Day 1 : Hanoi arrival
Arrival at Hanoi airport. Welcome by the driver of Vietnam Evasion, 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 – Night train to Lao Cai (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 peoples in Vietnam before meeting them in reality in the mountains.
A walk in the streets of old Hanoi lined with small typical houses with lively activities that allows us to see the daily life of the locals.
At the end of the day, let's attend the water puppet show, a typical art born in the 11th century in the Red River Delta.
In the evening, transfer to Hanoi station for the night train to Lao Cai.
Night on board the train in comfortable air-conditioned berths (4 persons/cabin)
Day 3 : Lao Cai – Bac Ha (B)
Early arrival in Lao Cai, a shower and breakfast in a mini-hotel next to the train station allow us to start the day of visits in all serenity and well-being..
Transfer to Bac Ha, visit of a weekly multicolored market in Bac Ha where the different tribes of the surrounding mountains gather. Each ethnic minority wears its 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 cultures and traditions.
Afternoon:
Walking tour 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.
Night at homestay
Day 4 : Bac Ha – Sa Pa (B, L)
Transfer to Sa Pa
Perched at an altitude of 1600 m, close to 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 on the way to walk in the typical Ma Tra village (1h30) among the black Mongs. Walks through the beautiful rice terraces with wooden houses where the locals raise buffalos, black pigs, chickens..., meeting local people.
Afternoon:
Walking tour (2h30) in Lao Chai - Ta Van villages. A path, winding through this valley, covered with rice terraces, leads us to the villages of the Black Mong and Day tribe.
Night at hotel
Day 5 : Sa Pa – Comfortable bus to Hanoi (B)
Morning :
Walking tour in Ban Khoang and Ta Giang Phinh villages (2h30), far from the classical circuits, are composed of mountains, hills, covered with greenery notably rice terraces and vast valleys, dotted with fields and hamlets, populated by the Black Mong minority.
Afternoon :
Return to Hanoi by comfortable bus (5h-5h30 of bus)
Night at hotel
Day 6 : Hanoi – Mai Chau (B, L, D)
Departure to Mai Chau
This valley surrounded by green mountains and dotted with lake, rice fields, rivers and houses on stilts of the Thai minority, is an excellent breath of fresh air.
Lunch at a local's house in the village.
Afternoon:
Walking tour (2h) in the villages, meeting people, discovering the daily life and the beautiful landscapes: green rice fields, karst mountains in the shape of "hump, sugar loaf" covered with lush vegetation, fertile crop fields, fish farming and garden…
In the evening: participation in the folkloric dance and music show presented by the villagers.
Night at homestay
Day 7 : Mai Chau – Ninh Binh (B)
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 hotel
Day 8 : Ninh Binh (B, L)
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 peaks and limestone sugar loafs, a natural landscape made of karstic 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
Then bike ride along the small local road through villages, between rice fields and a limestone forest around Tam Coc to Hai Nham, Thung Nham and then Thai Vi temple.
Night at hotel
Day 9 : Ninh Binh – Halong Bay (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. Then the junk turns to Bai Tu Long Bay, less touristic and wilder.
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 : Halong Bay – Flight to Hoi An (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 11 am, disembarkation.
Transfer to Hanoi airport, flight to Da Nang, welcome by our driver on arrival, transfer to the hotel in Hoi An (32km from Da Nang).
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 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 11 : Hoi An (B, L)
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: we propose another authentic discovery in the back country:
Bike ride in the countryside between rice fields to Tra Que herbal village, a charming village which is less than 3 km from Hoi An city center, then continue by the local path 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 boat ride between the coconut trees. We are now in the middle of a typical "Mekong Delta" atmosphere. Surprising.
And then we participate in crab fishing.
Night at hotel
Day 12 : Hoi An – Hue (B)
Morning transfer to Hue, arrival around noon.
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
Then visit the Thien Mu pagoda
Night at hotel
Day 13 : Hue – Flight to Sai Gon (B)
Visit the mausoleum of King Tu Duc, 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.
Transfer to Hue airport, flight to Sai Gon, welcome by our driver on arrival, transfer to the hotel.
Night at hotel
Day 14 : Sai Gon – Cu Chi Tunnels – Sai Gon (B)
Transfer to the suburbs of Sai Gon, visit the Cu Chi tunnel network which played a great role in the Vietnam war. They are located northwest of Ho Chi Minh City, about 40 kilometers away. They were dug in the late 1940s by determined but under-equipped fighters against French and then American forces with artillery, bombers and chemical weapons.
Stretching over some forty kilometers, these tunnels allowed Viet Cong-controlled areas to communicate with each other when they were isolated in American or South Vietnamese areas.
They also served as shelters for the population during air attacks.
Return to Sai Gon.
Visit of the Fito museum (of traditional medicine), the museum of war relics, the Central Post Office built by Gustave Eiffel and the Notre-Dame cathedral.
Night at hotel
Day 15 : Sai Gon – Ben Tre – Can Tho (B, L)
Transfer to the Mekong, Mother River, where we begin the moving adventure in this amazing world half land, half water. We take a boat to walk on the river.
Visit a brick kiln and taste the local honey and many tropical fruits. And then visit the production of sugar and candy made from coconut.
Walk or bike ride in the village between coconut trees, rice fields, crops and green orchards...
Stroll in a small boat with oars on the arroyos surrounded by nipas
Disembarkation and drive to Can Tho
Night at hotel
Day 16 : Can Tho – Sai Gon (B)
Early visit to the Cai Rang floating market.
It is a wholesale market with a myriad of boats loaded with watermelons, mangoes, bananas, papayas, pineapples, onions...Many farmers and peasants come here to sell their harvest, agricultural products and specialties of the region to wholesalers.
The locals transport their products on medium-sized junks while the traders use large boats to transport the goods to Cambodia and Thailand.
We leave the market, and then discover the handicrafts, the orchards where we taste exotic fruits.
Afterwards, a bicycle ride (1h30-2h) in the countryside through typical villages, outside the traditional circuits to discover the landscape and the local daily life.
Return to Sai Gon
Night at hotel
Day 17 : Sai Gon – Return Flight (B)
Free time until transfer by our driver to Sai Gon airport for your return flight
