Day 1 : Hanoi – Bac Ha (D)
In the morning, our English speaking guide and driver will pick you up at the hotel.
Transfer to Bac Ha to start our authentic journey in the North outside the traditional circuits to discover the splendid natural landscapes and meet the minority ethnic groups in the remote villages far from the tourist crowd.
Arrival around mid-afternoon
Walk on the local road to meet the Mong Fleurs ethnic group in traditional dress in the villages around Bac Ha which allows us to see the real daily life of the locals and discover the landscape.
5-6h drive
Night at homestay
Day 2 : Bac Ha market (B, L, D)
In the morning, visit a colorful weekly market of the region. The atmosphere is particularly picturesque: the mountain people in colorful traditional dress go to the market with their horses, agricultural products and children. These ethnic minorities coming from far away hamlets sell animals (buffaloes, oxen, pigs, dogs, horses...), fruits, vegetables, forest products, basketry objects, clothes... The market is not only the place for commercial exchanges but also the place for reunions and meetings. A truly authentic place where the locals still preserve their culture and traditions.
Then we go for a 5-6 hour hike to discover the splendid natural landscapes, the culture and the daily life of the local people. The hike starts on a nice path through a picturesque valley. The green vegetable gardens, corn fields, rice terraces unfold peacefully.
The hike continues in the middle of the mountains. We will pass over hills where rzi, corn and plum trees grow. You will appreciate the calm of this isolated region far from mass tourism.
5-6h of walking, altitude difference 200 - 250m
Night at homestay
Day 3 : Bac Ha – Ban Phung – Ban Luoc (B, L, D)
Morning, departure for Hoang Su Phi, its rice terraces which make the reputation of the region and form terraces piled up on the hillside.
The rice terraces of Hoang Su Phi cover six communes: Ban Luoc, San Sa Ho, Ban Phung, Ho Thau, Nam Ty and Thong Nguyen. The first one is to shelter the largest rice terraces of the country (nearly 200 ha in the commune of Ban Luoc).
The stepped rice fields of Hoang Su Phi have three particularities that those of Mu Cang Chai and Sa Pa, also very famous.
Generations of peasants have developed the landscape, deforested, dug irrigation canals, and terraced the hills to grow rice.
Then, you leave for a 3-hour walk to reach the Luoc village where the Dao long-tunic ethnic group welcomes you in their houses on stilts. You share a convivial moment with the family around a meal made of local specialties.
3h30 by car, 3h walking, 250m difference in altitude
Night at homestay
Day 4 : Ban Luoc – Nam Hong (B, L, D)
3h trekking in the Ban Luoc area where you evolve in a vertical landscape between terraced crops and karst peaks covered with forests. Depending on the season, you may witness agricultural activities such as rice planting, Shan Tuyet wild tea harvesting, or cardamom harvesting. Along the way, you will meet the local ethnic people in their daily life, working day after day in the rice fields and the hundred-year-old tea trees of the region. Men and women in traditional dresses work on the terraces with the help of the water buffalo, the only animal able to work on this type of land.
Then transfer to Nam Hong
Easy walk in the surroundings
Installation in a bungalow located between rice fields and mountains
3 hours of walking, 250m difference in height
Night in bungalow
Day 5 : Nam Hong - Quan Ba (B, L, D)
Morning, we make a 2h30 walk, the trek is made in the lost countries, isolated through the forest and ethnic villages in remote places, outside the traditional circuits allows us to discover the breathtaking landscapes and authentic villages.
Then departure for Quan Ba, the gateway to the Dong Van karst plateau geopark.
Walk around the area
4h-4h30 drive, 2h30 walk, 250m difference in altitude
Night at the hotel
Day 6 : Quan Ba – Dong Van (B)
Transfer to Dong Van
Several stops are planned on the way to contact local people, discover landscapes and daily life
Spectacular mountain scenery.
The Dong Van High Stone Plateau is known as one of the 77 geological parks in the world and the second in Southeast Asia after Langkawi in Malaysia. This plateau is also called "the land of rocks". Despite the difficulties, people have been living there for thousands of years, trying to make a living from a poor land.
Vietnamese painters and photographers go there to immortalize these landscapes. Still by car, we continue to follow the mountain range, going from surprise to surprise.
Then we visit the ancient house of the king of the Mongs in the Sa Phin valley.
The road zigzags between a forest of limestone peaks. They preserve at the top of the remains of tropical forest. They remind us of the universe of the movie "Avatar". The slopes are covered with a carpet of black stones, where, in each interstice, the Green or White Mongs cultivate vegetables.
4-5h drive, 2h30 walk, 250-300m difference in altitude
Night at the hotel
Day 7 : Dong Van – Meo Vac (B)
On both sides of the road, the gray rock is omnipresent, with here and there the green spots of the food crops. Each year, the ethnic groups prepare for a new crop. In order for the seeds to germinate and grow well, they must toil in the fields for several weeks. They use a special tool to dig deep into the hollows, where the soil is thickest, before sowing the seeds.
Stop at Ma Pi Leng pass: superb view and picturesque landscape.
4-5h of walking to discover the splendid landscapes and contact the local inhabitants.
4-5h of walking, altitude difference 250-300m
Night at the hotel
Day 8 : Meo Vac – Ha Giang (B, D)
Transfer to Ha Giang by a road very little tourist, landscapes, ethnic villages both wild and beautiful.
This route crosses remote villages little visited. The stops allow us to take pictures and to meet the local inhabitants.
6 hours of driving,
Night at homestay
Day 9 : Ha Giang - Hanoi (B)
Morning, 3 hours of walking around, in the beautiful frame of mountains, ethnic hamlets and rice fields.
Then back to Hanoi, we leave the mountains with regrets.
This trip allows you to observe the villages, the Vietnamese countryside and the beautiful landscapes.
6-7h drive, 3h walk, 300m elevation gain
Night at the hotel
Day 10 : Hanoi – Lan Ha Bay Cruise (B, L, D)
In the morning, the driver will pick you up at your hotel, departure for Cat Ba Island via Hai Phong
For the cruise, we do not propose the Halong Bay cruise, too touristic, but we propose to do it in Lan Ha Bay, very little frequented, much wilder and as beautiful on a small comfortable junk.
Around noon, boarding on a traditional junk for an extraordinary excursion to Lan Ha Bay from Cat Ba, outside the traditional circuits. Lunch is served on board while the junk sails along the turquoise water. Visit the floating villages of fishermen, islands and islets, "sugar loafs and peaks" of all shapes and sizes emerge from the emerald water surface.
During this cruise, we discover this immense chaos of karstic mounts, caves, lagoons with all these ghostly forms that we see from far away.
We kayak in a quiet place between the limestone creeks.
At the end of the afternoon, the boat drops anchor to spend the night in the bay in a quiet place away from the tourist crowd. It is then possible to take a bath in the middle of the sea or on a beautiful quiet isolated beach or to rest on the upper deck.
Dinner is taken on the junk in the middle of an idyllic landscape.
Night on board in a private cabin on a non private junk
Day 11 : Lan Ha bay cruise – Hanoi (B, L)
Morning: We wake up early to watch the sunrise over Lan Ha Bay.
Then we will continue our cruise in this bay by sailing through the thousands of "sugar loaves" emerging from the waves. We will have the impression to be in a world of fossilized animals millions of years ago.
Bike ride in the beautiful village of Viet Hai on a small path between fields and limestone peaks.
Return of the cabins around 10:00 am.
Early lunch in the form of brunch on board.
We disembark in the late morning, transfer back to Hanoi.
