Vietnam Vietnam and Angkorwat
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Exotic and and VVIETNAMIETNAM AANGKORNGKORWWATAT Hanoi ♦ Ha Long Bay ♦ Hué ♦ Da Nang Hội An ♦ Saigon ♦ Siem Reap Featuring Guest Speakers Kim Phuc and Jim Laurie and Penn Professor Justin McDaniel Cruising aboard the Exclusively Chartered Five-Star, Small Ship Le Lapérouse November 5 to 19, 2019 Dear Penn Alumni and Friends, Join Penn Professor Justin McDaniel and fellow alumni and friends on this exclusive Southeast Asia journey featuring awe‑inspiring natural beauty, sacred myths and honored traditions in Vietnam and Cambodia. Cruise along serene and storied shores to explore the captivating treasures of ancient pagodas, dynamic modern architecture and sampan‑filled harbors. Further inland, discover the magnificent 12th‑century temples and sculptures of Angkor, the capital of the Khmer Empire, located in the lush jungles of Cambodia. This exceptional itinerary encompasses the breadth of Vietnamese culture and the jungle‑fringed ruins and magnificent temples of Angkor. Cruise for seven nights aboard the exclusively chartered, Five‑Star Le Lapérouse. Featuring only 92 Suites and Staterooms, this elegant small ship cruises into small ports inaccessible to larger vessels. By exclusive arrangement, South Vietnamese‑born Kim Phuc, a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Peace; and award‑winning former news correspondent and media consultant Jim Laurie will accompany us on this cruise. Hear a firsthand account from Phuc, who experienced a napalm attack as a child. Learn more about the fall of Saigon from Laurie, winner of two Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award for coverage of his time in Vietnam. This unique program features four UNESCO World Heritage sites—beautiful Ha Long Bay, ancient Hội An, the Forbidden Purple City in Hué and the famed temples of Angkor. Experience dynamic Hanoi, Vietnam’s culturally diverse capital showcasing a fusion of French and Asian heritage. Explore the spectacular contrast of old and new architecture in historic, French‑Colonial Saigon. The allure of ancient customs and traditions await us on this voyage, a great value that includes an excursion in every port and each day in Hanoi and Siem Reap and all meals and alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages throughout our Five‑Star cruise. Make your reservation now, while Early Booking Savings and space are still available. With warm regards from Penn, Emilie C. K. LaRosa Assistant Director, Alumni Education and Alumni Travel Penn Alumni Relations [email protected] Penn Alumni Travel is proud to offer valuable trips and programs to alumni and friends through a number of partnerships. Any revenue that may be generated from Penn Alumni Travel above our program expenses supports Penn Alumni programming. Visit us at www.alumni.upenn.edu/travel. For more information about this tour, call Gohagan & Company at (800) 922‑3088 and ask for the passenger services coordinator handling the program. Study Leader Justin McDaniel is the Chair of the Department of Religious Studies and Professor of Buddhist and Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. After living and researching in South and Southeast Asia for many years as a translator, archivist, amulet collector, volunteer teacher and Buddhist monk, he returned to the U.S. and received his Ph.D. from Harvard University’s Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies in 2003. His research foci include Lao, Thai, Pali and Sanskrit literature, Southeast Asian Buddhism, Japanese Buddhist architecture, ritual studies, manuscript studies, asceticism, the undead and general phantasmagoria. His first book is on the history of Buddhist monastic education in Laos and Thailand, Gathering Leaves and Lifting Words (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2008). He is the co‑editor of the journals Buddhism Compass and Journal of Lao Studies, and is the former Chair of the Southeast Asian Studies Council and the Thailand, Laos, Cambodia Studies Group of the Association of Asian Studies. His present project looks at the advent of Buddhist leisure (parks, museums, carnivals, film, comics, bird‑watching and collecting stuff) in Japan, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore and Laos. In 2012 he was named a Guggenheim Fellow. Th e atural Beauty of Southeast Asia Stunning limestone pinnacles rising from teal waters, vivid landscapes, scenic coastlines, delectable cuisine, exquisite architecture, colorful markets and a compelling history render Southeast Asia one of the most enriching and exotic regions on Earth. Discover Vietnam and Cambodia’s rich legacy of culture as well as the influence of Japanese, Chinese, French and Americans that helped shape this fascinating area of the world. Experience the social, intellectual and spiritual heartbeat of Vietnam’s captivating people in its palaces, pagodas, temples and tombs, and in the fascinating fusion of its past and present; and explore the mystique of Cambodia’s Angkor temples. Itinerary Day HONG KONG Pre-Cruise Option Hanoi, Vietnam 1‑2 Depart the U.S./Cross the The undeniable charm of this historic capital International Date Line city resides in its shaded boulevards, bucolic parks and the city center—a time capsule 3‑4 Hanoi, Vietnam of 1930s French‑colonial architecture. 5 Hanoi for Haiphong/ The famous Ba Dinh Square is a testament Embark Le Lapérouse to more recent history—see the imposing, 6 Ha Long Bay granite Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. The Beaux‑Arts‑style former French 7 Cruising the South China Sea Governor’s Residence is adjacent to 8 Da Nang for Hội An the garden and modest cottage where 9 Chan May for Hué Ho Chi Minh lived in the 1960s, and nearby, is the 11th‑century One Pillar Pagoda, 10 Day at Sea one of Vietnam’s most iconic temples. 11 Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) Cover: Cruise among the verdant limestone towers 12 Saigon/Disembark ship/ of idyllic Ha Long Bay, said to have been formed by Fly to Siem Reap, Cambodia dragons unleashed by the mythological Jade Emperor. 13‑14 Siem Reap Built nine centuries ago, mystical 15 Siem Reap/Depart for the U.S./ Angkor Wat remains a pilgrimage Cross the International site for Buddhist monks today. Date Line BANGKOK Post-Cruise Option CHINA Hong Hanoi Ha Long Bay Kong Haiphong Gulf of Tonkin Hué Chan May Da Nang Hội An South China Sea Angkor Siem Reap VIETNAM UNESCO CAMBODIA World Heritage Site Gulf of Saigon Cruise Itinerary Thailand Air Routing Land Routing Pass through the beautiful Hien Nhon Gate of Hué’s monumental Imperial Citadel. Tour the Temple of Literature where This UNESCO World Heritage site is scholars have studied Confucianism since a well‑preserved 15th‑ to 19th‑century A.D. 1070. Visit the Hoa Lo Prison Museum, trading post with more than 800 period “Hanoi Hilton,” which held captured pilots buildings still intact. Learn about the during the Vietnam War. Stroll the historic city’s heritage at the Hội An Museum of 36 Streets of the Old Quarter, named after the History and Culture housed inside the skilled craftspeople that worked here. Quan Âm Pagoda. Visit the intricately carved grand temple of Phuc Kien Assembly Hall and Ha Long Bay its workshop of traditional handcrafts. Board a traditional Vietnamese junk Stroll the city’s colorful riverside for a private cruise through the natural market and admire the prominent wonders of Ha Long Bay, the “Bay of Japanese Covered Bridge, dating back the Descending Dragon,” a UNESCO to the 18th century. World Heritage site characterized by its karst landscape. Amid over 3000 chalk and Hué limestone islands, wooden‑hulled junks with The UNESCO World Heritage site their signature orange sails glide along the of Hué, located on the banks of the bay’s tranquil waters between limestone islands Perfume River, was the Imperial City of the with wave‑eroded caves, coves and grottoes. Nguyen kings from 1601 to 1945. Explore its Walk among the tapering natural stalactites Imperial Citadel and the massive ramparts and and stalagmites in the natural grottoes of moat dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. Thien Cung, the Heavenly Palace Cave. Tour the Imperial Closure and the citadel within a citadel, the Forbidden Purple City, Da Nang formerly reserved only for the royalty of Encircled by the Marble Mountains and the Nguyen Dynasty. Visit the 17th‑century clear blue waters, coastal Da Nang is known Thien Mu (Heavenly Lady) Pagoda, built for its exquisite Museum of Cham Sculpture, to ensure the country’s prosperity; and exhibiting the world’s largest collection of the tomb of Emperor Tu Duc, built and Cham sandstone art and statues. designed by the emperor himself during the Hội An Nguyen dynasty. Prior to the 14th century, ancient Hội An was the Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) commercial capital of the Cham Empire and a Saigon has remained a vibrant convergence strategic port for the lucrative spice trade. of French romance and Vietnamese flair, Featured Guest Speakers Kim Phuc Jim Laurie A UNESCO Goodwill A distinguished former Ambassador for Peace, Kim Phuc TV news correspondent, is the author of Fire Road, Jim Laurie has witnessed an inspirational story of her many defining moments unexpected survival and in Asia’s history. He was unshakeable, life‑altering faith. Phuc travels the only American network correspondent to numerous global events every year to share to witness the fall of Saigon to the her wartime experience as a child. She has North Vietnamese. He currently is a received numerous awards and recognitions media consultant and is the recipient of a for her commitment to global peace and Peabody Award, two Emmy Awards and reconciliation, and has received six honorary an Amnesty International Award and has Doctorates for her work supporting child victims co‑produced, written and directed several of war around the world, inspiring the nonprofit television documentaries including organization, KIM Foundation International. Vietnam: Giai phong 25 Years Later (2000). ◆ View Saigon’s striking, well-preserved, neoclassical Central Post Office opened See Da Nang's excellent collection in 1891 and Vietnam's largest post office.