Adventure the Winding Northwest in Vietnam 11 Days, 10 Nights

The full day tour takes you around Hanoi’s highlights sites including the Ho Chi Minh Complex: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and his stilt house, Presidential Palace and the One Pillar Pagoda. You also have chance to visit historic University – The Temple of Literature, that dates back to the 11th century; learn about Buddhist practices in a serene lakeside pagoda. Visit the famous Ethnology Museum then return to your hotel and relax at your own leisure. This afternoon, at around 17.00, we start our excellent street food walking tour in old quarter of Hanoi along the perimeter of the local market where dozens of street hawkers sell a staggering variety of produce from live seafood to exotic fruits and spices.

Your expert English-speaking local guide will give you an insight into the intricacies and traditions of Vietnamese food culture including details on ingredients and historical backgrounds of popular northern dishes. We eat as we go, trying seasonal fruits…

Walking through the maze of bustling streets that make up Hanoi’s Old Quarter, we tempt the famous dishes of Hanoi such as Bun Cha Hanoi , Banh Cuon at a local eatery. Continuing into the atmospheric heart of the Old Quarter, we wander past street stalls and quiet residential lanes where you can observe local life that has changed little since Hanoi was founded over 1000 years ago. Our next stopis at a local draft beer restaurant.

We sit down with the Hanoi locals and sample various meats, vegetable together with some glass of cold beer. Your local guide will then take you to one of Hanoi’s best kept secrets to taste top ten street foods in Hanoi is Banh My Hanoi. At the end of the tour, we will sample the famous Egg Coffee. This hard-to-find café is one of the few left in the narrow street inside the old quarter of Hanoi. Return to your hotel after the excursion or free at your own leisure to continue exploring the city.

Overnight in Hanoi.

Note:

– Tour is not suitable for Vegetarian.

– The tour program is flexible. Our guide would be more than happy to adjust the tour itinerary at your needs. You can skip one site or add another if you so wish.

Set in an idyllic valley, hemmed in by hills, the Mai Chau area is a world away from Hanoi’s hustle. The small town of Mai Chau itself is unappealing, but just outside the patchwork of rice fields rolls out, speckled by tiny Thai villages where visitors doss down for the night in traditional stilt houses and wake up to a rural soundtrack defined by gurgling irrigation streams and birdsong.

After breakfast you will be picked up again by your tour guide and driver, and taken on a four-hour scenic drive to Mai Chau through a spectacular mountain range. This is an authentic hill tribe region and a fantastic base for treks, local markets and villages. Arrive after mid-day, we check in and free for lunch.

Later in the afternoon, we will explore the surrounding villages on foot, meeting local people and learning about their lives raising crops and livestock. Tonight we enjoy dinner cooked and served by the local family. You can join a local traditional dance show performed by the White Thai people (optional). Return to the lodge for the night.

Overnight in Mai Chau

Start the day with a simple breakfast with tea or coffee then say good bye to your host and drive off to Son La. Stop will be made en-route many a time to visit villages of various tribes including H’mong, Thai, Muong and Dzao.

Your drive will pass many lust orchard and tea farm in Moc Chau plateau before reaching Son La for a late lunch.

In the afternoon, we continue our drive along winding mountain roads in the most North Vietnam’s stunning countryside including the most well-known and historic Pha Din Pass. Stop on top of the Pha Din for a breathtaking view and photos shooting opportunity. On arrival, check in your hotel and balance of the day is at leisure.

Overnight in Dien Bien Phu

Nestled in a heart shaped basin near the border with Laos, lies Dien Bien Phu, the famous historical battleground that put an end to the French colonial occupation in 1954. After breakfast, we start the day with a visit to the local market where you will meet charming Thai tribes in their traditional costume purchasing their farm products. Continue our visit to Dien Bien Phu Museum, A1 Hill and the War Cemetary of Dien Bien Phu with the nearby General De Castries’s Bunker, Old Muong Thanh Bridge and Nam Rom river.

After the lunch in a local restaurant, we continue our way to Lai Chau along a dancing but rewarding road with a chance to know a variety of ethnic villages as Kho Mu (Xa), Huoi Chan, Dzao..etc. We drive further to PhongTho on scenic roads with picturesque views along, dotted with ethnic villages of Thai, Kho Mu and H’mong minorities. Arrive in PhongTho and spend the rest of the day to cycle around the township or to some vicinity villages.

Today morning, we check out and leave PhongTho for Sapa. We might experience some little bumpy roads but such a rewarded one for magnificent sceneries, valley views and colors of jungles along the way.

Rest stop will be made when we drive up Tram Ton pass that offers views to Fansipan Peak, aka “Indochinas rooftop” and visit to the nearby Heaven’s Gate and the Silver Waterfall.

Upon arrival in Sapa in the afternoon, check in your hotel and sometimes at leisure until our guide will take you out for dinner in this lovely and aged old French colonial town has to offer.

Overnight in Sapa.

Breakfast in hotel, you will explore Sapa daily wet market and then set out on our 3-4 hour trek down to Muong Hoa valley, travel though the villages of Lao Chai and Ta Van, home to H’mong, and Dzay people. A great experience is awaited when you walk through pine forests, terraced rice paddies and meet with minority villagers while enjoying the amazing and breathtaking views from the surrounding valleys. Picnic lunch will be served at the end of the walking or in a local restaurant in Sapa town. The rest of the day will be balanced at your leisure.

Overnight in Sapa.

Today you are free at our leisure in Sapa.

Overnight in Sapa.

After breakfast at the hotel, you will leave Sapa by the new beautiful highway back to Hanoi. The drive will be just about 5 hours but through many rural beautiful countryside as the landscape changes from arching mountains to the flat plains of the Red River delta.

Arrive in Hanoi in the early afternoon and check in your hotel.

Overnight in Sapa.

At 08:00, you will leave Hanoi for Halong Bay after 3.5 hours drive and board a boat, enjoying lunch while cruise through the bay. The magical bay is home to thousands of limestone islands rising from the waves like dragons’ teeth. Later in the afternoon, you will visit an interesting fishing village with opportunity to interact with fishermen who have been living in the bay for almost three generations. Back on board, you will enjoy cocktails or cooking classes while watching the sunset, before indulging in a lavish dinner onshore. Afterwards, you can choose to do anything from joining movie night, playing board games, or relaxing at the beauty spa before retiring for the night.

Overnight onboard with the cruise

*** Itinerary varies depending on which cruise you are going to take

Wake up on the bay to the sounds of waves, fresh air, and breeze welcoming the new day. After breakfast, visit a beautiful limestone grotto then walk back to the boat for a final glimpse of Halong Bay while cruising back to the dock. The boat arrives at the harbor by 11.30am and your driver is waiting to take youto back to Hanoi. Being welcomed at the airport by our driver and tour guide, you will head to your hotel in Ha Noi. Check in and relax at your own leisure in Ha Noi.

Overnight in Hanoi.