COLORFUL PARADISES OF VIETNAM

DURATION

19 Days 18 Nights

DESTINATIONS

Hanoi - Tu Le - Mu Cang Chai - Than Uyen - Y Tý - Sapa - Lan Ha Bay - Quang Binh - Hue - Hoi An - Can Tho - Chau Doc - Saigon

RECOMMENDATIONS

This tour is for active people who can tolerate long transfers on certain days, such as hiking and making contact with ethnic communities
Best time to go: This tour can be taken during the whole year, however, to see ripe rice season, it is best taken from late August to early September as the harvest season is from September to October

  • Explore the city of Hanoi and surroundings including the ancient village of Dong Ngac
  • Hike in Tu Le Valley through rice fields and meet the local people
  • Enjoy the breathtaking beauty of rice terraces scattered with ethnic villages in Mu Cang Chai
  • Discover the most rustic villages of Ha Nhi and Green H’mong Hill Tribes.
  • Experience the colorful Muong Khuong Market on the way from Y Ty to Sapa
  • Enjoy an overnight relaxing cruise on the splendid Lan Ha Bay
  • Discover the Phong Nha and Thien Duong Caves, Asia's longest dry cave in Quang Binh
  • Get close to local life in Hue through a visit to the tranquil village of Thuy Bieu and enjoy cooking local food with your host.
  • Explore the My Son Sanctuary and the charming town of Hoi An 
  • Discover the Mekong Delta in depth from Can Tho to Chau Doc which is the border with Cambodia. 
INCLUSIONS

✔ Accommodation with daily breakfast as mentioned or similar
✔ Transfer services in air conditioned vehicle with private driver
✔Entrance fees, and boat fees where applicable
✔ Meals as listed in the program, pre-arranged at local restaurants based on local food
✔ Private local English/French/Spanish/Italian Speaking guide  as itinerary indicated
✔ Shared local English speaking guide on boat in HaLong bay
✔ 01 night on boat in HaLong bay
✔ Train tickets - share air-conditioned cabin with 4 soft berths (Hanoi – Dong Hoi)
✔ Domestic flight ticket: Da Nang – Ho Chi Minh City with Vietnam Airlines, including airport tax, 12kg of handbag and 23kg of checked luggage
 		 EXCLUSIONS

✘ Drinks and surcharge for special request on foods and meals
✘ Entrance fees, guide service during free time & other personal expenses
✘ Surcharge for public holidays (if any)
✘ Travel insurance
✘ Gratuities
✘ Visa entry to VietNam people who do tours of more than 15 days and multiple entries must make visas before their trip
✘ All other services not mentioned in the program



 

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PROGRAM

Day 1 Arrive Hanoi

Upon arrival at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, you are welcomed by our guide and transferred to your hotel in the city center to check in. Relax after a long journey.
 
Overnight in Hanoi.

Day 2 Hanoi – Flavor of Countryside and City Life

This morning, our tour guide and driver will pick you up at your hotel, then drive 30 minutes to Hanoi’s countryside to the ancient village of Dong Nga, which is a Cultural Heritage Site in honor of its communal house, ancestral worshipping houses, highly-educated and heroic people recognized by the kings of Vietnam. We will bike ride on mostly rural lanes through surrounding villages to Lien Mac, a beautiful area of immaculately tended vegetable and flower gardens. Here we will get a closer look at the colorful fields and stop to chat with some of the local people out caring for their crops. After taking a different road from Lien Mac back to Dong Ngac, we will stop at a “tofu family” to watch the tofu making process and taste some fresh tofu before bidding our farewells, and catch the van back to Hanoi.
Bun Cha lunch at a local restaurant
In the afternoon, wind your way to The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology. Home to an extensive collection of traditional costumes and artifacts from Vietnam’s 54 ethnic minority groups, the museum offers an engaging exploration of Vietnam’s multi-ethnic character and promotes socio-cultural diversity. 
Enjoy a cyclo (rickshaw) ride around the Old Quarter streets that were named after the specific goods once offered for sale at these places. Cap off your trip by wandering around the scenic Hoan Kiem Lake “Lake of the Returned Sword”, to learn about the legend of the lake and history of the city of Hanoi. 
 
Overnight in Hanoi
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 3 Hanoi – Tu Le

Our guide and driver will pick you up at your hotel and transfer you to Tu Le. Stop on the way for Lunch in Nghia Lo and then continue on the road to Tu Le. Arrival in Tu Le after about a five and a half-hour drive.
Considered a hide-out, the Tu Le Valley is a tranquil area surrounded by majestic mountain ranges and spectacularly terraced rice fields. As a long-standing residence of many ethnic minorities like Thai and H’mong, Tu Le possesses unique and diverse cultural values. Back to your resort for relaxing, swimming or Japanese-style Onsen (hot springs)
 
Overnight in Tu Le
Meal: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 4 Tu Le – Mu Cang Chai

Enjoy the swimming pool with a nice view and Onsen before your breakfast to start a memorable day.
You will be picked up by our tour guide and go through the Khau Pha Pass and reach Mu Cang Chai.  Enjoy the wonderful rice terraces with interesting trekking routes to high mountain slopes scattered with villages of local ethnic groups to get to know daily life of local people.
The rice terraces of Mu Cang Cai offer a spectacular vista all year round with different colors for different seasons of the year. You will visit the nicest villages like La Pan Tan, Nam Khat and Lim Mong.
 
Overnight in Mu Cang Chai Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 5 Mu Cang Chai – Than Uyen – Y Tý

You will be transferred to Y Ty passing through Than Uyen and SaPa. You will have the opportunity to admire the rice fields, the green hills of tea, the villages of multiple mountain ethnic groups (Tay, H’mong, Dzaos ...)
Lunch on the way
You reach Y Ty, a beautiful border region, less touristy, by taking the Tram Ton Pass, the highest pass in Vietnam.
 
Overnight in Y Ty  
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch 

Day 6 Y Tý

Y Ty in Bat Xat District is about 70 km to the north of the resort town of SaPa. It is rather isolated due to northwestern Vietnam's high surrounding mountains. The commune, which is 2,000 meters above sea level, is home to H’mong, Dao, Giay and Ha Nhi ethnic minority groups.
 
Breakfast at your Lodge
This morning, you visit Choan Then Village, one of the area’s ancient villages which was founded over 300 years ago. At present, the hamlet is home to 50 households of the Ha Nhi ethnic minority people. You will head to Ngai Tahu Village, a beautiful village located in the mountains with the best view looking over a valley where most of the population are H’mong people. 
Lunch at a local home.
In the afternoon, you will continue to visit Lao Chai Village. You can admire the Ha Nhi's unique houses with earthen walls and thatched roofs, the green rice field terraces. Then continue to visit Den Sang Village and Sang Ma Sao Village – the most beautiful villages where the Green H’mong people live. 
 
Overnight in Y Ty  
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
 
Notice: Ripe rice season from late August to early September or harvest season September-October, you will come across many trekkers enjoying the beauty of golden terraced fields.

Day 7 Y Tý – SaPa

Breakfast at your Lodge
Today, our tour guide and driver will take you to Muong Hum Market which is 37 km from your lodge; this market happens weekly on Sundays.  Inside the noisy and busy market, you can marvel at the "colorful" costumes of ethnic minority girls. The girls and boys in the village go to the market not only to buy and sell, but also to find partners.
After the market, you visit a nearby ethnic village, then drive to SaPa.
Lunch at local restaurant
 
Overnight in SaPa
Meals: Breakfast, lunch

Day 8 SaPa – Hanoi

After breakfast, free time for strolling around SaPa town and relaxing before taking a bus trip back to Hanoi.
 
Suggestion: you can have ½ day to visit Fansipan mountain by cable car. You will buy tickets directly at the Cable Car station as they are only valid for the day of purchase; the payment process for getting tickets is quite fast and easy. The tickets are magnetic cards that must be kept carefully as they must be returned.  Upon arrival at the station, it will take about 20 – 30 minutes to climb 600 ladders to reach the top of Fansipan’s Peak and touch the landmark known as “the roof of Indochina”. You can also visit the beautiful Fansipan Legend with Bamboo Garden, Bao An Thien Tu, Bich Van Thien, restaurant etc.
 
In the early afternoon, you will get on the road to Hanoi and will arrive in the evening.
 
Overnight in Hanoi
Meal: Breakfast

Day 9 Hanoi – Lan Ha Bay

Our driver and tour guide will pick you up at your hotel, and depart for Lan Ha Bay – where thousands of spectacular limestone islets and grottoes rise from the clear emerald waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. You arrive at the port after a two-hour drive, followed by check in procedure. Enjoy a welcome drink on board.
This is followed by our cruise briefing when you will also be given safety instructions before checking into your cabins. While the ship is sailing, you will enjoy a bon-appetite lunch. Relax while the ship cruises through many stone islets, floating villages and small beaches.
Visit the Light and Dark Cave, where you can go kayaking or board bamboo boat oared by local people. Visit a floating fishing village, talk and meet with local villagers prior to swimming or free time on your own on the sundeck.
Dinner would be ready at this time, when the boat anchors off at a quiet designated overnight area.
 
Overnight on board.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner  
 
Note: Itinerary is subject to change according to weather conditions or local administration regulations and the ship’s availability. 

Day 10 Lan Ha Bay – Dong Hoi (Quang Binh)

Wake up early to enjoy the dawn and start a perfect new day with Tai Chi exercise on the sundeck or enjoy the breathtaking views of the bay while the boat cruises leisurely in Lan Ha Bay.
Have a light breakfast in the restaurant.
 
You will then take a 20-minute bus ride from the Gia Luan Pier to visit a Cave in Cat Ba Island. During the trip, you will be immersed in the wild fresh natural scenery of Cat Ba National Park. Back to the ship.
 
Enjoy brunch on board while cruising toward the pier and disembarking around noon time. Our driver will transfer you to Hanoi. Free time until transfer to the Train station.
 
Overnight on train (Share air-conditioned cabin with 4 soft berths)
Meals: Breakfast, Brunch

Day 11 Quang Binh

You will arrive in Dong Hoi in the morning, - our tour guide and driver will pick you up and transfer to a local restaurant for your breakfast. You will have breakfast with local food as local people do.
 
Then continue onto the 400-million years old Thien Duong Cave entrance, where you will ride about 2 km in a buggy to the cave’s gate. This cave is considered to be Asia's longest dry cave and one of the most spectacular surveyed by the British Cave Research Association. With its magnificent limestone formations, it is understandable that the British called it “Paradise Cave”.
 
You will have a chance to view many of the cave’s primitive features; there are a series of white crystal stalactites resembling glass pillars and many other spectacular formations, some of which resemble familiar images of daily life, such as flower trellises and vegetable gardens. Many have said that the Cave looks like a landscape painting. The magnificent and other-wordly beauty of the Thien Duong Cave reveals itself clearly when light is shone on the unlimited and miraculous stalactites.
Lunch at a restaurant
You will be transferred to the Phong Nha Cave. You will take a boat to cruise on the Son River. On the way, see the green fields, people, houses and limestones along the river. After a 25-minute boat ride, visitors will arrive at the Phong Nha Cave, where they will enjoy a couple of hours of exploration. This is a water cave and famous for its rock formations, which have been given names such as the “Lion”, the “Fairy Caves”, the “Royal Court”, and the “Buddha”.
 
Overnight in Dong Hoi
Meals: Breakfast, lunch 

Day 12 Quang Binh – Hue

After breakfast, you will get on the road for Hue. On the way, you visit the DMZ of Quang Tri as the bus passes by the 17th parallel (a demilitarized zone established as the dividing line between North and South Vietnam during the Vietnam War).
Lunch at a restaurant
In the afternoon, you will visit the Imperial Citadel where the kings of Vietnam’s last feudal dynasty ruled from 1802 to 1945. This is home to palaces, pavilions, civil and religious ceremonies, and official audiences with the civil mandarins. Take pleasure in the stunning royal architecture while your guide explains the events and the history of the former royal court. 
 
Overnight in Hue
Meals: Breakfast, lunch

Day 13 Hue – Hoi An

In the morning, get ready for a leisure cycling trip which explores Hue’s countryside and one of Vietnam’s most recognizable icons. Make a stop at a local village to stretch your legs and take part in some daily chores with the locals. Obverse them making traditional rice crackers and test your skill by creating your own under their guidance. Taste what you’ve created while chatting with the host to learn about their daily lives. Visit an over 100-year-old Ancient Garden House where you will engage with the host to gain an insight about typical royal architecture and the art of living of mandarins and royal relatives of the Nguyen Dynasty. Visit the historic Thien Mu Pagoda, one of Vietnam’s most recognizable icons, and then return to downtown Hue on a leisure boat trip floating downstream on the scenic Perfume River. 
 
You are then transferred to Hoi An via the Hai Van Pass. From the top of the cloudy Hai Van Pass, don’t miss the moment to capture your own Vietnam Central Coast panoramic view. Arrival in Hoi An at the end of afternoon.
 
Overnight in Hoi An
Meal: Breakfast.

Day 14 Hoi An

In the morning, enjoy a leisure walking tour exploring the highlights of Hoi An Ancient Town, listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The narrow lanes in Hoi An are ideal for a guided walking tour to explore its highlights such as old merchant houses with influences from Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese architecture; the 400-year-old Japanese Covered Bridge, first built in the 1590s by the Japanese community to link them with the Chinese quarters across the stream; the Assembly Hall of the Chaozhou Chinese Congregation with its intricate wood carvings. Zigzag through scenic narrow streets and alleys that offer you great photo opportunities with the beautiful background of mustard colored walls or local life.
Lunch at a restaurant
 
Overnight in Hoi An
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 15 Hoi An – DaNang – Can Tho

Breakfast at your hotel.
 
Free time at your leisure after which our driver will transfer you to the airport for your flight to Can Tho. On arrival, our tour guide and driver will pick you up and transfer you to your hotel.
You will then leisurely cycle 6-12 km to explore undisturbed rice fields and fruit gardens up close, stopping at a local home for tea and to chat with the host. Highlights include crossing over wooden bridges and taking a local ferry ride with other commuters. Located not too far away from bustling the city of Can Tho, the village has still retained its bucolic beauty, typical of the countryside villages of the Mekong Delta.
 
Overnight in Can Tho
Meals: Breakfast, lunch

Day 16 Can Tho – Tra Su Mangrove Forest – Chau Doc

You might have a short land transfer (or walk if it’s a short distance from the hotel) to the pier to board a motorboat, and cruise along the Hau River to see the famous Cai Rang Floating Market.  Check out the beautiful scenery and daily activities of the locals.
Back to your hotel for breakfast
You will then be transferred to Chau Doc. On the way, you will visit the Tra Su Cajuput Forest –an ecosystem of cajuput trees and a flooded mangrove forest which is the home of many species of flora and fauna. To explore the forest and hear the birds, you will take a traditional sampan tour offered by the forest's administration, oared and guided by local women. The rower will help you understand more about the forest, and when relevant, she will signal where birds can be seen. The boat will stop to take you into the Cajuput Forest with lush, tall, green cajuput trees all in a row on a dirt road. Get there when the sun is about to go down as it's the most memorable scene of this journey.
 
You continue the route to Chau Doc (30km from Tra Su).
 
Overnight in Chau Doc
Meals: Breakfast, lunch 

Day 17 Chau Doc – Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

After breakfast at your hotel, you will visit the Cham Village with its unique cultures. It is also one of the must-see spots during a trip to Chau Doc. This is the habitat of the Cham Community, classified as one of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic minorities, who were originally Sunni Muslim and arrived at the Mekong Delta in the mid-19th century from Cambodia and Malaysia.  Weaving is what they have been doing for decades. The housing on stilts is also a typical image of this land. Don’t forget to visit their mosques, since the buildings are designed in exquisite style which will leave you spellbound.
 
We will then get on the road to Saigon, visit Sa Dec, a lovely town situated on the banks of the Mekong River where renowned French writer Marguerite Duras spent some of her childhood and met her first lover (a movie called “The Lover” was made about her relationship based on a book she wrote of the same name). Visit Huynh Thuy Le's Ancient House where Marguerite’s first lover used to live; the local primary school, run by Marguerite’s mother from 1924 to 1932. We will also explore the local market and flower village.
 
You arrive in Saigon at the end of afternoon.
 
Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City
Meals: Breakfast, lunch 

Day 18 Ho Chi Minh City

Today, you will explore the city on foot, passing by its key monuments.  The walking tour starts at City Hall, and from the Saigon Opera House, continue your exploration on Rue Catinat, making a stop at some renowned structures such as the CIA Building. Notre Dame Cathedral, the Central Post Office, and the Reunification Palace. Stop at Maison Marou to taste the best Vietnamese chocolate (at your expense) and learn the history of the artisanal, award-winning chocolate maker.  Marou Chocolate was declared “The Best Chocolate You’ve Ever Tasted” by the New York Times Style Magazine 2016.
 
We will then visit the Fine Art Museum, a stunning French building erected in the late 1920. Wind your way on an antique street close to the Ben Thanh market.
 
In the afternoon, you will visit the Chinatown area. The highlights cover a walking tour through the vibrantly colored Soi Kinh Lam Textile Market, a visit to a Catholic Church where President Ngo Dinh Diem prayed on the morning before surrendering to the coup forces. This will be followed by a one-hour cyclo ride around town, when you will have a chance to explore quiet alleys to learn more about authentic daily life of the Chinese Community of Saigon. The last stop is a famous Chinese temple where you can take time to make a wish, write it on a small card and attach it to one of the incense coils, in accordance with local customs. 
 
Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City
Meal: Breakfast

Day 19 Ho Chi Minh City – Departure

Breakfast at your hotel. Enjoy free time today until transferring to the airport for the flight back home.
 
-------End of our services-------

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