The Soul of North Vietnam 8 days 7 nights package

Itinerary

Day 1: HANOI ARRIVAL

Stop At: Old Quarter, Hanoi 100000 Vietnam
Upon your arival at the airport, meet our driver and transfer to hotel for check in and relax.

Late afternoon, join in Hanoi Foodie walking tour (optional).

The guide will come to pick you up at hotel and start your tour. It will takes 3 hours and including dinner. Hanoi Old Quarter – a new world of happiness and fun for your own discovery. Around the old town, our skilled tour guide will help you all, understand and taste your cuisine. He will introduce to you about Hanoi, its culture, history and foods. Then you have chance to taste 4-5 local dishes.

Duration: 3 hours

No meals included on this day.
Accommodation included: Overnight at 3*Aquarius Grand Hotel or similar hotel

Day 2: HANOI - HA LAN HA BAY - HA LONG BAY

Stop At: Lan Ha Bay, Cat Ba Vietnam
9:00 – 9:30: You are picked up from your hotels in Hanoi for 2.5 hour driving on 5B highway to the Got Harbor in Hai Phong Province for the cruise. Tender will transfer you to embark Calypso Cruises. You will be served with a welcome drink and a towel.

Followed by our cruise briefing where you will also be given safety instructions before checking into your cabins. While the cruise sailing, you enjoy a bon-appetite lunch and being impressed by the beauty of hundreds of karst islands on your way passing Halong Bay to Lan Ha Bay.

Afternoon, visit Light and Dark Water Cave, where you can do kayaking or bamboo boat rowed by local people. Then return to Calypso Cruises. It’s time to admire the magnificent sunset over the Gulf of Tonkin and enjoy happy hour (buy 2, get 1 free).

You take part in cooking demonstration to learn our Vietnamese cuisine.

Take part in cooking demonstration by our chef to learn about Vietnamese cuisines. A great dinner awaits you at around 19:00. After that, you have free time to enjoy the landscapes of the Bay on the top deck, sing karaoke, enjoy ordered drinks from the bar, try your luck at squid fishing or just relax in your cabins, etc.

Duration: 1 day

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight in luxury Calypso Cruise or similar cruise

Day 3: LAN HA BAY - CAT BA ISLAND - HANOI

Stop At: Cat Ba Island, Cat Ba 180000 Vietnam
06:30: Wake up early to enjoy the dawn and start a perfect new day with Tai Chi exercise on the sundeck. And have a light breakfast in the restaurant.

Check out your cabin at around 9:00am. Then you take a bus route for about 20 minutes on Cat Ba Island from Gia Luan Pier to visit Army Hospital Cave, a special place to save the significant Vietnamese history during the resistance war. During the travel, you will be immersed in the wild fresh natural scenery of Cat Ba National Park. Back to Calypso Cruises and have lunch while the Calypso Cruisecruising back to the harbor. Disembark the boat at around 12:00 and return to Hanoi.

Duration: 9 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
Accommodation included: Overnight at 3*Aquarius Grand Hotel or similar hotel

Day 4: HANOI - SAPA - SHORT TREK TO CAT CAT VILLAGE

Stop At: Cat Cat village, Sapa 330000 Vietnam
At 6.40am, our guide pick you up at the hotel and depart for Sapa. Follow the highway to Lao Cai city to get to Sapa Town - the colorful traditional costumes of H’mong, Dzao, Tay ethnic People.

Enjoy welcome drink and itinerary briefing. Check in then have lunch with local Vietnamese dishes, check-in procedures

14.30: A short drive to the gate of Cat Cat village which is home of Black H’mong ethnic people and is located near the bottom of a deep valley at the foot of Fansipan Peak. Our local guide will show you the daily life activities of the locals, trek down to the valley bottom to the waterfall where the French built a Hydraulic Power Station; stop for photo with bridge and waterfall then you will walk uphill for bus to pick up to get back to Sapa in the afternoon.

Trekking distance is about 2.5 kms and it lasts for 2 hours. Come back to Sapa Town around 17:00. Later have dinner and have free time to join night activities in the town.

Duration: 3 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight at 3*H'mong Hotel Sapa or similar hotel

Day 5: SAPA - Y LINH HO - LAO CHAI & TA VAN VILLAGES

Stop At: Y Linh Ho, Lao Chai Tl152, Sapa 290000 Vietnam
8:00-8:30am After breakfast, we start trekking 6km down to Y Linh Ho – Lao Chai village of Black H’mong ethnic people. Here we will discover their daily life and how they make traditional clothes, handicraft, indigo…We will visit the biggest valley which provides the best view for golden rice terrice fields in Vietnam. You then have lunch at Lao Chai village.

After having lunch at Lao Chai village, we walk to Ta Van village of Dzay people. It is small group of ethnic people in Vietnam with a rich culture and beautiful house located on rice paddy fields. Here you will enjoy the fresh air, see terraced fields, stream, discover and visit some Black H’mong families. Check in homestay at around 15h. Spend time to enjoy the mountain life on sunset. Have dinner and stay overnight in here.

Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight at local homestay in Ta Van village

Day 6: TA VAN - GIANG TA CHAI - HANOI

Stop At: Giang Ta Chai Village, Ta Van Commune, Sapa 008420 Vietnam
8.00: Have breakfast prepared by the family and start a new day with more interesting trek.

Keep walking to the rice paddies where you have a nice photo session of the amazing surrounding landscapes. A trek through the bamboo forest and stop to have a panorama view of Giang Ta Chai village – home of red Dzao People. Trekking distance is about 4 kms and it lasts for 2 hours.

Afternoon, pick you up from Ta Van village to back Sapa Town. Enjoy your free time in Sapa for freshmen before getting on bus to go back to Hanoi. Arrive back Hanoi city at around 20:30-21:00. Check in hotel and have rest.

Duration: 5 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
Accommodation included: Overnight at 3*Aquarius Grand Hotel or similar hotel

Day 7: HANOI - BAI DINH PAGODA - TRANG AN GROTTOES

Stop At: Trang An Grottoes, H Hai Ba Trung district, Ninh Binh 100000 Vietnam
Around 08:00am, our guide will meet you at your hotel/stay and start 100km modern bus-journey through verdant landscape of country side. Short-break en route.

Arrive Glimmering Bai Dinh pagoda complexes, the largest pagoda, not only in Vietnam but also in Southeast of Asia. Scenically set on the foot hill of Dinh Mountain surrounded by amazing views of the exquisite river valley below and dotted and the limestone karsts dotted around which will take your breath away.

This pagoda complexes stunningly boast an array of the most massive and magnificent architecture of Vietnamese tradition refined ever built that it take a full day to explore.

The visit ends with a walk-up the summit mountain to see the 100 tones statue of Buddha Sakyamuni made of bronze and enjoy the panoramic view of picturesque landscape dotted with Limestone Mountains. Enjoy a fabulous buffet lunch in a Vietnamese restaurant with some special dishes such as goat meat, pork storage vessel….

Afternoon, leave for the Trang An Grottoes, an out-standing natural beauty of majestic limestone massif at 20 square kilometer rise dramatically out from rice paddy fields.

Deep into the linked chains of towering mountain are pristine places of mystical valleys, numerous fresh water ponds, and jungle.

Embark on a traditional sampan gently roweddown the exquisite river through numerous caves: Hang Toi ( Dack ) cave, 320 meter long, Sang (light) cave, 90 meter long, and Hang Nau Ruou (Cooking wine) cave, 250 meter long… Every passages bring new surprise of mystery hidden inside isolated valleys of tranquility that likely transformed to the other world and time. The fauna and flora is rich and a scene of a goat jumping from one cliff to the other is a common sight.

Return to Hanoi at around 19:00.

Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
Accommodation included: Overnight at 3*Aquarius Grand Hotel or similar hotel

Day 8: HANOI DEPARTURE

Pass By: Hoan Kiem Lake Walking Street, Around Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi 100000 Vietnam
Free to enjoy your last minutes in Hanoi or go shopping before we bring you back to the airport for your departure flight. Say goodbye Hanoi!

Meals included:
• Breakfast
No accommodation included on this day.