Day 1 : Hanoi – Sa Pa
Our guide and driver will pick you up at your hotel, road to Sapa by fast way, arrival in the early afternoon.
Near Sa Pa, stop for a walk in 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.
Then visit the colorful market of the city
Free time for personal visits at your own pace
Night at the hotel
Day 2 : Sa Pa – Lai Chau (B)
Walk in the village Y Linh Ho. A path, winding through this valley, covered with rice fields, and leads to the village of the Hmong tribe.
Then we take the road to Lai Chau, stop at the silver waterfall, a nice little waterfall along the road. Continue our way to O Quy Ho pass, one of the highest pass of Vietnam called the pass in the clouds. We will make a stop at the small market of Binh Lu, the merchants propose some vegetables. On the other side of the road, a promontory offers a beautiful panorama, you will be able to observe the cultivation of roses and the fish farms below in the valley.
Night at the hotel
Day 3 : Lai Chau – Ta Leng – Sìn Suối Hồ (B, D)
We leave for Thac Tac Tinh, the waterfall of love. The legend tells that a young girl from the Dao minority, Lau Lan, as beautiful as the Lan forest, fell in love with a boy from the village but their happiness was not long, the boy No is poor, the father of the girl had planned a rich marriage for his daughter... After 3 km of climbing you arrive at the foot of this beautiful waterfall.
Road to Ta Leng, this is the place to go! Small Hmong villages clinging to the slopes of Mount Ta Leng, beautiful rice terraces, very small, like handkerchiefs but there are everywhere where the eyes rest...it's preserved, far from everything, hiking possible.
We then head to the village of Sin Suôi Hồ, a very pretty Hmong village of orchid growers, cardamom is also harvested there. A pretty waterfall "Tinh Yeu" is at the edge of the village, there is also a legend - there is a handsome young man gifted in hunting who falls in love with a beautiful girl who sews clothes, their love did not last long, the boy had to go and fight the enemy, she waited for many moons and still not seeing him return she thought he was dead, so sad she then turned into a waterfall....
Night at the inhabitant's house, dance and music show in the evening, the whole village participates.
Day 4 : Sìn Suối Hồ - Sìn Hồ (B)
Nice road to Sin Hô, stops in several white Hmong and Dao villages.
Big market on Sunday.
Walk to the pretty village of Phang Xo Lin very close to Sin Ho, just behind the hill, children play in the rice fields, they surround the houses, it is very beautiful! The doors open with grace, we are in the land of smiles!
In the evening, for the adepts, herbal bath at the Dao, very authentic.
Night at the hotel
Day 5 : Sìn Hồ - Ban Bo – Ban Hon – Lai Chau (B)
Return to Lai Chau to continue in the direction of Lu country. In the village of Ban Bo you will see the water wheels so particular which irrigate the rice fields. There are about twenty of them in a row along the river, the spectacle is surprising. Some fishermen put their nets in the river, the black Thais come to bathe here come to bathe here in family on Sunday.
Visit of a village of the Lu ethnic group close to Ban Hon, this ethnic group is widely present in this region, the authenticity is there. The Lu ethnic group is one of the rare to still practice the lacquering of teeth. Their weavings are remarkable and their costumes of any beauty.
Night at the hotel
Day 6 : Lai Chau – Mu Cang Chai (B, D)
Departure for Mu Cang Chai through spectacular mountain scenery, sumptuous rice terraces. The rice fields here are the most beautiful in the country.
Several stops to take pictures and meet the local people.
Superb view and splendid landscape.
Possibility to meet Mong women working the linen on their traditional looms.
Still by car, we continue along the mountain range, going from surprise to surprise.
2 hours of walking to discover the landscapes and the life of the local people. We cross rice fields to reach the isolated villages.
Night in bungalow
Day 7 : Mu Cang Chai – Mai Chau – Xam Khoe (B, D)
A long day drive to Xam Khoe via Mai Chau (Xam Khoe is 25 km from Mai Chau, still authentic and much less touristy).
This valley surrounded by green mountains and dotted with lakes, rice fields, rivers and houses on stilts of the Thai minority, is an excellent breath of fresh air.
Walking in the villages, meeting the people, discovering the daily life and the magnificent landscapes: green rice fields, karst mountains in the shape of "hump, sugar loaf" covered with luxuriant vegetation, fertile fields of culture, fish farming and garden...
In the evening: participation in the folkloric dance and music show presented by the villagers.
Night at homestay
Day 8 : Xam Khoe – Ninh Binh (B, D)
Transfer to Ninh Binh
This trip allows us to observe the landscapes, the Vietnamese countryside and the activities of the local daily life.
Visit of the great Bai Dinh pagoda with its famous records.
Then visit the Dinh and Le temples in the ancient capital Hoa Lu
Night at the hotel
Day 9 : Ninh Binh (B)
In the morning, we embark on a small boat with oars (1h30 of boat) to discover the caves of Tam Coc. 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 karst mountains overhanging an exceptional aquatic landscape.
Transfer to visit the stone cathedral of Phat Diem (30 km from Tam Coc). The architectural complex of Phat Diem is one of the most original centers of Catholicism in Vietnam with a dozen stone and wooden structures built in a style combining the architecture of Buddhist pagodas and Catholic churches.
Return to Tam Coc
A climb on Hang Mua offers you a panoramic view on the region.
Then bike ride through villages, rice fields and limestone forest around Tam Coc to Hai Nham, Thung Nham and then Thai Vi temple.
Night at the hotel
Day 10 : Ninh Binh – Lan Ha bay cruise (B, L, D)
Morning 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
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 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.
