North Vietnam: From Mountain To The Beach 12 days

The tour departs either in the morning or in the afternoon, depending on the availability. You will have an option to choose to travel by car or by motorbike upon your interest. The routes can change subject to the client’s interest.On the half-day tour, you will visit the first university in Vietnam, the Temple of Literature, One Pillar Pagoda, the Mausoleum of President Ho Chi Minh, and his house on stilts. (Sites are viewed from outside; closed Mon and Fri and from Jun - Aug).After visiting, the above historical and cultural places, you will travel to West Lake, and visit the sixth-century Tran Quoc Buddhist Pagoda. The pagoda is considered the most ancient pagoda in Hanoi which is more than 1500 years old.The tour finishes in an authentic Vietnamese restaurant where you can enjoy lunch. Free time the rest of the day.Meals: Breakfast, Lunch Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi

Today, you will take on 7 hours in the car with the tour guide to travel to Ba Be National Park. The travel distance is 260 km.You will stop on the way to have lunch. Arrive in Ba Be around late afternoon, then you can get on 30 minutes boat cruise to boatmen’s home village.Then, you head to the homestay in Pac Ngoi village. The homestay is a traditional wooden stilt house of Tay people. You will have time to have a shower, walk around the village, then have diner at the homestay.Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Accommodation: Home-stay in Ba Be

After breakfast at your homestay, the tour guide will pick you up for the trek to Pac Ngoi village, where local people mainly live on fishing, growing rice, and corn. There, you will walk along the stream edge to view the stilt houses.You will also get on the bike to visit Tay ethnic where you can explore an amazing cave in the mountain. Then travel about 5 km by bike to Silk waterfall. If the weather allows, you can jump into the waterfall, and swim there.You will have a picnic lunch at the waterfall.In the afternoon, you can back, then walk around Ba Be lakeshore. It is beautiful at the sunset, so do not miss your chance to take beautiful pictures. You will go to the local market for souvenirs and then back to our homestay.Have dinner and stay overnight in the village of ethnic people.Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Accommodation: Home-stay in Ba Be

At around 7:30, you leave Ba Be for Meo Vac by land transfer. The traveling time is around 260 km and you need about a 6-hour transfer. The natural landscape along the way is beautiful with majestic mountain ranges and peaceful rivers.On the way, you will stop for lunch and a short break.In the late afternoon, you will arrive at Meo Vac town of Lo Lo and Pu Peo ethnic minority people. Have dinner and overnight at your homestay in Meo Vac.Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Accommodation: Hotel in Meo Vac

Around 7:30, after breakfast, we travel from Meo Vac to Dong Van, which is the limestone plateau inhabited by the Blue Hmong ethnic group. There, you can enjoy the poetic and magnificent mountainous scenery, of which the 30km zigzag road between Dong Van and Meo Vac with breathtaking views of the landscapes is the most impressive.Arriving at Dong Van town, you can visit Dong Van market, which is organized every Sunday. After that, we drive to Pho Bang, visit the villa of Vuong Chi Sinh Royal family, which has a mixture of architecture between Chinese and European styles.After the market, we continue our trip to Yen Minh, Quan Ba, then "Heaven Gate" the peak of the highest mountain in the area. During the drive, you will discover sugar fields and limestone peaks touching the skies which are located among stone forests.You will arrive in Ha Giang in the late afternoon. Have dinner and stay overnight in the local village.Note: The Dong Van market is open every Sunday morning. Meo Vac, Dong Van, Yen Minh, and Ha Giang are remote areas. Local restaurants in this area, therefore, do not have the same standard as restaurants in big cities. You have to take meals as local residents.Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Accommodation: Hotel in Ha Giang

After breakfast at the hotel, at around 7:30, you will leave Ha Giang for Bac Ha town. The driving time is about 6 km, and after a 240 km drive, you can reach Bac Ha town in the later afternoon.If time allows, you will stop at Thai Giang Pho village of Flower Hmong people for a short visit. That is a great chance for you to explore the reality of life for the ethnic minority people in the mountains of Vietnam.You then check-in at the hotel, have dinner on your own, and stay overnight at your hotel.Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Accommodation: Hotel in Bac Ha

Around 6:30 AM, you will leave Bac Ha for the ethnic weekly market. On the way to the market, you can enjoy the peaceful life of different minority peoples, including Flower H'mong, Black Dzao, Tay, Dzay, HaNhi, and Nung. At the market, you can see how the local life of the minorities is. They come to the market, not only for selling things but also for meeting and sharing joy and sorrows after the crops, and exchanging one another's experience.After the market, you can get down onto a boat along the Chay river. You will feel great, and find yourselves small among high rock mountains. Get out of the boat, you can visit a village of Tay Minority in Trung Do village by the river.After the boat trip, we visit Bao Nhai, a small town, then take car back to Sapa. Have dinner on your own and overnight in Sapa.Note: Coc Ly market is held on every Tuesday morning. Sin Cheng & Cao Son are on every Wednesday; Lung Khau Nhin & Muong Khuong are on every Thursday; Can Cau market is on every Saturday morning. Bac Ha Market is on every Sunday morning. Depending on your traveling dates, another market visit will be arranged rather than Coc Ly marketMeals: Breakfast, Lunch Accommodation: Hotel in Sapa

The trekking tour in Sapa starts at 9:30.After breakfast, the local tour guide will come to pick up you for trekking.Firstly, you will trek to Y Linh Ho village, which is settled down by Muong Hoa river. From there, you continue to trek to Lao Chai village of the Black H’mong people, one of the biggest minority groups in the Sapa area. They have their own language and wear traditional indigo blue clothing.Following is the trek to Ta Van village which is 1200 m above the sea, and home to Zay people. Zay is a fairly small minority group of about 38.000 people who live mainly in the mountains in Northwest Vietnam.After Ta Van village, you head back to Sapa town by car. Have free time to explore Sapa and stay overnight in the hotel in Sapa.Meals: Breakfast, Lunch Accommodation: Hotel in Sapa

In the morning, have breakfast at the hotel and then check out.You will have a 3 km trek down to the Southwest of Sapa to Cat Cat village, which is home to the Black H’mong, one of the most well-known ethnic villages of Sapa. Relax in the village, and enjoy the beautiful waterfall, the vestige of a hydroelectric power station.You then have a picnic lunch by the side of the river. Then continue to trek 3 km to Sin Chai village, which is located at the foot of Fansipan Mountain - “the Roof of Indochina”. On the way to the village, you can enjoy the stunning landscapes of the mountain.You then come back to the main road, where you get transferred to Sapa town on the jeep. The traveling distance is around 3 km.You will be transferred to Hanoi by sharing a limousine.Meals: Breakfast, Lunch Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi

Have breakfast at the hotel, then get picked up and transferred to Halong Bay for an overnight cruise.Arriving at the hotel, you will be welcomed by the crew staff, then check in the cabin. Seafood breakfast will be served on board, while the boat cruises around the bay.After lunch and a short break on the cruise, you can take part in a lot of exciting activities on board such as visiting a cave, doing kayaking, swimming in the ocean...Getting back to the main boat, tourists can just relax, have dinner, and join other fun games on board. Stay overnight on cruise.Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Accommodation: Halong Bay Cruise