Besides popular tourist places, this tour will bring you to explore villages without many tourists in North Vietnam. 

Day 1: HANOI

Arrival in Hanoi, meet your guide and transfer for hotel check in (official check-in time: 14:00).

Time at leisure. Overnight in Hanoi

Day 2: HANOI TOUR (B)

Full day for exploring the fascinating city of Hanoi where old and new things blend together, Vietnamese, Chinese and French cultures mix together.

Enjoy a pleasant walk around the peaceful Ho Chi Minh area, visit HCM Mausoleum (close on Monday and Fridays, Oct - Nov), HCM’s stilt house and garden, the One Pillar pagoda. Take another pleasant walk at the beautiful Temple of Literature, visit the Ethnology museum, the Hanoi Hilton Prison Museum.

Afternoon enjoy a fantastic rickshaw ride through the bustle and hustle of Hanoi Old Quarter. Finally take a fascinating walk through the famous 36 busy streets of the Old Quarter and shopping.

Enjoy a unique water puppet show

Overnight in Hanoi

Day 3: HANOI – MAI CHAU – LIGHT TREKKING (B-L-D)

8:00 Depart from Hanoi to Mai Chau – an idyllic valley home to many hill tribes including the Dzao, Muong and Thai. Arrive in Mai Chau around noon, check in your room and enjoy lunch.

In the afternoon,  explore Mai Chau beautiful ethnic villages including Na Thia, Nhot, Pom Coong, Lac and Chieng Chau villages. Be welcomed by the friendly local people, talk with them and discover their traditional culture. Total walking time is around 2.5 – 3 hours on flat village paths. Take it all in: the spectacular scenery of Mai Chau and the relaxed rhythm of local life.

Back to Mai Chau Eco-lodge for dinner. Enjoy a traditional dance show and taste Ruou Can, a local rice wine. Overnight at Mai Chau Ecolodge.

Day 4: MAI CHAU – FULL DAY HARD TREKKING (B-L-D)

8:30 AM: Departing from Mai Chau Ecolodge, crossing Lac Village, and a small mountain to reach to Na Meo – a commune perches on the mountain slope. From Na Meo, tourists will hike on the slope of the lofty Pu Poc Mountain. The wild scenery is filled with primary forests, soaring mountains with strange shapes, lush green corn and cassava fields, charming houses of Thai people. Coming to Te Village, a small authentic village nestled between the dense forests, tourists will visit a Thai family. Tourists continue 1.5 hour hiking cross Pu Hamlet and Khoe Hamlet on a small concrete road winding among two-crop paddy fields. Tourists reach to Te Bridge at 4:30 PM tourists reach to the Highway and get on the car to come back to Mai Chau Ecolodge for relaxing.

Day 5: MAI CHAU – PU LUONG NATURE RESERVE – KHO MUONG VILLAGE (B-L-D)

Breakfast at hotel and then cycle to explore Mai Chau beautiful ethnic villages including Na Tang, Cha Long, Tòng Đậu, Van villages. Be welcomed by the friendly local people, talk with them and discover their traditional culture. Total cycling time is around 2 – 3 hours on flat village paths.
Back to Mai Chau Eco-lodge for relaxing

Check out around 12.pm

Have lunch and transfer to Pu Luong

Note: You should prepare light luggage for the home stay in Kho Muong village. The rest of luggage will remain in the van. If you need to bring much luggage, you need to hire a motorbike man to transfer the luggage for you to the home stay and back to the van. You will pay extra for this motorbike. 

Arrival at Rong Dien junction where you will walk 3.5km to Kho Muong village, check in a home stay.

Then walk around to observe the village activities and visit an old cave.

Have dinner at the home stay, enjoy nice rice wine.

Day 6: KHO MUONG VILLAGE – WALK TO VILLAGES – BAN HIEU (B, L,D)

Option: an early morning walk to see the sunrise on the rice fields and mountains and observe very busy activities in the village.

Breakfast at the home stay, check out and walk along small village roads for about 13kms in 6 hours, through some villages, rice terraces, water wheels, forests. Picnic lunch is served on the way.

Arrival at Ban Hieu, check in the lovely Les Bains de Hieu lodge.

Relax at the lodge or swimming in a river and waterfall.

Dinner at the lodge

Day 7: BAN HIEU – HANOI – NIGHT TRAIN TO LAO CAI (B)

Breakfast at the hotel. Check out and walk along small village roads for about 7km, 2.5 hours.

Finish the walk at Pho Doan village where your car is waiting. Transfer back to Hanoi.

8:00pm Transfer to the train station to take an overnigth train to Lao Cai.

Sharing a cabin of 4 soft berths on Fanxipan or Sapaly train

Overnight on the train

Day 8: LAO CAI – SAPA – HARD TREKKING TO VILLAGES – OVERNIGHT AT HOME STAY AT GIANG TA CHAI VILLAGE (B-L-D)

At 6.00  pick-up at Lao Cai station, then transfer to Sapa town and have breakfast at a hotel.

9:00 Start the trekking day along small trails to Hang Da village of H’Mong people. Along the way, you will enjoy the great view of the Fansipan Mountain and the stunning Muong Hoa Valley.

Visit the village and have a picnic lunch.

After a short rest, then continue walking to Hau Thao village where you will learn more about the cultures and traditions of H’Mong people. Enjoy the breath-taking scenery of Muong Hoa valley.

Continue trekking to Pho village then down the hill to Giang Ta Chai village where you will sleep in a home stay of Giay people. Have dinner and relax at the home stay.

Day 9: HARD TREKKING TO VILLAGES – BACK TO SAPA (B-L)

Waken up by the countryside sounds in the village.

Have a nice breakfast at the home stay.

Start another beautiful trekking day through the bamboo forest to Ta Van village of Giay people. Then follow an easy path to Lao Chai village - the home of Black Hmong people. Enjoy the beautiful views of rice terraces. Lunch at a local place. 

In the afternoon, continue walking to Y Linh Ho village of Black H’Mong people before getting back to the main road and transfer to Sapa by car.

Check in a hotel and relax.

Overnight in Sapa.

Day 10: SAPA – MA TRA – HANOI (B)

9:00am: After breakfast, have another trekking tour to Suoi Ho village and Ma Tra village inhabited by the H’Mong people. These villages are still authentic.

Then transfer to Hnaoi by car.

Arrival in Hanoi in the afternoon. Check in a hotel and relax.

Overnight in Hanoi

Day 11: HANOI – HALONG  (B-L-D)

8:00 Transfer to Halong Bay.

12:00 Arrival in Halong, check in a shared deluxe junk and enjoy the cruise with gorgeous scenery, delicious meals, visiting a cave, cooking class aboard, etc.

Overnight on the cruise

Day 12: HALONG BAY CRUISE (B-L-D)

Enjoy another relaxing day on the cruise with activities: swimming, kayaking or biking.

Enjoy fabulous seafood on the cruise

Overnight on the cruise

Day 13: HALONG – HANOI (B-BR)

Early morning, doing Tai chi on the boat. Enjoy breakfast, continue the cruise around the beautiful bay.

9:00 check out the rooms and pay the bills.

10:30 have brunch on the boat

11:30 Disembark the boat and transfer to Hanoi

Check in a hotel and relax

Overnight in Hanoi

Day 14: HANOI – DEPARTURE (B)

After breakfast, time at leisure until transfer to the airport for your departure flight.

Inclusions:

• Hotel accommodation with breakfast (based on double/ twin sharing )
• Meals indicated in the program (B= Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=dinner)
• All ground transport on tour with A/C cars, boats, bike, trishaw
• 1 way train Hanoi – Lao Cai
• Entrance fees for sightseeing and shows
• Local English guides
• Daily cold bottles of water and towels

Exclusions:

• International flight tickets to and from Vietnam
• Personal travel Insurance
• Vietnam visa
• Personal expenses such as: other meals, drinks, laundry, tips, etc.
• All other accounts not mentioned in the above inclusions.