VB073: PARADISE OF VIETNAM (14 Days/ 13 Nights)

Day 1  :  ARRIVAL HA NOI 

Our guide will meet you on arrival at Noi bai Airport and transfer to hotel (Check-in is 14:00). Lunch & Dinner at your own. Overnight in Hanoi.

Day 2    : HANOI – HALONG (B,L,D) SHUTTLE BUS – NO GUIDE FROM HANOI TO HALONG

After breakfast, Then pick up you for a 3 hours drive through the Red River Delta, green rice fields to Ha Long City.

11:45  You arrival at Tuan Chau Island is the Lily Cruises check-in lounge. at No15

12:15 After taken to Lily Cruises, you will be checked-in. While enjoying welcome drink, you will be introduced the itinerary and safety briefing by Cruise Manager

13:00 You will have a delicious lunch and enjoy the stunning views when the boat cruises towards the southeast of Halong Bay, passing Fighting- Cock and Finger Islet.
14:45 Visiting Luon Cave or Pearl Farm area by bamboo boat or kayaking.
16:00 You are going to Titov Island – where you can go swimming or hiking to the top for another stunning, panoramic view of the Bay

17:30 Back on board, you can enjoy Sunset party with HAPPY HOUR (from 17:30 – 19:00) – buy 2 get 1 free at bar

18:30 If you are interested in Vietnamese cuisines, please join our traditional Vietnamese cooking class on sundeck under the experienced Chef’s guiding (or in the restaurant in case of inclement weather).

19:00 Delight in the shimmering atmosphere of thousands of stars while eating a fantastic, expertly prepared dinner.

20:30 This is the perfect time for you to relax with spa treatments or enjoy a cocktail.

Besides, we provide free for squid fishing tools at reception. Overnight on Lily Cruises.

Day 3  : HALONG – HANOI (B, BRUNCH) SHUTTLE BUS – NO GUIDE FROM HALONG TO HANOI

6:00 Warm up your day with a Tai Chi lesson on the sundeck with a breathtaking view as the sun rises on Halong Bay.

7:00 Light breakfast is served at the restaurant.

8:00 Your next stop is the magnificent Sung Sot Cave, one of the biggest caves in Ha Long Bay with beautiful stalactites. You will be surprised by the breathtaking panoramic view across the Bay once you exit the cave as well as the stalactites and stalagmites formed over millions of years which have taken on fascinating shapes.

9:30 Back on board, check-out and return to Tuan Chau Island

10:00 Brunch is served at the restaurant and payment

10:45 Disembark at Tuan Chau Marina. Come back to Hanoi. Dinner at your own. Overnight in Hanoi.

Day 4    :  HANOI CITY TOUR– SAPA (B)

Breakfast. Morning visit to the historic Ba Dinh Square with Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (if it’s open), Ho Chi Minh Stilts House and One-Pillar Pagoda. Continue to visit Temple of Literature and Museum of Ethnology – the most beautiful and biggest one in Hanoi. Visit Hoan Kiem Lake and Old Quarter of Ha Noi and then enjoy some more walking in the area. Enjoy the evening show of the spectacular Water Puppetry. Lunch and dinner at your own. Depart by overnight sleeper train to the mountainous province of Lao Cai. Overnight on train without guide

Day 5  (SUNDAY): Lao Cai – Bac Ha Market   (B)

Arrive Sapa Railway Station in the early morning, meet with your tour guide and be transferred to restaurant for breakfast. Transfer to Bac Ha Town let via Lao Cai city.

Arrive to the market place, right at the most crowded hours. Spend two hours joining the local tribal peoples including Flower H’mong, Black Zao, Phu La and Tay for the market activities and festive atmosphere. All peoples in their best traditional costume gather every Sunday for shopping, but socializing is of great importance. The cattle and clothing sections are the most interesting until 11.00 and then come the food section where peoples meet, talk, enjoy food and especially drink a kind of locally made corn-wine.

Lunch at your own.

Then leave Bac Ha for Cat King Hoang A Tuong’s palace is located in the center of Bac Ha district. The architecture is designed in a combination of Asian and European style. Cat King Hoang A Tuong’s Palace was built in 1914 and completed in 1921. The owner of this Palace is Hoang Yen Chao of Tay ethnicity, father of Hoang A Tuong.  Overnight in Homestay

Day 6   :  Bac Ha – Lao Chai – Ta Van Village (B)

You will begin yours trek on small trails down the Muong Hoa Valley toward 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 terraced fields in Vietnam. After Lao Chai we walk to Ta Van village of Giay people. It is a small group of ethnic people in Vietnam with a rich culture and beautiful houses located on rice paddy fields.

Lao Chai & Ta Van Villages, about 8 km from Sapa town, where black H’mong and Dzay people are living, it is also the beginning of the valley which is called Muong Hoa. From a high point of the main road, great view of the whole villages open wide to offer the marvelous panorama views, backed by high mountains and facing the river. Here you will enjoy the fresh air, see terraced fields and stream, discover and visit some of Black H’mong families. You will have a welcome feeling at any house of the hospitable people there. You can interact them, learn about their culture and customs. Lunch & Dinner at your own. Overnight in Homestay

Day 7  : SAPA – FANSIPAN – Visit Cat Cat Village – HA NOI (B)

Start your day by a soft breakfast in the hotel, then guide and drive will take you to Cable Car Station and it takes 20 minutes with the cable car to delve into the marvelous beauty of sceneries along the way to get the peak of the mount.

You have time within 1.5 hours to see the views here, take photos and visit the spiritual destinations and then trek up to 600 steps to reach the peak of Fansipan – the roof of Indochina. Then come back to Cable Car Station and return to Sapa town. Have lunch at your own.

Start trekking to Cat Cat village, the village of Black H’Mong hill tribe. The village is on the slope of the hill and easy walking, rice and corn are grown here. Cat Cat village possesses many imposing waterfalls and also is home to the water hydropower construction built under French rule. Dinner at your own.

and then you have time to relax and prepare before heading back to Hanoi. Lunch & Dinner at your own. Depart by overnight sleeper train. Overnight on train without guide

Day 8  :  HANOI – HOA LU TOUR (B,L) 

After breakfast at restaurant, we have a 2 hour drive to the Ninh Binh province, also known as the Island Halong and the Ancient Capital. It will be an exciting day highlighted, by a 2 hour boat ride in a hand woven bamboo row boat down the Tam Coc streams enjoying spectacular scenery surrounded by rice paddies and towering limestone mountain peaks.

After lunch at local restaurant. we make a short transfer (4 km) down a peaceful country road to Hoa Lu, Vietnam’s ancient capital eleven centuries ago. Here, there are two temples dedicated to King Dinh and King Le, the founders of the ancient capital during the 10th century. Dinner at your own. Overnight in Hanoi.

Day 9  :  HANOI – HUE CITY TOUR  (B)  NO GUIDE FROM HOTEL TO AIRPORT

After breakfast.  Transfer to the airport for your flight to Hue.

Enjoy an early morning boat ride on Perfume River to visit Thien Mu Pagoda & The Imperial Citadel – World Cultural Heritage. Visit the Royal Tomb of Khai Dinh, Dong Ba market. Lunch & dinner at your own. Overnight in Hue.

Day 10   : HUE – DA NANG – HOI AN  (B)

Have breakfast. Transfer to Da Nang by Van (the views from top of Hai Van Pass are excellent – you’ll be able to see Lang Co beach and the lagoon far below, and Da Nang spread out before you to the south). You’ll have a brief look at the remarkable Hindu statuary in the Cham Museum & Marble Mountain before leaving for Hoi An … Lunch & dinner at your own and Overnight in Hoi An.

Day 11  : HOI AN – BA NA HILLS (GOLDEN BRIGDE) – HOI AN (B)

Breakfast, transfer to Ba Na Hills, you can enjoy the colorful picture as well as sparkling views, you will be contemplated the grandeur of mountain, rainfall, the old-growth forest…they will bring you the adventurous feeling as in the fairyland with four seasons within one day. Arrive at Ba Na Hills. Enjoy cable car which is the longest cable car in the world, you will have a look at Vong Nguyet Hills, Linh Ung Pagoda, Thich Ca Phat Dai, Old French horse stables, Meditation Garden, then go for sightseeing Nghinh Phong Peak, Le Nim Villa, Ba Na Golden Brigde, conquer Chua Mountain at an altitude of 1487 meters above sea level to watch the view of Danang city and Quang Nam from the layer of cloud, Flower Garden. Lunch & Dinner at your own. Overnight in Hoi An.

Day 12   : HOI AN – CAM THANH WATER COCONUT WOODS – HOI AN TOUR (B)

Have breakfast. Local guides welcome guests at their hotels and transfer to visit Cam Thanh.

For being a fisherman at Cam Thanh Eco Water Coconut Village, you will enjoy experiences from learning traditional fishing techniques and how to row unique Vietnamese bamboo basket boats while exploring the tranquil coconut palm waterways of the past war
– On this tour, we provide authentic social and cultural insight into the local way of life in Vietnamese. Furthermore, you will take part in some hands-on activities that are fun, safe, and interesting to people all of the ages
Arrive Can Thanh, meet local fishermen and experience the daily life
Take a bamboo basket boat on the Cam Thanh water coconut forest and have a brief introduction to the history there.
Join local fishermen on the river and enjoy the hands-on experience of round net and cast net fishing.
+ Learn to paddle the unique Vietnamese bamboo basket boat and join in a basket boat race.
+ Explore the now peaceful coconut waterways of a past war.
+ Go catch the crabs…

In the afternoon, Walk with your tour guide to visit around Hoi An town : the old Tan Ky House, Covered Bridge, Phuc Kien Assembly Hall…. Lunch & dinner at your own. Overnight in Hoi an

Day 13  : HOI AN – MY SON (B) 

Breakfast at hotel. Drive to My Son, a World Heritage, 40 km southwest of Hoi An. Located in a lush valley, My Son was a capital and religious center of Cham people, now remaining with red brick towers and sanctuaries. My Son, considered to be in the same league as some of Southeast Asia’s greatest archaeological sites, including Angkor in Cambodia, Bagan in Myanmar, Ayutthaya in Thailand and Borobudur in Indonesia. These towers and sanctuaries was built from the 7 to 13 centuries. Lunch & Dinner at your own and Overnight in Hoi An.

Day 14  : HOI AN – DA NANG – DEPARTURE  (B)  NO GUIDE

Breakfast at hotel. Transfer to airport for departure flight