Day 1: Arrival in Ha Noi (L.D)

Welcome by NTS’s guide upon guests’ arrival at Noi Bai International airport. Transfer to Hanoi Capital, the administrative and political centre of Viet Nam.  A panoramic city tour includes the ancient bridge of Long Bien (former bridge of Paul Dumer), the Dong Xuan market, the Opera House and the Indira Grandi Park, the Central post-office, the ancient Indochina Bank, the former Governor of Indochina’s Palace, the Ba Dinh Square, the Quarter of Embassies,… Lunch. Visit the Ngoc Son temple, the Tran Quoc pagoda, the Quan Thanh temple, the ethnographic museum, the history museum. There is a 45- minute’s tour of the 36 guilds of the famous Old Quarter by cyclo, the Vietnamese version of the rickshaw. In the evening, enjoy a water puppet show. Dinner and overnight at the hotel in Hanoi.

 

Day 2 : Ha Noi – Ha Long Bay (B.L.D)

Breakfast at your hotel. Drive to Ha Long bay, the World Heritage. Embark a sailing junk for a 5 - hour excursion in the Ha Long Bay. Lunch on board. Dinner and overnight in Ha Long.

 

Day 3 : Ha Long – Lang Son – Cao Bang (B.L.D)

Breakfast at your hotel. Drive to Lang Son, a bordering city with China. City tour. Discover Lang Son market which is abundant in Vietnamese and Chinese products at very interesting prices. Continue driving to Cao Bang, along the ancient colonial road No 4 that skirts the Sino-Vietnamese border and it was the field of important battles between French and Viet Minh, and later between Chinese and Vietnamese armies. Stop at the very active frontier market of Dong Dang, then at the ethnic villages of Nung and Tay. Dinner and overnight at your hotel in Cao Bang.

 

Day 4 : Cao Bang –  Ba Be lake (B.L.D)

Early morning stroll in a local market frequented by Nung, Tay, Thoå, and white H’mong with traditional costumes. Then, take an excursion to Ban Gioc fall situated at a grandiose natural scene. Drive to Ba Be lake (Lake Of Three Seas) along a beautiful area with falls, rice paddies and deep valleys overhung on calcareous cliffs. Dinner and overnight at hotel in Ba Be.

 

Day 5 : Ba Be Lake – Thai Nguyen (B.L.D)

Morning navigation on the lake of Ba Be that is set in mountain and covered by luxuriant forests, which is compared as a god given genuine case. You will witness the day life of inhabitants, principally the ethnic group of Tay. Visit one among many villages scattered on the bank of the Lake. Continue the trip in the Song Cau valley thus far Thai Nguyen, famed for its high quality tea.

 

Day 6 : Thai Nguyen – Lao Cai – Bac Ha (B.L.D)

Breakfast. Visit Vietnamese ethnic group museum of which the architecture is a blending of Vietnamese culture and Stalinist influence. Lunch. Continue the road to Lao Cai, a small mountainous town. Take a short city tour before proceeding to Bac Ha. Dinner and overnight in Bac Ha.

 

Day 7 : Bac Ha – Sa Pa (B.L.D)

Breakfast. Explore the Sunday market of the minorities full of colorful embroideries, shot dresses and contagious cheerfulness. It will take you 30 minutes by van then 30 minutes on foot through rice paddies, banana trees, bamboos, manioc field, sweet potatoes, soya beans… Discover villages where live the ethnic group of Phu La and the Meo-Hoa. Proceed to Sa Pa, situated at the bottom of Fan Si Pan Mountain Range, the height of 3,147 meters above the sea, the roof of Viet Nam.

 

Day 8 : Sa Pa (B.L.D)

Perched at the altitude of 1,650 meters, SA Pa town is covered with misty mountains and the deliciously fresh air. Attracted by its temperate weather and its beautiful site, the French colonist has made SA Pa as a health resort since 1920. A few traces of colonist buildings still subsist. Discover the colorful Sapa market, and then take a stroll through villages of Ta Van, Ta Fin, Lao Chai, where are the birthplace of mosaic peoples: Black H’mong, Tay, Red Yao. You will have the opportunity to meet local peoples, to appreciate the charm of the surrounding countryside with draught board of immense rice-terraced valley. Dinner and overnight in Sa Pa.

 

Day 9 : Sa Pa – Lai Chau (B.L.D)

Drive to Lai Chau along a very nice road, through a splendid landscape where rice paddies following the hillsides meet the primeval forests. Lunch en route. Stopover at Lim market where Yao and H’mong minorities sell their products. Arrive at Lai Chau nestling at the bottom of a beautiful valley formed by the Da River. Dinner and overnight at hotel in Lai Chau.

 

Day 10 : Lai Chau – Dien Bien Phu (B.L.D)

Drive to Dien Bien Phu, a city situated in a very beautiful valley surrounded by the river of Namyoum and the high mountains. Trapped at the bottom of these 13 kilometers long and 9 kilometers wide pan-like valley, the French forces surrendered to Vietnamese army on May, 7th, 1954, after a siege of the violent battle. You will travel on the mountain road with tropical vegetation, through rice paddies and falls in the valley of Nam Ha, where the H’mong tribe co-exist with the white Thai minority. Lunch. Continue driving with a visit to villages on the way to Dien Bien Phu. Dinner and overnight at hotel in Dien Bien Phu.

 

Day 11 : Dien Bien Phu – Son La (B.L.D)

Breakfast at hotel. Visit the site of Dien Bien Phu which is a symbol of the end of the French presence in Indochina with historical vestiges of the ancient battlefield: the trenches, the bunkers and bases on the hills (the French gave them ladies’ names: Beatrice, Eliane, Dominique, Claudine…), the old reconstructed commanding post of General De Castrie. Later on, Drive to Son La over the Pha Din pass known for its name “sky pass”, from where you have a superb panorama. Stop on the way for the meeting with different ethnic groups, principally the Black Meo and the Red Meo.. Dinner and overnight at hotel in Son La. (B.L.D)

 

Day 12 : Son La – Mai Chau (B.L.D)

Breakfast. Explore the Son La town, whose reformatory prison, constructed in 1908, was the theatre of important revolts. Halt at Thuan Chau minority market. Proceed to Mai Chau at 135 km far from Ha Noi, in the region of the White Thai, with their large nicely decorated stilt houses lining up and forming villages in the rice fields.

 

Day 13 : Mai Chau – Hoa Lu (B.L.D)

Meeting with the minority of White Thai and the Muong ethnic group. Drive to Hoa Lu, the region, where the film of “Indochina” was made, is famed for the name of “earthly Halong bay”. With jagged peaks and rocks like sugar loaves scattered with rice paddies grooved by streams. Discover the ancient citadel of Hoa Lu and two temples dedicated to the Dinh and Le dynasties, a stroll by boat on the Ngo Dong River from the Van Lam village for a visit to three grottoes of Tam Coc and the Bich Dong cave, where three temples have been hidden away since 18th century. Dinner and overnight at hotel in Ninh Binh.

 

Day 14 : Ninh Binh – Ha Noi – Departure (B.L)

Breakfast. Drive to Ha Noi. Visit the Temple of Literature, the Museum of Fine-Arts. Lunch. Free time until the transfer to the Noi Bai international airport for the departure.