NORTH EAST VIETNAM TREKKING
(7 days, 6 nights)
Day 1: Hanoi- Ba Be Homestay (~255 km, bus trip ~7 hours)
Leaving Hanoi for Ba Be via Bac Can. Firstly, we cross small villages where they make handicrafts. See the daily life in the wild environment. Lunch in local restaurant. Arrive in Ba Be in the late afternoon, then a boat trip to Pac Ngoi village. Good diner and overnight in a house on stilts (at terrace entire view of the lake)
Day 2: Ba Be and trekking around the area. ~15 km, ~4 hours
Today we take a hike up the Pac Ngoi mountain range to meet the ethnic peoples, lunch picnic in a village then continue by going down to the lake. Take a boat cruise on the lake back to the village. Overnight in the house on stilts.
Day 3: Ba Be - Cao Bang - Quang Hoa. Homestay (~180 km, bus trip ~4 hours)
Leaving Ba Be for Quang Hoa with stop en route. Lunch in Cao Bang. We split off on the beautiful road to Quang Hoa and enjoy the views until we arrive. Overnight at the home of a local Nung family.
Day 4: Quang Hoa
Today we take an easy hike out in to the valley around the area of Quang Hoa, ~8 km, ~3 hrs, crossing many villages. Return to the family for lunch. In the afternoon, we take a bus trip for 1h30' to go to the Ban Gioc waterfall at Chinese border. Back to the village in the afternoon. Overnight with the family.
Day 5: Quang Hoa - Ta Lung (~40 km, ~1 hour bus trip, ~13 km trek)
We drive to Chinese border in 1 hour. Near the border, we will pass the Bang Giang river on a bamboo raft to join Na Lap. Start 4-hour hike up to Nhung La village. Overnight in a local house of Tay people. The facilities in the house are very basic but very warm and intimate. Washing or taking a bath can be done in the water source lead to the village by bamboo pipes.
Day 6: La - Bung - Na Nieng (~13 km trek, full day)
In the morning we cross the valley on small paths up to Khau Lung pass (~440 m above sea level), then descending to Bung village where people live mostly on agriculture. Lunch in the village of the Tay peoples. Early afternoon, after crossing the rice field, we start the trek through jungle (~430 m above sea level), on the way down we will discover Na Nieng village, which locates right in the middle of the valley surrounded by a mountain range. Diner and overnight at a local house in the village.
Day 7: Na Nieng - Dong Khe (~8 km, ~2 hours trek)
We leave Na Nieng at 8 am. Trek up again to the point at ~500 m above the sea level. On the way down, we will discover Dong Nieng village. Our vehicle and driver are waiting for us at Dong Khe. Drive to That Khe for lunch then go back straight to Hanoi. Arrive in Hanoi by 6 pm.
FANSIPAN CLIMBING
(4days,5 nights)
Night 1: Hanoi - Lao Cai (Overnight on the train)
Pick up at your hotel and transfer to Hanoi Railway Station for the night train at at 21:30 to get to Lao Cai Station. Sleep on the train.
Day 1: Lao Cai - Sapa (1,600 m) - Camp 1 (2,200 m )
Picked up at Lao Cai Station by bus to Sapa (round 08:30). Breakfast and start the trip to conquer the roof of Vietnam and Indochina - Fansipan peak. At about 09:30, take bus to the highest pass in Vietnam - Tram Ton Pass located at 2,100 m above the sea level (17 km by bus). Visit Silver waterfall before reaching the pass. Spend your time enjoying marvelous nature and then start the strenuous trek to the peak. After roughly 6 hours through the primitive rain jungles, many small streams and bamboo forests. You will have managed to reach a top of 2,200 m and at this point, make tents, prepare for dinner and spend the first night in the mountain.
Day 2: Camp 1 to the Summit of Fansipan (3,143 m)
Breakfast at the camp and then continue climbing to the summit by way of pine and yellow bamboo forests. After 4 hours, you will successfully conquer the roof of Vietnam. Spend 1/2 or 1 hour enjoying the splendid landscapes from around the mountain, at this virginal roof of Vietnam and Indochina is a specious chance for you to enjoy watching the surroundings: to the North-West is small village areas belonging to Lai Chau province, the splendid rolling mountains; to the North East is the overall picture of Sapa town which is only seen from here. Have lunch and then return down to the same point for 2nd night in the mountain. Dinner at the tents.
Day 3: Camp 1 (2,200 m) to Sapa Fansipan Top Mountain
After the last breakfast in the mountain, take another way to go down to the foot of Mount where to visit and get understandings of the lifestyles, the traditional customs of the people in a village of the Black H'mong called Sin Chai, then take bus back to Sapa (18 km by bus). Lunch and check in hotel.
Day 4: Sapa - Lao Cai - Hanoi (Overnight on the train)
Free to explore Sapa town. In the afternoon, transfer to Lao Cai Station for the night train to Hanoi. Overnight on the train.
SAPA - TA VAN - BAN HO
(4 days, 5 nights. Daily departure.)
Night 1: Hanoi - Lao Cai
21:00 - Pick up at your hotel in Hanoi and transfer to Hanoi Railway Station for boarding to Laocai by Tulico Express Train. Overnight on the A/c soft sleeper Cabin. (4 people/cabin or 2 people/cabin on request).
Day 1: Laocai - Sapa - Ta Van: 5 hours trekking, 14 km, 3 villages.
06:00 - Arrive at Lao Cai train station. Welcome by your local guide and driver. Transfer to your Sapa for breakfast & relax. Take a jeep ride for the first part and go down hill to the valley. Cross Muong Hoa River to get to the other mountainside for 3 villages of the H'mong and the Dzay. Stay the night at a local family in Tavan village. Picnic lunch on the way. Dinner and home stay in the village.
Day 2: Ta Van - Ban Ho, 7 hours trekking, 18 km, 3 villages.
Breakfast and leave the family for the next village. Visit the Red Dzao in Giang Ta Chai village by way of terraced paddy fields and bamboo forests. Enjoy the natural beauty of Silver Waterfall and Rattan Bridge. Cross the river and continue going to Ban Ho village where the Tay people settle down. on the way to Ban Ho, there is more chance to see the Red Dzao and the Black H'mong in Supan village. Spend the night in Ban Ho village at a Tay Family. Picnic lunch on the way. Dinner and home stay in the village.
Day 3: Ban Ho - Sapa, 3 hours trekking of 7 km and 23 km by jeep.
Breakfast with the family and leave the village for a waterfall discovered by French people. Enjoy the view, swimming and return to Ban Ho to visit the people in the village. Say goodbye to the family and get up to the main road where to take a jeep back to Sapa. Lunch on the way. Dinner at the local restaurant. Overnight at your proposed hotel in Sapa.
Day 4: Sapa - Lao Cai - Hanoi
Breakfast at the hotel. Free at leisure. Check out hotel at noon. Lunch on guest account. Free until Transfer to Lao Cai train station for boarding to Hanoi by Tulico Express Train (20:45 - 05:00). End of service.
SAPA - LAO CAI - TA VAN -
GIANG TA CHAI - COC LY MARKET
(3 days, 4 nights. Weekly departure on Saturday)
Night 1: (Saturday) Hanoi - Laocai
21:00 - Pick up at your hotel in Hanoi and transfer to Hanoi Railway Station for boarding to Laocai by Tulico Express Train. Overnight on the A/c soft sleeper Cabin. (4 people/cabin or 2 people/cabin on request).
Day 1: (Sunday) Sapa - Lao Chai village - Ta Van village
06:00 - Arrive to Laocai train station. Welcome by your local guide and driver. Transfer to your Sapa for breakfast & relax. Breakfast and shower. Start from Sapa at 10:00 by jeep and then get down to a valley, visit an H'mong village and the hydroelectric power station built by the French. Take a small path to go and visit other 2 villages of the H'mong and the Dzay people (Lao Chai and Ta Van village). Stay in Ta Van at a Dzay family. Picnic lunch on the way and dinner at the family. Overnight at Ta Van village. (6 hours trekking, 16 km, 3 villages).
Day 2: (Monday) Ta Van Village - Giang Ta Chai Village - Sapa
Breakfast at the homestay, take the road to Giang Ta Chai village to see the Red Dzao people via the paths through terraces and bamboo forests. Visit a waterfall, a suspension bridge. Picnic lunch and cross the river. Visit an H'mong village up to the mountain. Take a jeep back to Sapa. Visit the ancient stone circle on the way back. Check in hotel. Dinner at local restaurant. Overnight at your proposed hotel in Sapa. (5 hours trekking, 14 km, 2 villages)
Day 3: (Tuesday) Sapa - Coc Ly market - Boat trip on Chay River
Breakfast at the hotel. 07:00 depart for Coc Ly market which is situated far from Sapa. Enjoy the peaceful life of different minority peoples (Flower H'mong, Black Dzao, Tay, Dzay). The market is the chance for the minorities to meet and share joy and sorrows after the crops, to exchange one another's experience. Say goodbye to the market and get down onto a boat along Chay river. You are bound to feel great and find yourselves smaller among high Rock Mountains and to be surprised at white and breathtaking waterfalls. Get off the boat to visit a village of the Tay Minority (Trung Do village) by the river. After the boat trip, visit a small town - Bao Nhai and then take jeep back to Laocai Station for the night train to Hanoi. Dinner at local restaurant. Overnight on the A/c soft sleeper Cabin. End of services.
SAPA - CAT CAT - SIN CHAI - GIANG TA CHAI
(2 days, 3 nights. Daily departure)
Night 1: Hanoi - Laocai
21:00 - Pick up at your hotel in Hanoi and transfer to Hanoi Railway Station for boarding to Laocai by Tulico Express Train. Overnight on the A/c soft sleeper Cabin. (4 people/cabin or 2 people/cabin on request).
Day 1: Lao Cai - Cat Cat - Sin Chai (5 hours trekking, 12 km, 2 villages)
06:00 - Arrive to Laocai train station. Welcome by your local guide and driver. Transfer to your hotel for check in hotel, have breakfast and shower. Trek around 14 km to visit 2 villages of the Black H'mong (Cat Cat and Sin Chai). Picnic lunch at a waterfall and this is a chance to see the hydroelectric power station established by the French. Jeep from Cat Cat back to Sapa roughly 16:00. Dinner at local restaurant. Overnight at your proposed hotel in Sapa.
Day 2: Sapa - Giang Ta Chai - Sapa (7 hours trekking, 17 km, 3 villages)
Breakfast at the hotel. Get the show on the road in the morning from the hotel by jeep to head for the valley where to visit 2 villages of the H'mong and the Dzay. Picnic lunch on the way or in a local family. Go on visiting the Red Dzao in Giang Ta Chai village, visiting a waterfall and a suspension bridge. Walk up to the road for the jeep back to Sapa. Dinner at local restaurant. Transfer to Laocai train station for boarding to Hanoi by Tulico Express Train (20:45 - 05:00). End of services.
CAN CAU AND BAC HA MARKET
(3 days, 4 nights. Weekly departure on Friday.)
Night 1: (Friday) Hanoi - Lao Cai
21:00 - Pick up at your hotel in Hanoi and transfer to Hanoi Railway Station for boarding to Lao Cai by Tulico Express Train. Overnight on the A/c soft sleeper cabin. (4 people/cabin or 2 people/cabin on request)
Day 1: (Saturday) Arrival Lao Cai - Can Cau Market - Bac Ha
06:00 - Arrive to Laocai train station. Welcome by your local guide and driver. Picked up at Laocai Train Station to transfer to CanCau market. It takes more than 2 hours to get to CanCau - a small market situated in a valley surrounded by mountains and only 7 km from China. The market deeply shows the typical cultural features of the minorities in remote mountainous areas in Vietnam. Further more, you can enjoy seeing boys and girls in colorful costumes - different colors of the mountains. They attend the market in the hope of finding "the other halves of their lifestyle" and this is also the time for them to chat, to exchange everything among different ethnic peoples through cups of wine sold in the market. Sapa H'mong People Say goodbye to the market and transfer to Bac Ha. on the way, spend time visiting a village of the Flower H'mong and then check in hotel in Bac Ha. Free to explore the town. Dinner at the local restaurant. Overnight at your proposed hotel in Bac Ha.
Day 2: (Sunday) Visit Bac Ha Market - Sapa
Breakfast at the hotel. Take a walk to Bac Ha market. Visit one village and an old building called The H'mong king's house. Breakfast and the beginning of the day on which you visit a big market filled with many different hill-tribe peoples. This is the most colorful market in North Vietnam. At the market, you have chance to enjoy Bac Ha people's simple but unique kinds of food with special wines made from rice, cassavas, corn and different sorts of fruits such as plumps, apples, peaches... talking to the minorities through the guide's interpretation. Leave the market for the H'mong King's house (King Hoang A Tuong) built by the French colonists and the Chinese in 1920. Return the town for lunch. In the afternoon, spend time visiting another village (Ban Pho village). Say good bye to Bac Ha and get back to Sapa. On the way back, drop in to see the Vietnamese and Chinese Harbour Mouth in Lao Cai. Reach Sapa late in the afternoon. Dinner at local restaurant. Overnight at your proposed hotel in Sapa.
Day 3: (Monday) Sapa - Lao Cai - Hanoi(4 hours trekking, 12 km, 2 villages)
Breakfast at the hotel. Get downhill by jeep to the valley then walk for 3 villages of the Black H'mong and the Dzay people. Lunch at a Dzay family. Get up to the road for a jeep back to Sapa. then take jeep back to Lao Cai Station for the night train to Hanoi. Dinner at local restaurant. Overnight on the A/c soft sleeper cabin. End of services
CUC PHUONG NATIONAL PARK
(2 days, 1 night. Rain forest Trek, Cycling & Boat Trip)
Day 1: 07:00 - Depart from Hanoi by private vehicle to Cuc Phuong National Park. Visit the Endangered Primate Rescue Centre to learn about the important work being done to help protect the endangered species of the park. After lunch in the park restaurant, take a 4-hour trek through the old rain forest. Overnight in the guesthouse within the park.
Day 2: After breakfast, head to the historic capital of Viet Nam and the famous ancient temples of Le and The Dinh Dynasties. Cycle for an hour on picturesque quiet roads through villages, rice fields, rivers and rocky outcrops to Tam Coc (12 km) for lunch.
13.30 - 15 minutes cycling on a country road takes you to Sunny Wharf, a small dock, for a sampan boat journey (1 hour) in the heart of "Inland Ha Long Bay". Take in the beauty of the karst formations as you pass along their base and row into one of the many caves carved through the limestone.
Stop for a short rest near a small shrine before returning to the boat and making your way back to the dock (1 hour). Cycle back to Tam Coc village.
16:00 - Drive back to Ha Noi. Tour ends around 18:00.
TREKKING IN PU LUONG
(2 days, 1 night)
There are many places in Vietnam you could trek. It could be 2 days to 2 weeks depends on your timing. Here is an example of trek to Pu Luong that you could do in 2 days.
Day 1: Hanoi - Mai Chau - Pu Luong (~160 km)
Departure from your hotel at 07:00 to MaiChau. Tea break at half way. Arrival in Pom Coong village, we will take a walk for 30 minutes to visit around this village of the Thai, then lunch will be served on here at local house.
Leaving by 14:00 for our short ride (15 minutes) to Ma river, boating down river for about 30 minutes, then we start our hike, this will be through villages, hill sides, rice paddies...and take us 2 hours walk, one of the highlight on this hike is to visit and talk to the locals here.
Again boat ferry across the river, we hit the road to Sai village, (also the Thai) where we will have dinner and stay home tonight at their traditional house on stilts.
Night: let's see what happens?!
Day 2: Pu Luong - Mai Chau - Hanoi (~160 km)
The daily life of the locals here starts early, it will be interesting for you to get up and take part in their activities (this is sure with fun!). Breakfast at their house, then at 08:00 we will be walking / hiking to visit the Nature Reserve of Pu Luong, please be soft and nice, nature is just very lovely here.
After 3 hours walk, we will be picked up and transfer to Mai Chau town for our lunch. We should leave Mai Chau at 14:30, and our journey will bring us back to Hanoi by 18:00.
