of the Forbidden Purple City. The afternoon is yours, by your pool or at the resort's spa.

Drive south over the Hai Van Pass, the mountain road between Hue and Da Nang, stopping for the views down the coast and for lunch on the way. By afternoon you reach Hoi An, the old trading port whose centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and River Town Hoi An, your home for two nights. Walk into the old town at dusk while its silk lanterns are lit.

Cycle through the paddies to Tra Que, a village of herb gardens that feeds Hoi An's kitchens. Work the beds for a while with a farming family, then cook a Vietnamese lunch together from what you have gathered, followed by a foot massage and the easy ride back. Tonight, float a paper lantern on the river.

A free morning in Hoi An for a last walk or a visit to a tailor, then a driver takes you to Da Nang for the flight to Ho Chi Minh City. Mai House Saigon, a hotel of French Indochinese style in the centre, is yours for the night. Go out for dinner and the rooftop bars of the city that most still call Saigon.

An early start for the morning flight from Saigon to Bali, nonstop and a little under four hours. A driver meets you at Denpasar and takes you up into the green hills to The Kayon Resort outside Ubud, where the pools and your room look down into a river valley of rainforest. Afternoon tea is served on the terrace.

Spend the morning in Ubud: browse the art market for woodcarvings and sarongs and stop for a Balinese lunch, then walk through the Sacred Monkey Forest, where long-tailed macaques play among moss-covered temples and ancient trees. Back at the resort, the evening is yours.

A day for Bali's temples with a guide. See the royal shrines of Gunung Kawi, carved into the cliffs of a river gorge, and Tirta Empul, where the Balinese come to bathe in the holy spring water, then visit the woodcarvers of Pakudui village. Lunch is a picnic laid out among the rice fields.

Drive down to the coast at Seminyak, where Nyuh Bali Villas gives you a honeymoon villa with its own pool for your last two nights. This evening a three-course candlelit dinner is set up for the two of you, with a glass of wine to toast the journey.

Breakfast floats to you this morning on a tray in your pool. After a free day, drive south to Uluwatu Temple, perched on a cliff high above the Indian Ocean, with a guide to show you around. Stay for the sunset over the water, a fitting close to your journey.

After breakfast, check out and transfer to Denpasar Airport for your flight home, with the temples and lanterns of Vietnam and the rice fields of Bali behind you.