Gain an interesting insight into Chinese mythology characters, legends and folklore at the Har Par Villa. Then, continue your journey northwards to the Kranji War Memorial. Unveiled in 1957, the memorial commemorates over 20,000 men and women who gave their lives for freedom in World War II. Lunch will be taken at a local restaurant before proceeding to Bright Hill Temple, a famous Chinese ancestral place of worship. Drive past the Johore Battery and view a replica 15 inch 'Monster Gun', the largest to be installed outside Britain during World War II. The final stop is at Changi Chapel and Museum. The Museum focuses on the memories and lives of both POWs and civilian internees who survived the Japanese Occupation, while the Changi Chapel is a symbolic replica of the original chapel found in the Changi Prison.
On day 1 of our 3day tour, we will start off in Somme, where we will visit the Delville Wood, the Welsh Memorial at Mametz wood, the Huge Lochnager mine crater, the sunken roads where the Lancashire gunmen suffered terribly, the pozieres battlefield and Windmill Hill, Courcelette, the Thiepval memorial and Ulster Tower. We will also visit the Beaumont Hamel battlefield site before retiring to our hotel in Somme. On day two, we will depart our hotel after breakfast and drive to Ypres. Here we will visit Ypres Town, the St George's Chapel, Menin Gate memorial and In Flanders Field museum. Whilst touring the Salient in Ypres, we will also visit John McRae's Essex farm, the Messines Ridge, Hooge Crater, Polygon wood and Tyne Cot. We will retire back to our hotel at about 17.30hrs. Our final day takes us to the line between Armentieres and Arras, also known as the nursery trenches. On this day we will visit the Aubers ridge, Festubert and Neuve Chapelle. We will also see Adolph Hitler's famous 'bunker' reputed to have been used as Hitler's billet. Before leaving Fromelles, we will have a brief stop at the Cobbers' Memorial and the Pheasant Wood, new War Cemetary at Fromelles. We will then carry on the afternoon to Vimy Ridge, where we will take a trench tour and visit the massive and imposing Vimy memorial. If time permits, we will also visit the French National memorial at Notre Dame de Lorette before returning to Lille, our main departure point.
On the first day of our 2 days tour, we will begin with a visit to Ypres Salient. Here we will visit the Ypres town, St George's Chapel, Menin Gate Memorial, and the 'In Flanders Field' Museum. We will also visit the john McRae Essex farm which was the first point of gas attacks during the war, and then we will carry on to the Messines Ridge, Hooge Carter, Polygon wood, the Hill 60 battlefield and Tyne Cot. We will then return to a hotel at the end of the day. On day 2, we will depart our hotel after breakfast and head towards Fromelles. This tour will take us to the line between Armentieres and Arras, dubbed as the nursery trenches. We will visit sites that were affected by the 1915 battle - Aubers Ridge, Festubert and the Neuve Chapelle. We will also see the Cobbers' Memorial and the Pheasant wood cemetery. We then return to our main departure point in Lille.
Arriving in Caen by train? Have an unforgettable day at the Caen Memorial and the Landing Beaches with the help of our experienced guide. You will also enjoy a three course lunch at the Memorial's restaurant.
Sample menu: Salad or cured meats/ ribsteak and chips or leg of duck in honey with potatoes or hake fish and rice/ home made rice pudding or normandy apple tart/ mineral water, coffee, a glass ofr red or white wine.
Journey to Tay Ninh district. We time our visit for the noon ceremony at the Cao Dai Cathedral. Founded in Vietnam in the 1920's, Cao Daoism borrows elements from Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Taoism and Confucianism. Cao Dai means "high place or abode". Following lunch at a local restaurant we continue to the Cu Chi Tunnels. The tunnels were built by local fighters during the Indochina conflict as a base from which the Viet Cong could operate close to the Southern Vietnamese capital. Initial construction started in 1948 when the Viet Minh required somewhere to hide from French air attacks and by 1965, the complex was estimated to consist of 200 km of tunnels. It included, hospitals, schools, meeting rooms, kitchen's and sleeping quarters. Life was difficult for the inhabitants and to protect against outside intruders booby traps were laid throughout the complex.