Day 1 : Hanoi – Arrival
Arrival at Hanoi airport. Welcome by Vietnam Evasion driver, then transfer to the hotel.
The rest of the day is free for rest and personal discovery at your own pace.
Our hotel is located in the center of the old quarter which allows us to stroll easily for a complete change of scenery by immersing ourselves in the lively and populous streets.
Night at hotel
Day 2 : Hanoi (B)
The whole day is dedicated to the visit of Hanoi, a fascinating city with many facets.
We visit Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum where the father of the nation rests and the One Pillar Pagoda.
Let's continue by the Temple of Literature, the first national university, where we discover the Mandarin competition and Confucianism.
Then, the Ethnography Museum (closed every Monday) which presents the traditions, cultures and traditional dress of the 54 ethnic minorities in Vietnam. This visit gives us a general overview of the people in Vietnam before seeing them in reality in the mountains.
A walk in the streets of old Hanoi lined with small typical houses with lively activities that allows you to see the daily life of the locals.
In the evening, attend the water puppet show, a typical art born in the 11th century in the Red River Deltae.
Night at hotel
Day 3 : Hanoi – Duong Lam - Nghia Lo (B, L)
Morning, transfer to Nghia Lo 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.
Stop on the way at the ancient village of Duong Lam, where we discover century-old houses with traditional Vietnamese architecture, including the village gate, the secular banyan tree, the Mong Phu communal house and the Mia pagoda.
Lunch at the inhabitant's house
Continuation of the road
Stop en route to visit the tea fields.
Continuation of the trip by car to reach the Muong Lo basin where the town of Nghia Lo is located. Muong Lo is the second largest rice granary in the northwest and the capital of the Thai people.
A few stops are planned to see the daily life of the locals.
Here, for 700 years, they have been growing flooded rice and building their traditional houses out of wood and bamboo.
A bike ride through the villages reveals the first insights into the culture and daily life of the Thai people.
5h30 drive
Night at homestay
Day 4 : Nghia Lo – Tu Le - 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.
This road is nicknamed as "photographers road".
Several stops to take pictures and meet local people in Tu Le, La Pan Tan and Che Cu Nha.
Superb view and splendid landscape
Possibility to meet Mong women working with 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 5 : Mu Cang Chai – Sa Pa (B)
After breakfast, a rather steep climb awaits us in the Hoang Lien Son range composed of the highest mountains in Indochina.
Meeting with many Daos, Thais and Mongs peasants, always in traditional costumes. The road winds up to the highest pass of Vietnam (2047 m).
Stop at the pass to enjoy the coolness and admire the Fan Si Pan mountain (3143 m), roof of Indochina.
Arrival in Sa Pa around noon.
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.
Visit the multi-ethnic market of Sa Pa.
Afternoon :
We visit the village Y Linh Ho, far from mass tourism, consists of mountains, hills, covered with greenery including rice terraces and vast valleys, dotted with fields and hamlets, populated by the Black Mong minorities.
The driver will look for us at the end of the route for the return to Sa Pa.
4h of road
Night at hotel
Day 6 : Sa Pa – Bac Ha (B, D)
Morning, visit of the Ham Rong public garden.
Afternoon, transfer to Bac Ha.
Stop en route to walk in the typical 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.
2h30 drive
Night at homestay
Day 7 : Bac Ha (B, D)
Visit a colorful weekly market of the region where the different tribes of 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 a place of commercial exchanges but also a place of reunion and meetings. An authentic place where the locals still preserve their culture and traditions.
Back to Bac Ha for a walking tour to discover the splendid natural landscapes, the culture and the daily life of several tribes of the region. The hike starts on a nice path through a picturesque valley. The green vegetable gardens, corn fields, rice terraces unfold peacefully.
The easy hike continues in the middle of the mountains. We will pass over hills where green tea, corn and plum trees grow. You will enjoy the quietness of this remote area far from mass tourism.
Night at homestay
Day 8 : Bac Ha - Hanoi (B)
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
Night at hotel
Day 9 : Hanoi – Ha Long Bay cruise (B, L, D)
Departure in the morning for Halong Bay.
Arrival around 12:30 pm, boarding on a comfortable traditional junk for an extraodinary excursion to the splendid Halong Bay.
Lunch is served on board while the junk sails along the turquoise water in the paradisiacal setting with its 1969 islands and islets, "sugar loafs and peaks" of all shapes and sizes emerging from the emerald water surface in an area of 1553 km².
During the cruise, we make a stop to take a sampan ride around a floating fishing village.
In the late afternoon, the boat drops anchor to spend the night in the bay. It is then possible to take a bath in the middle of the sea or to rest on the upper deck.
Dinner is taken on the junk in the middle of the idyllic landscape.
Night on board
Day 10 : Ha Long Bay cruise – Ninh Binh (B, L)
Continuation of the cruise in the middle of thousands of karst mountains in a paradisiacal setting.
Visit of a cave from where we have a magnificent view.
And then the junk starts to sail slowly towards the pier. The return cruise allows us to discover other corners of the bay.
Early lunch in the form of Brunch.
Around 11am, disembarkation and we join the guide and the driver, we propose another authentic discovery in the back country :
Visit the local market in Halong city, excellent opportunity to discover the local life, daily food and several species of seafood as well as vegetables and tropical fruits.
Transfer to Ninh Binh (land Halong Bay), this trip allows us to observe the landscapes, the Vietnamese countryside and the activities of the local daily life.
Night at hotel
Day 11 : Ninh Binh – Night train to Hue (B)
Transfer to Kim Son (30 km from Tam Coc) to visit the stone cathedral of Phat Diem. 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.
Visit of the Dinh and Le temples in the ancient capital Hoa Lu.
Then bike ride through villages, rice fields and limestone forest around Tam Coc to Hai Nham, Thung Nham and then Thai Vi temple.
Then, we embark on a small rowing boat (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 peaks and limestone sugar loafs, a natural landscape made of karstic mountains overhanging an exceptional aquatic landscape.
In the evening, transfer to the station
Night on board the train in soft sleeper (4 persons/cabin)
Day 12 : Hue (B, L)
Arrival in Hue in the morning, welcome by the guide and driver at the station, transfer to the city center for breakfast.
Full day escape from Hue, former 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 the Heaven and the 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 hotel
Day 13 : Hue – Hoi An (B)
Morning transfer to Hoi An by our driver
Rest of the time free for your personal discoveries and lazing on the beach at your own pace.
At nightfall, with the lanterns illuminated, Hoi An offers a different face that should certainly not be missed.
So let's go for dinner and then walk around 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 hotel
Day 14 : Hoi An (B)
Free day for your personal discoveries and lazing on the beach at your own pace.
Night at hotel
Day 15 : Hoi An – Da Nang – Flight to Sai Gon (B)
Free time until transfer to Da Nang airport, flight to Sai Gon, welcome by our driver on arrival, transfer to hotel.
Rest of the time free for your personal discoveries at your own pace.
Night at hotel
Day 16 : 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 hotel
Day 17 : 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 take a bike ride 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 hotel
Day 18 : Sai Gon – Return Flight (B)
Free time until transfer to the airport for your return flight.
