Day 1: Hanoi – Arrival
Welcome by the guide and the driver of Vietnam Evasion at the airport, transfer to the city center, installation at the hotel. The rest of the day is free for rest and personal discovery at your own pace. We can walk around easily because the hotel is located in the heart of the old quarter. The streets are very animated, populated and commercial. A complete change of scenery.
Night at the hotel
Day 2: Hanoi - Night train to Lao Cai (B)
After breakfast, we visit Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum where the father of the nation rests and the pagoda with the unique pillar.
And then the visit of the ethnographic museum which gathers costumes, tools, musical instruments and exposes some typical houses of the 54 ethnic groups of Vietnam (closed every Monday). We then visit the Temple of Literature which is the "first university of Vietnam".
A walk in the alleys of the old quarter of Hanoi
Attend the puppet show on water.
In the evening, transfer to Hanoi station for the night train to Lao Cai.
Overnight on board the train in comfortable air-conditioned berths (4 persons/cabin)
Day 3: Lao Cai – Sa Pa (B)
Arrival in the morning, a shower and breakfast in a mini-hotel allow us to start in all serenity and well-being
Transfer to Sa Pa. Perched at an altitude of 1600 m, near the Sino-Vietnamese border, Sa Pa is the starting point for various excursions in the middle of nature. Overlooking huge rice terraces and vast green valleys, this former colonial highland resort hosts an important market that attracts thousands of black Hmong and red Dzao mountain people every morning. Mount Phan Si Pan (3143m), the highest in Indochina, is less than ten kilometers from the city.
Stop for a walk in the Ma Tra village (1h30) with black Mong people. Walk through the beautiful rice terraces with wooden houses where the locals raise buffalos, black pigs, chickens..., meet the local people.
Afternoon: Walk in Cat Cat village. A path, winding through this valley, covered with rice fields, leads to a waterfall where there are still remnants of an old hydroelectric plant built in the colonial era and then to the village of the Hmong tribe.
Night at the hotel
Day 4: Sa Pa – Bac Ha (B, D)
Morning: Walk in the Lao Chai and Ta Van villages, consisting of mountains, hills, covered with greenery including rice terraces and vast valleys, dotted with fields and hamlets, populated by the Hmông and Dzay minority.
Visits to schools, meeting people and discovering the daily life of the locals on the way.
Afternoon drive to Bac Ha.
Night at homestay
Day 5: Bac Ha - Night train to Hanoi (B, L)
Visit the weekly multicolored market in Bac Ha where the different tribes from the surrounding mountains gather. Each ethnic minority wears its own traditional costumes and speaks its own language. The atmosphere is particularly picturesque: the mountain people in their colorful traditional clothes 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.
Afternoon: Walk in the minority villages around Bac Ha to meet and contact local people. The village is framed by a sumptuous landscape of traditional houses, hills covered with vegetation between rice fields.
Transfer to Lao Cai station for the night train to Hanoi.
Night on board the train in comfortable air-conditioned berths (4 persons/cabin)
Day 6: Hanoi – Halong bay cruise (B, L, D)
Arrival in the morning, a shower and breakfast in a mini-hotel allow us to start in all serenity and well-being.
Road to the wonderful Halong Bay. Boarding on a comfortable junk for an extraodinary excursion to the famous Halong Bay. Lunch is served on board while the junk sails along the turquoise water. Observation of the floating fishermen villages, the 1969 islands and islets, "sugar loafs and peaks" of all shapes and sizes rise from the emerald waters in an area of 1553 km².
In the late afternoon, our boat anchors in the bay surrounded by sharp peaks.
Dinner is served on board in an idyllic setting.
Night on board in a private cabin on a non-private junk
Day 7: Halong – Ninh Binh (B, L)
After breakfast on board, continuation of the cruise in the middle of thousands of karst peaks in a paradisiacal setting. Visit of a cave.
At the end of the morning, we meet our car, transfer to Ninh Binh through the Red River delta with rice fields as far as the eye can see.
Night at the hotel
Day 8: Ninh Binh - Hanoi - Flight to Hue (B)
In the morning, we embark on a small rowing boat (1h30 of boat) to discover this exceptional place. We pass under the successive tunnels carved by the passage of water. Fairy-like atmosphere in the middle of the peaks and limestone sugar loaf, a natural landscape made of karstic mountains overhanging a sublime aquatic landscape.
Bicycle ride through villages, rice fields and limestone forest around Tam Coc on a small local road.
Transfer to Hanoi airport, flight to Hue, welcome by our driver on arrival, transfer to hotel
Night at the hotel
Day 9: Hue (B, L)
Full day escape from Hue, the ancient capital of Vietnam where the Nguyen dynasty ruled from 1802 to 1945.
Its monuments were recognized by Unesco as World Heritage in 1993.
Visit of the Imperial Citadel which was the witness of the great historical events of the country, the reflection of the imperial life. The architectural complex we visit: South Gate, Palace of Supreme Harmony, Forbidden Purple City, The Mieu Temple, 9 dynastic urns...
Visit of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts
Around noon, we propose you to taste Hue's specialties: banh it, banh bao, banh nam, chao tom, bot loc... in a family restaurant and frequented by the locals.
Then the Nam Giao mound where the sovereigns came to make sacrifice to Heaven and Earth
Visit of a small conical hat factory.
And then, visit the mausoleum of King Tu Duc, with traditional style in harmony with nature, the 2nd residence of the king and the mausoleum of King Minh Mang, one of the most surprising architectural constructions of the imperial tombs.
Night at the hotel
Day 10: Hue - Hoi An (B, L)
Morning: Excursion by traditional boat on the Perfume River, stop at the Thien Mu pagoda (Pagoda of the Celestial Lady), built in 1601 and symbol of Hue city, then continue to Thuy Bieu village, known by the grapefruit gardens.
A bicycle ride in the village will allow you to discover the life of the people.
Back to Thuy Bieu village for the water massage with medicinal plants.
Then, we follow a cooking class under chef's information.
Lunch with self-made dishes.
Afternoon, transfer to Hoi An, arrival at the end of the day
At nightfall, with the lanterns illuminated, Hoi An offers a different face that should certainly not be missed.
So we have to go for dinner and then walk in the old town. The streets are illuminated by thousands of lanterns hanging on the windows and trees. The river that runs along the city is covered with floating candles and the Japanese bridge is also surrounded by bright colors. We are like in another world.
Night at the hotel
Day 11: Hoi An (B)
Morning, visit of the city:
Classified as a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1999, Hoi An, formerly called Faifo, was a very active port where Chinese and Japanese had their quarters. Portuguese, Dutch and French merchants came to trade in the 17th and 18th centuries. Its architecture remains unchanged and continues to defy time.
We visit the old houses, the Japanese covered bridge, the Chinese temples, the market.
Afternoon:
Bike ride in the countryside between rice fields to Tra Que herbal village, a charming village which is less than 3 km from the center of Hoian city, then continue by the local road to the surrounding villages. Let's continue to drive on a small dike road and towards the fresh water coconut reserve of Bay Mau.
We take a one hour ride in a round boat (basket boat) between the coconut trees. We are in the middle of a typical "Mekong delta" atmosphere. Surprising.
And then we take part in crab fishing.
Night at the hotel
Day 12: Hoi An - Da Nang - Flight to Sai Gon (B)
Transfer to Da Nang airport, flight to Sai Gon, welcome by our driver on arrival, transfer to hotel.
Rest of the time free
Night at the hotel
Day 13: Sai Gon – Cai Be - Can Tho (B, L)
Transfer to Cai Be in the Mekong River, Mother River, where we start the moving adventure in this amazing world half-terrestrial, half-aquatic.
Board a boat for a cruise on the Mekong River observing the river activities.
The boat then heads towards the workshops of local products (candies, coconut sweets, rice cakes and popcorn, rice alcohol, honey tea) and enter the small canals of the delta covered with green vegetation.
Visit a large orchard where we taste exotic fruits.
In the afternoon, board the boat and continue the cruise to Vinh Long where we meet our driver to drive us to Can Tho.
Visit of the ancient Binh Thuy house
Night at the hotel
Day 14: Can Tho - Sai Gon (B)
Early in the morning, we take the boat to participate in the Cai Rang floating market, the largest and most lively floating market in the Mekong Delta. The setting is beautiful: hundreds of motorized sampans filled with rice, fruits, and handicrafts gather to trade and sell. We leave the market, then ride our bikes on the small local road to meet the people, discover their daily life and visit a large orchard where we taste exotic fruits.
Bike ride (1h30-2h) in the countryside through typical villages, outside the traditional circuits to discover the landscape, the local daily life and contacts with people.
Return to Sai Gon
Night at the hotel
Day 15: Sai Gon – Return Flight (B)
Free time until transfer to the airport for your return flight.
