Brief itinerary
Day 1 Arrival in Hanoi
Day 2 Hanoi. - city tour
Day 3 Hanoi – Ba Be
Day 4 Ba Be. Visit of the lake
Day 5 Ba Be – Hanoi
Day 6 Hanoi – Giang Mo village
Day 7 Giang Mo – Mai Chau
Day 8 Mai Chau – Kenh Ga – Hoa Lu – Tam Coc
Day 9 Tam Coc – Phat Diem – Hai Phong – Cat Ba
Day 10 Cat Ba. Visit the island
Day 11 Cat Ba island – Ha Long Bay
Day 12 Ha Long Bay – Hanoi.
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Day 1: Arrival in Hanoi.
Arrival at Hanoi airport, the guide and the driver will welcome you and transfer to the city center to check in.
Note: Check in time at the hotel: 2.00pm
Day 2: Hanoi city tour
After breakfast, stroll through the residential area where there is the former Palace of the Governor General of Indochina, the house and Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, the One Pillar Pagoda. Then you will continue visiting the many monuments and cultural relics thousands of years which are deeply connected to Vietnam history and its legends such as the Literature Temple, Tran Quoc Pagoda... These are representatives of the Vietnamese belief. We believe in the real or unreal geniuses as the heroes of the country, famous characters, or even the earth, the mountains, the river or tree geniuses... This genius system varies according to one ethnic group to another and each region.
Lunch in a local restaurant.
In the afternoon, you will visit the Ethnographic museum in which is retraced the ethnic minorities life in Vietnam. The objects, houses, clothes, documents are gathered among the museum. You will have the opportunity to enter in the long house of Ede, Jarai the Rong house or the earthen house of Ha Nhi ... a visit of all the ethnic groups. In the late afternoon, you will attend a water puppet show. This is a traditional Vietnamese art which mies both folk music and actions of wooden puppets.
Included meals: breakfast at hotel, lunch .
Day 3: Hanoi – Ba Be
(230km/ 5 - 6h journey, including break time).
At 8.00am, the guide and the driver will be waiting for you at your hotel and take you to Ba Be. The journey will take about 5-6 hours, you'll get to pass through magnificent landscapes. Imagine your transport gliding over the mountains, the clouds… this will be amazing ! You will be able to make small stops in the shade on the road with the aim of admiring the beautiful landscapes of the northern forest. From above, you will have a beautiful view of the valleys : there are homes that are hiding in the hills, minority women who are working... you’ll certainly have magnificent pictures to take.
Lunch on the road, and you’ll continue you way towards Ba Be Lake.
Arrival in Ba Be National Park, instead of taking the van to enter into the village, you will make a motor boat cruise on Nang River. We guarantee you that you will be alone to invade this natural space made of limestone rocks looking like natural bonsais floating on the water. You will arrive at the homestay where you will spend the night in a house on stilts typically local. For you, this is an opportunity to experience the daily life of Tay residents.
In the evening, you will prepare dinner with the people who are opened to tourists. This will be a good time to understand better their daily lives. Tasting traditional dishes, the host will invite you to taste his corn alcohol and he’ll explain you the story of Tay people. Dinner and overnight at the homestay (basic comfort).
Included meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 4: Visit of Ba Be lake
Ba Be Lake or Three lakes, is located in the middle of Ba Be national park. It is considered as a nature pearl lost in the Bac Kan forests. It is a site that attracts many visitors thanks to its outstanding biodiversity. The Ba Be Lake is one of the 20 largest freshwater lakes worldwide. Breakfast on the terrace with a view on the nature will give you the needed strength for the today to discover the beauty of the lake. The cruise will last approximately 5 hours during which you will be able to admire breathtaking landscapes. From above, the boat is as beautiful as a sliding leaf on jade water. The An Ma temple, the fairy pond, Puong cave, the Dau Dang waterfall are the sites of the visits mentioned in the walk. In addition, you will be able to be as closer as possible to the people entering the village of Cam, another place where live the Tay people. Get your camera ready ! Lunch and dinner with the locals. Overnight at the homestay.
Included meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner.
Day 5: Ba Be – Hanoi. (230km/5-6h journey).
After breakfast, you will discover the village surroundings through a bike ride. The sound of insects, leaves, and sources dominate all the pure space. Visit of the Hua Ma cave.
Then you will ride to Hanoi. There will be several stops in order to relax your legs, take pictures, or talk with villagers. Back in Hanoi, transfer to hotel. Lunch on site and overnight at hotel in Hanoi.
Included meals: breakfast, lunch.
Day 6: Hanoi – Giang Mo (86 km).
After breakfast, you will leave for Giang Mo village,, Giang Mo has long been well known as an attractive community cultural destination. The peaceful space in the village of Muong people is an ideal place for those who want to escape from noisy big cities. The peaceful village is home to about 100 Muong households who mainly live by farming. The highlight that makes the village attractive to travellers is old stilts shaped similar to turtles.
Overnight at a homestay in the village.
Included meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 7: Giang Mo - Mai Chau (66 km).
Mai Chau is located in the southwest of Hanoi, it is an ideal destination for those who are looking for outdoor trips or hiking to ethnic groups villages in the valleys. Mai Chau is also considered as the cradle of Thai minority inhabitants and Muong. So far they have kept their customs, traditions... while visiting Mai Chau, you will have the opportunity to learn about the ethnic groups life in the mountains.After breakfast, you will visit the Muong Museum (located 2 km away from the village of Giang Mo). Then you will continue your way to Mai Chau and have the chance to admire the beauty of the mountainous region with rice fields terraces lined with banana groves.
Sometimes you will see the homes of Thai and Muong hiding under trees.
Arrival at Mai Chau. Lunch with the locals.
In the afternoon, you will make a nice bike ride to visit the villages Poom Coong, Nhot, Na Phon, and Lake Van and observe the daily activities of local people. Dinner and overnight at the homestay (basic comfort).
In the evening, you will participate to a folk music show of the Thai inhabitants, dancing with khen (traditional flute of the minority ethnic groups), and taste rice wine.
Included meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 8: Mai Chau – Kenh Ga – Hoa Lu – Tam Coc
(150km/ 3h30 journey)
After breakfast, drive to Ninh Binh.
Arrival at Nho Quan where you will make a boat trip to the floating village of Kenh Ga, in the middle of a vast flooded area. Visitors are seduced by the peaceful landscape and the authenticity of the isolated life of local inhabitants. During the cruise, you will be able to attend locals growing rice or searching for small shells in the mud at the bottom of the river (depending on the rice season).
Arrival at Kenh Ga, you can ask the guide to stop an hour to enjoy the source with jacuzzi (optional - at your charge). Back on board, lunch in a local restaurant then drive to Tam Coc.
Arrival at Tam Coc. Check-in at the hotel. Then you will go to the pier Thung Nang on bike where you will take the bamboo sampan in order to discover this « inland Ha Long Bay» in 1.5 hours. Thung Nang possesses a quiet natural beauty. You will have the opportunity to discuss with the locals and observe their daily life such as fishing or farming.
Then you will visit Bich Dong Pagoda (Bich Dong means Jade’s cave) is known as the second most beautiful cave in Vietnam. At the entrance, a staircase carved straight in rock and dotted with shrines increasing to a cave where the three Buddhas throne on lotus. A magnificent pagoda on holy ground.
While leaving the pagoda, you will go back to Tam Coc, and continue the bike ride to the temple of Thai Vi - a beautiful stone temple. Return to the hotel. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
Included meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 9: Ninh Binh – Hai Phong – Cat Ba
(130km/ 2.5h journey 1h boat ride)
After breakfast, drive to Hai Phong via Nam Dinh and Thai Binh, two territories rich in cultural traditions of the Red River Delta. Arrival in Hai Phong, flamboyant city in a French colonial style. You’ll viisit the Du Hang Pagoda, an ancient pagoda of the city that has undergone a long process of construction and development since the dynasty of Le Anterieur. Lunch on site then you will take the ferry to Cat Ba island. Arrival in Cat Ba, installation and free time.
Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
Included meals: breakfast and lunch, dinner.Included meals: breakfast and lunch.
Day 10: Cat Ba Island
The Cat Ba Archipelago has nearly 200 square meters of sea and not less than 366 islets and islands studded with fabulous beaches and caves. At 20 km away from Hai Phong, bordered on the west by the Gulf of Tonkin and in the east by the Ha Long Bay, the main island of the archipelago, the island of Cat Ba occupying an area of approximately 354 square meters offers fantastic landscapes alternating hills covered with lush forests, mangrove swamps, freshwater lakes, waterfalls and reefs.
After breakfast, you will take the road to go to the natural reserve of Cat Ba where you will have a walk in the forest to the top of Ngu Quan, Kim Giao. From above, you get a panoramic view of the island.
Back at the hotel, lunch in a local restaurant. In the afternoon, you will have free time. Dinner. Overnight at hotel.
Included meals: breakfast and lunch.
Day 11: Cat Ba Island – Ha Long
In the morning, you will explore the fishing harbor and the fish market of Cat Ba before boarding at the Gia Luan harbor (27 km away from Cat Ba’s island northern side). Small boat cruise towards Ha Long Bay to reach the junk in which you’ll spend the night.
Halong Bay is known as the 8th wonder of the world thanks to its magnificent landscapes, beautiful caves, pure air and rich of biodiversity. Having a 1500 square meters area, more than 3,000 limestone islands, Halong Bay is a truly surprising destination.
Arrival around noon and will board on a traditional junk. Lunch with seafood and exceptional ride junk in Halong Bay, "8th Wonder of the World" with its thousands of islands, islets emerging from the water by taking fantastic shapes according to the ship’s itinerary. Dinner and overnight on board.
Included meals: breakfast lunch and dinner
Day 12: Ha Long – Hanoi.
(180km/ 4h journey).
If Hanoi was Thang Long, The Rise of the Dragon, the Halong Bay os the Descend of the Dragon. The surreal chaos of the Rocky Mountains is the result of the frolics of the dragon, the master of waters.
These hills with strange shapes seem to float on the surface of the water as if they were ate. The silence of the calm sea is sometimes broken by the shout of a bird. The cruise continues. Then you will have the opportunity to relax on the beach. After lunch of seafood. Back to Halong wharf then return to Hanoi.
THE END OF THE TRIP
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