Vietnam Adventure from Hanoi to the North 12 Days

Day 1: Hanoi arrival
Welcome to Vietnam. Upon arrival at Hanoi Airport, obtain your Vietnam visa (with pre-approval letter), and then clear Immigration and Customs. After collecting your baggage, exit the airport to meet outside our driver. He/she will be holding a sign with your names on it. From the airport, you will be privately transferred to your lovely hotel. Check in and relax at your hotel.
Overnight in Hanoi

Day 2: Hanoi City tour(Breakfast, Lunch)
Morning, you'll head out with your guide and begins with a visit Ba Dinh Square to see Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, the museum to his life and the simple cottage where he lived and worked, along with his "house on stilts" and his final resting place; and take in Hanoi's famous One-Pillar Pagoda, constructed in 1049 to resemble a lotus blossom. Continue to the Museum of Ethnology, where we'll learn about the fascinating cultural diversity of this ancient land. 
This afternoon, drive through Colonial Hanoi, seeing the Opera House and other local sights. Go inside infamous Hoa Lo Prison (“Hanoi Hilton”), where Senator John McCain and Douglas “Pete” Wilson were once imprisoned, and continue to the Temple of Literature, which dates back to 1070 and is dedicated to the cult of Confucius. Take a cyclo ride through the Hanoi’s Old Quarter, a network of narrow alleys and shop houses also known as “The 36 Streets.” This is a wonderful place to watch the local life, and peruse items from fabrics to crafts to exotic medicines. Enjoy a traditional Vietnamese water puppet performance, a uniquely North Vietnamese art form celebrating rural life and folklore for over 1,000 years, this evening.
Please note:  The city tour program is flexible. Your guide will be more than happy to adjust the tour itinerary to suit you. You can skip one site or add another if you so wish.

Day 3: Hanoi - Ba Be(Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner)
7.30am: We leave Hanoi, a hustle and bustle city to the mountainous area of Vietnam. We drive on a highway and get on nicer winding roads after Thai Nguyen town. We have lunch at a small local restaurant on the way and then keep heading North. The sceneries get more and more beautiful as we dive into a remote region of the national park’s buffer zone.
We will arrive at Ba Be National park in the mid – afternoon. Our vehicle drops us at the home of our hosts in a small hamlet that nicely developed in tourism and hospitality. People there are from the Tay ethnic minority, very hospitable and warm-hearted.
We meet the family and let our luggage at the home-stay. Take the afternoon boat trip on Ba Be Lake, which lies in the middle of Ba Be National Park, covered by limestone mountain and primary forest.
Going back to the harbor, you will follow your guide to visit the village and interact with local people, visit local shops, taste some seasonal fruit or back to your local host to refresh in the river passing by in front of the house.Enjoy dinner at your home-stay.Overnight in Pac Ngoi village

Day 4: Be Be - Meo Vac(Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner)
After Breakfast, you will collect your luggage, farewell the lovely host and go ahead to the next destination, Meo Vac. It will be a long driving; you will pass 3 provinces Bac Kan, Cao Bang and Ha Giang. However, you will not feel tired because of being attracted by the breathtaking scene along the way as when you are on the ridge road of with the Sino-Vietnamese mountain ranges all around. We get a lunch on the way and arrive at Meo Vac in the afternoon.
Checking in Chung Pua Lodge, an old ancestral Hmong house built in the 1930’s under the French domination over the Tonkin. Originally the house was designed as a fortified farm with four blocks of buildings surrounding a central patio; following an architecture model common in the south of China Han. After renovation, the lodge opened to travelers in 2013 and offers a unique accommodation experience in a true H’mong atmosphere.Overnight in Meo Vac

Day 5: Meo Vac - Lung Tam - Nam Dam(Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner)
You’ll have to admit it, it has rarely been so nice to sit in a car and watch the scenery passing by. Today, we drive the probably most scenic road of the whole country, right at the heart of the Dong Van Geopark (recognized by UNESCO). A rocky plateau with towering peaks, pine forests and wide valleys. You will stand on the top of Ma Pi Leng pass, see green Nho Que River as a string flowing on the foot of the mountain. If we are on a market day, we will go the extra mile not to miss such colorful event.
We arrive for lunch in Lung Tam village, where women cultivated and weaved hemp for generations. We will have a look around at their workshop and eat in a local home.
After lunch, two options. Driving the last kilometers, or taking a 2-hour scenic hike on trails, to our destination.
We check in home-stay in a Dzao village that has been supported by the NGO Caritas to develop simple hospitality services. Great people, great atmosphere. A true home-stay as we like them.
Overnight in Nam Dam

Day 6: Nam Dam - Thong Nguyen(Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner)
We say goodbye to the family and start our trek to Quyet Tien.  Let’s go for a 5-hour journey across mountainous decors, paddy fields, valleys, Dao and Hmong villages, uniquely shaped karst hills and beautiful forested landscape with wild flowers blooming throughout the year. We will find a nice spot to enjoy a picnic lunch.
Our vehicle is waiting in Quyet Tien to drive us to a small village of Xuan Giang commune, at the Southern edge of Ha Giang province. Xuan Giang is populated by people from the Tay ethnic group at 97%. We let the high mountains behind and enter a lower relief with its rice fields, forests and rivers. A different atmosphere soaked in simple and beautiful rurality.
We stay at one family’s traditional house on stilts fitted to welcome travelers and offer them a comfortable stay experience. Overnight in Xuan Nguyen

Day 7: Thong Nguyen - Bac Ha(Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner)
On this day, you will drive to the mountain range of Bac Ha and reach some of its highest peaks on a scenic road. We start hiking fr om there. It is an easy trek for anyone used to outdoor practices, with no specific difficulty and going mostly down.
We evolve in a region wh ere H’mong is the most represented ethnic culture. This is a rough terrain to cultivate and live on. Very few travelers venture there, while those trails offer a great playground for hikers with beautiful views over the valleys. We have an approximate 6-hour walk, with a break en route for lunch. Our car is never too far on the sealed road so we can shorten the trek if you feel tired or if the weather is unbearable.
We arrive in the late afternoon at the house of our hosts in a small hamlet near Bac Ha center. Time for shower and refreshments before dinner is served. The home-stay offers dormitory-like accommodation and shared bathrooms with western standards.
Overnight in Bac Ha

Day 8: Bac Ha – Sapa(Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner)
After Breakfast, we get back our car for driving to a village lying on the side of Chay River. You will visit around before taking a boat trip down stream forested Chay River to rejoin our car.
Up on your arrival in Sapa, you will have a late Lunch. In the afternoon, you will visit Cat Cat village, inhabited by the Black H’mong people. 
After that we return to Sapa to check in and visit the local market and the central Church. The rest of the day is free to stroll around the town or chill out at the hotel. You can choose to hike to Ham Rong Mountain, where you can have a very good view of Sapa town.
Overnight in Sapa

Day 9: Sapa - Hanoi(Breakfast, Lunch)
This morning set off on a trek around the valleys and minority villages around Sapa. Start on the road leading west from Sapa, which winds through hilly terrain and past terraced paddy fields Y Linh Ho, Lao Chai San, Lao Chai village, just 8km from the town. Take a walk through the ancient village to see traditional customs and practices of the ethnic Black H'mong, Dzao. From here follow a dirt trail which sneaks between mountains along a narrow river until you reach Muong Hoa Valley, a stunning spot with the largest rice terraces in Sapa. Visits between May and October coincide with the planting and harvesting season, a chance to see local farmers in action. The few miles trek then takes you from the Black H'mong Lao Chai village to Ta Van village of the Giay minority, with a stop at the local Catholic Church. You will then be met by your driver and drive back to Sapa.
After Lunch, you take time to visit the mountainous town before heading back Hanoi.
Arrive in Hanoi in the late evening. Check in and relax at your hotel.Overnight in Hanoi

Day 10+11: Hanoi – Halong - Hanoi(Breakfast, 02 Lunches and 01 Dinner)
This is a relax trip after spending a long time in the mountain. You will join a shuttle bus driving to Halong Bay. You will get on boat and enjoy the beauty of a World Natural Heritage.

Day 12: Hanoi departure(Breakfast)
Today is your final day. You are free to chill out and relax. Depending on your departure flight, your private driver will pick you up from the hotel and transfer you to the airport in time for your flight to the next destination. They will ensure you are the correct gate. We wish you a safe and pleasant journey.

Day 12: Hanoi departure(Breakfast)
Today is your final day. You are free to chill out and relax. Depending on your departure flight, your private driver will pick you up from the hotel and transfer you to the airport in time for your flight to the next destination. They will ensure you are the correct gate. We wish you a safe and pleasant journey.

Included:

05 nights at hotels with breakfast on a private double/twin sharing room
05 nights at home-stay or lodge
01 night on a cruise in Halong Bay
Visa approval letter to apply for Visa on arrival at International airport in Vietnam
Meals mentioned in the itinerary
Daily buffet or set menu breakfast at accommodation and all hotels taxes and service charges.
Entrance fees for all visits as mentioned in the program
Travel by private, air-conditioned vehicle with an experienced and safe driver
Boat trip and other Activities as in program
Private English speaking guide with legal license
01 bottle of mineral water/pax/day
VAT, all taxes and service charge

Excluded:
Tipping for guide, driver
Bank fees for both sides
Early check in and late check out at all hotels
Vietnam Visa stamping fee (USD 25/person) 
Personal expenses (laundry, telephone, shopping)
Drinks and other meals which are not indicated in the program
Travel insurance  
International airfare
Peak season/single supplement surcharge and Compulsory Gala meals (will be inform at booking request)
Low season discount (applied from May to September, will be informed upon booking request)
Other services which are not mentioned clearly in the “Including” item