Vietnam Mountain To The Beach will give you an unparalleled opportunity to discover a hidden corner of this wonderful country. Drive through spectacular sceneries with visits to markets of mountain tribes, villages, and historic sites. You will enjoy and experience this region's unique culture by visiting Hanoi, Ba Be Lake, Meo Vac, Ha Giang, Sapa, and Halong Bay. This tour is designed for those who love nature, culture, and discovering new lands off the beaten track.
Day 1: Hanoi arrival
Welcome to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam! You will be greeted by our tour guide and transferred directly to the hotel in Hanoi. Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi.
Day 2: Hanoi City Tour ( B, L )
Begin the first day of the trip with a tour of Hanoi. Depart from the hotel for a visit to Vietnam’s first university: the Temple of Literature. Founded in 1076, Quoc Tu Giam was established within a temple to educate Vietnam's royalty, mandarins, and members of the elite., Continue with a visit to the iconic One Pillar Pagoda, one of Vietnam’s most iconic temples. Nearby is the Mausoleum of the historic father figure of modern Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh, and his modest house on stilts. (Sites are viewed from outside; closed Mon and Fri and from Jun - Aug),Visit the picturesque West Lake and its sixth-century Tran Quoc Buddhist Pagoda. Tran Quoc Pagoda is regarded as the most ancient pagoda in Hanoi with a history line of more than 1,500 years.,After visiting, you will have a meal at an authentic Vietnamese Restaurant. Free time at leisure for rest of the day.Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi
Day 3: Hanoi - Ba Be Lake ( B, L, D )
7:30 Your car, driver, and tour guide will be ready at your hotel to start at Ba Be National Park (~ 260 km, 7 hours) with lunch on the way. This national park protects the freshwater lake (Ba Be Lake). Arrive in Ba Be around late afternoon, just enough time for 30 minutes boat cruise to the boatmen’s home village.,Upon arriving at our homestay in Pac Ngoi village, you are welcome by the host family of the Tay people. Free time then to have a shower, and walk around the village before dinner. Dinner and overnight at a traditional wooden stilt house of locals.Accommodation: Home-stay in Ba Be.
Day 4: Ba Be Discover ( B, L, D )
8.30 After breakfast your tour guide will take you on a trek to Pac Ngoi village where the local people live by fishing and growing rice and corn. Continue to walk along the stream edge to view the stilt houses. We will visit Tay ethnic by bike where we explore an amazing cave in the mountain. The journey continues to Silk waterfall which is about another five km by bike. If it’s hot, you can jump in and swim. We will have a picnic lunch at the waterfall. In the afternoon we come back and leave the bikes and walk around Ba Be lake shore and try to get some great photos of the sunset. We will go to the local markets for souvenirs and then back to our homestay. Dinner and overnight in the village of ethnic people.Accommodation: Home-stay in Ba Be.
Day 5: Ba Be - Meo Vac ( B, L, D )
We leave Ba Be at 7:30 AM by land transfer to Meo Vac (260 km – 6 hours driving) and enjoy the beautiful natural landscape along the way with majestic mountain ranges and peaceful rivers. We will also enjoy lunch on the way.,You arrive at Meo Vac town of Lo Lo and Pu Peo ethnic minority people in the late afternoon. Dinner and overnight at your homestay in Meo Vac.Accommodation: Homestay in Meo Vac.
Day 6: Meo Vac - Dong Van - Yen Minh - Quan Ba - Ha Giang ( B , L , D )
After breakfast, we leave Meo Vac at 7:30 AM and head straight to Dong Van – the limestone plateau which is inhabited by the Blue Hmong ethnic group. Enjoy the poetic and magnificent mountainous scenery on the way. The most impressive part of your trip is the 30km zigzag road between Dong Van and Meo Vac with breathtaking views of the landscapes., Arrival at Dong Van Town, we can witness one more local market: Dong Van market which is organized on every Sunday only if lucky enough. After that, we continue driving to Pho Bang and visit the villa of the Vuong Chi Sinh Royal family, whose architecture is a mixture of Chinese and European styles. Continue the trip passing through Yen Minh, Quan Ba before arriving at "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., Arrived in Ha Giang in the late afternoon. Dinner and overnight in the local village.,Note: The Dong Van market is held on every Sunday morning. Meo Vac, Dong Van, Yen Minh, and Ha Giang are remote areas and do have not many tourists. Local restaurants in this area, therefore, do not have the same standard as restaurants in big cities. Tourists have to take meals as residents only. Accommodation: Hotel in Ha Giang.
Day 7: Ha Giang - Bac Ha ( B , L , D )
After breakfast at the hotel, we leave Ha Giang at 7:30 for Bac Ha Town (~ 240 km, 6 hours driving), you will arrive in the late afternoon.,If enough time, on the way to Bac Ha, we can stop at Thai Giang Pho village of Flower Hmong people for a short visit. You will have a chance to explore the reality of life for the ethnic minority people in the mountains of Vietnam. Check-in your hotel for relaxation. Dinner on your own and overnight at your hotel. Accommodation: Hotel in Bac Ha.
Day 8: Bac Ha - Coc Ly Market - Sapa ( B , L )
Leave Bac Ha early at 6:30 AM for the ethnic weekly market; enjoy the peaceful life of different minority peoples (Flower Hmong, Black Dzao, Tay, Dzay, HaNhi, and Nung). The market is the chance for the minorities to meet and share joy and sorrows after the crops, to exchange one another's experiences.,Say goodbye to the market and get down onto a boat along the Chay river. You are bound to feel great and find yourselves smaller among high rock mountains and to be surprised at white and breathtaking waterfalls. The Fairy Cave is located deeply in the rocks. Get off the boat to visit a village of the Tay Minority (Trung village) by the river., Following the boat trip, visit a small town – Bao Nhai, and then take the car back to Sapa. Dinner on your own and overnight in Sapa.,Remark: Coc Ly market is held on every Tuesday morning only. Other markets are held in the region on some other days of the week: 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 and Bac Ha Market is on every Sunday morning. Depending on your traveling dates, another market visit will be arranged rather than the Coc Ly market. Arrive in Sapa check-in at the hotel and explore dinner on your own. Accommodation: Hotel in Sapa.
Day 9: Sapa Trekking To Villages ( B, L )
Start the trip at around 9:30. Meet up your local guide and start trekking. The first part is on the road but we soon turn to the right and walk on a small path down the valley to Y Linh Ho village settled down by the Muong Hoa River and from here to the Black Hmong village of Lao Chai. Black Hmong is one of the biggest minority groups in the Sapa area. They have their language and wear traditional indigo blue clothing. The Hmong peoples have just recently changed their living way from a sifting style to the sedentary one. So there are still a lot of traces of the past time can be seen: rudimentary houses, stone walls around homes… After this, you continue to Ta Van village (1.200 m) to visit the Zay people. Zay is a fairly small minority group of about 38.000 people who live mainly in the mountains in Northwest Vietnam., After visiting Ta Van village the car will return to Sapa. Free at leisure the rest of the day. Overnight at Sapa Hotel.Accommodation: Hotel in Sapa
Day 10: Sapa - Sin Chai - Hanoi ( B, L )
In the morning, have breakfast at the hotel and then check out. Take a walk down to the South-west of Sapa (around 3 km) to visit Cat Cat Village of the Black Hmong, one of the more well-known ethnic villages of Sapa. Relax at the foot of the stunning waterfall and the vestige of a hydroelectric power station that was constructed by the French during the colonial time in Vietnam., Enjoy a picnic lunch by the side of the river, and then continue trekking 3 km to Sin Chai Village, located at the foot of Fansipan Mountain - “the Roof of Indochina”, where you enjoy a stunning landscape of the mountain. Then come back to the main road to be transferred to Sapa town on a jeep for 3km. You will be transferred to Hanoi via the new highway. Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi.
Day 11: Hanoi - Halong Bay - Overnight on Cruise ( B, L, D )
After breakfast at the hotel, the driver picks you up and transfers you to Halong Bay, listed as a World Heritage of outstanding natural beauty, known in Vietnamese as “Dragon descending to the sea”., Upon arrival, the boat crew welcomes you and check-in then enjoy a cruise around Halong Bay with a delicious local seafood lunch served on board. You can also behold thousands of limestone islands and grottoes rising from the clear, emerald water., Following the break, depending on each cruise’s itinerary of the day, you’ll join some activities on the boat to discover the beauty of the bay such as visiting a cave, doing kayaking, or enjoying swimming in the sea before getting back to the junk for relaxing and dining. Overnight on board.Accommodation: Halong Bay Cruise.
Day 12: Halong Bay - Hanoi Departure ( B, L )
Wake up early in the morning to enjoy the aquamarine water of the bay at its best. After tea break, the boat continues to cruise quietly through the spectacular limestone formations of Halong Bay. Enjoy this more isolated bay’s spectacular and unique islands of the bay., Return to Halong harbor around noon for a transfer back to Hanoi airport for your flight. Meals on your own, end your services. Accommodation: NA
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