Vietnam Dynamic Vacation

Itinerary

1. Day 01

   Hanoi arrival – City tour (D)
   Welcome to Hanoi, the Capital city of Vietnam! Our local guide will be welcoming you at Noi Bai airport; it takes us 35 minutes driving to the center of Hanoi. Check in hotel and have a short time to freshen up. Late afternoon, have an overall view of the capital by a “green car” visit, which will go through the fascinating network of narrow alleys and shop houses also known as ‘The 36 Streets’ – each street being named after the merchandise traditionally sold there, ranging from fabrics to crafts and from medicines to tombstones. Drop by at Ngoc Son Temple located on the Hoan Kiem Lake. End of the day, we will enjoy a unique fascinating show of Water Puppetry, a traditional stage art of Northern Vietnam. Welcome dinner will be followed at the fine dining restaurant. Overnight in Hanoi. Please note: The normal check in time is 14:00pm.
2. Day 02

   Hanoi City tour – Night train to Lao Cai (B/L)
   Today, we will start our city tour from the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (closed on Monday & Friday), his simple house-on-stilts and the One-Pillar pagoda near Ba Dinh Square, where the most solumn ceremonies of Hanoi take place. Go on to the Temple of Literature, the very first high school of Vietnam Scholars and a temple dedicated Confucious. Have lunch at KOTO Van Mieu restaurant where provides hospitality and life skills to disadvantaged youth in Vietnam.  In the afternoon, we will move on to the Museum of Ethnology, where you can find an excellent full collection of 54 ethnic groups living in Vietnam and wonderful implications of artifacts and patterns from their traditional handicrafts and clothes. Continue the trip to picturesque West Lake to visit Tran Quoc Pagoda, the oldest pagoda in Hanoi built from 6th Century. Your time at leisure for own sightseeing until meet your tour guide at meeting point and transfer to Hanoi Railway station to board the overnight train to Lao Cai. Overnight on the train at 4-berth cabin with AC.
3. Day 03

   Lao Cai – Sapa – Giang Ta Chai – Trekking to Ban Ho – Homestay (B/L/D)
   Arrive at Lao Cai Station at 06.00. Picked-up and transferred to Sapa (40km mountain road from Lao Cai). The mountain landscape of Sapa is magnificent and beautiful in both winter mist or green springtime. Stop at misty pinewoods, graceful terraced paddy fields and get lovely pictures of charming Hmong or Dzao girls we see on the mountainside. Arriving in Sapa, we will have breakfast at a local restaurant before hanging around with our guide to visit Sapa Church, shop houses, streets where we can meet the montagnards and admire their handicrafts made of wood, silver, or dyed and embroidered fabrics and clothes. After that transferred to Giang Ta Chai Village home of the Red Dzao minority people, the second biggest group of hill minority people in Sapa. From hear gearing up for an exploration to the less touristic villages by trekking downhill through the breathtaking scenery to the village of Su Pan, home of the Black H’mong people, where you will be able to rest your legs and take in the stunning mountain scenery as we stop for a picnic lunch. Feeling revitalized, we continue trekking the final 6km through rice paddy field to Ban Ho village where we will spend the night at a Tay people’s homestay. You may attend farming or fishing or cooking local dishes with the family, enjoy dinner in peace and overnight at homestay. Total trekking distance: 14km  
4. Day 04

   Ban Ho Village – trekking to Nam Toong – My Son – Thanh Phu (B/L/D)
   Waken up by the sound of the natue, the patter of the feet of the households when they prepare the breakfast, hello new day in the different way from the normal routine when you can breath the fresh air and leisurely enjoy your breakfast at a pristine place surrounded by mountain and forests. After a nice breakfast we continue walking to the village Nam Toong, about 3km from Ban Ho, home of the Red Dzao minority people who are famous for the red scarfs they wear on their head. We then follow the fabulous trail through the terrace paddy field to My Son Village inhabited by the Xa Pho minority, one of the smallest ethnic groups in Viet Nam. Here you will have a brief understanding of their unique culture and customs. Continue a short trek to Thanh Phu Village where you will stay overnight at homestay of Tay family. Before dinner time, you can take a walk to explore the daily life of the people living around. Enjoy your dinner cooked by the households. Overnight in Thanh Phu Village. Total trekking distance: 16km  
5. Day 05

   Thanh Phu Village – Ban Ho Village – Sapa – Lao Cai – Hanoi (B/L)
   Breakfast and lunch. After breakfast, trekking on another route heading back to Ban Ho Village where you can relax and swim at the nearby beautiful waterfall of La Vie. Your lunch will be prepared and served in a friendly local Tay family's house. After that you will then walk to the main road, where your vehicle is waiting to take you back to Sapa. Afternoon, drive back to Hanoi. Check in hotel and time at leisure. Overnight in Hanoi. Total trekking distance: 6km.
6. Day 06

   Hanoi – Ninh Binh – Tam Coc – Bich Dong – Overnight at Thung Nham (B/L/D)
   After breakfast, drive to Ninh Binh, one of the old capital cities of Vietnam before Hanoi took its leading role in 11th century. The area is featured by lots of well-known sceneries, which include Tam Coc Caves and Hoa Lu ancient capital with the old temples dedicated to King Dinh & King Le reigned in 10th century. The visit in Ninh Binh starts by a boat trip in Tam Coc where spectacular limestone karsts just out from the green paddy fields reminding about Guilin (China) and Halong Bay of Vietnam, which gives this scenery the name “Halong-bay-on-land”. After lunch at the local restaurant you will pedal along the scenic village roads to explore the rice fields, limestone mountains and have a chance to chat with the local people. We stop to visit Bich Dong Pagoda which was built on mountain side featured by its unique architecture of perfect combination of ancient pagodas with cross-covered roofs, natural caves and majestic mountains. The Pagoda has three temples – Ha Pagoda, Trung Pagoda, Thuong Pagoda named as their positions from the foot hill to the top of the mountain. Once you reach to Thuong Pagoda, you will be treated with a beautiful scenic view of the surrounding countryside… Afternoon, drive to Thung Nham where you will check in at a stilthouse. Late afternoon, embark on the small boat rowing to Thung Nham Bird Garden, house of more than 40 species of birds, some of them are named in the Red List of Threatened Species. It is also an important nesting habitat for many species of waterfowl, for instance, storks, herons, cauldrons, soil eagles and many other species of birds. Enjoy your dinner at the restaurant and overnight in Thung Nham Eco-tourism.
7. Day 07

   Ninh Binh – Halong – Overnight on board (B/L/D)
   After breakfast, head East for more than 3 hours to Halong Bay, the pride of the Gulf of Tonkin, a Natural World Heritage as designated by UNESCO in 1994 and 2006. Upon arrival in Halong, check in the overnight cruise to discover the magnificent beauty of this “Descending-dragon” bay, created by thousands odd-shaped limestone rocks and karst grottoes. After a lunch on board, we can visit the Grottos, stop for swimming or kayaking, passing floating houses and approach islets to enjoy their beauty in close distance. Back to the cruise, enjoy cooking demonstration before having dinner. Evening attend activities on the boat or relax at your own leisure. Overnight on the cruise.  Please note the program may be little varied upon the cruise you choose.   
8. Day 08

   Halong – Hanoi (B/L)
   You should wake up early to enjoy the dawn on the sea in the early morning. The Vietnamese call the "East Sea" by a point-oriented name "Eastern Sea", so you may guess how miraculous seeing the sunrise over the islets of the Bay. After breakfast our boat will continue to cruise in marvelous areas, where almost each islet has its own name, adopting its shape or reminiscent like Sail Island, Fisherman’s head rock, Butterfly rock or Turtle islet etc. Check out your room and have brunch on board while the cruise coming back the pier. Transfer overland to Hanoi. Check in hotel. Your time at leisure. Overnight in Hanoi.
9. Day 09

   Hanoi – Departure (B)
   Breakfast at the hotel. Check out and transfer to the airport for the departure flight back to your sweet home or extending some days for beach relax or sightseeing at other cities.  Please note: The normal check out time is 12:00pm.

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