VIETNAM SPECIAL EXPERIENCES

NORTHERN VIETNAM ESSENTIALS

• Trip's length: 8 days• Trip Themes: Cruise, Local life & Culture, Local food, Community• Transport: Car, train, boat, bike• Places visited: Hanoi - Sapa - Ninh Binh - Halong Bay - Stork Island• Tour operates: All year around• Start / End cities: Hanoi / Hanoi• Accommodation: Hotel: 3nts, Train: 2nts, Home-stay: 1nt, Boat: 1nt• Price from: USD 515

DAY 01: ARRIVAL IN HANOI

Upon arrival, Custom Vietnam Travel’s guide and driver will warmly welcome you and take you to the hotel

in Hanoi for check in. Rest of the day is free at leisure. Overnight in Hanoi

Meals: N/A

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------DAY 02: HANOI CITY TOUR

The tour to explore the capital city occupies your whole day. The sites include of Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum,

his house-on-stilts, One Pillar Pagoda, Temple of Literature - Vietnam’s first university. In the afternoon, the

tour continues with a visit to one of the following museum that you can pick the one you like (the Ethnology

Museum, Army Museum, National Fine Arts Museum, Hanoi Hilton prison or Vietnam Women Museum).

Followed with a short walk or a cyclo ride around the Old Quarter and enjoy a traditional Water Puppet

show. Dinner on your own before taking a night train to Sapa. Overnight on train.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------DAY 03: SAPA & SURROUNDINGS

You will arrive in the border town of Lao Cai early in the morning; get picked up for one-hour drive uphill

through cloud and pristine, spectacular landscape to little town of Sapa. Freshening yourself up with wash

and breakfast which is ready in hotel’s restaurant.

After breakfast, get your luggage stored and take a light trek down hill along Muong Hoa Valley. This path

provides great scenery of nature with mountain, forest and terrace fields that carpet along hill slopes. On the

trek, you will see minority people from some hill tribes with their typical appearance and colorful dress

walking, working and playing. It is the chance for interesting local interaction and filling up your album with

beautiful photos.

Tel: +84.4.371 85750Hotline: +84.977102103

www.customvietnamtravel.comEmail: info@customvietnamtravel.com

Office: No 116/32/76 An Duong, Tay Ho, Hanoi, Vietnam

Keep trekking down further to visit to minority villages of H’mong and Dzay people. The trek ends at noon

and you will be picked up by car to get back to Sa Pa for lunch and hotel check-in.

In the afternoon, after a break, you will take a short drive to another side of Sa pa town, from here you will

take a walk to visit Ma Tra village of the H’mong people that locates in a beautiful valley. Get back to Sa Pa

by car and free at leisure in the evening. Overnight at a hotel in Sa Pa.

Meals: Breakfast

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------DAY 04: SAPA TRIBAL MARKET - NIGHT TRAIN TO HANOI

After breakfast, checking out your room and embark a drive to visit a hill tribe market in Bac Ha district. Here

you will see Flower Hmong, Phu La, Dao, Tay, Nung…all hill tribe groups gather around for trading. It is an

awesome experience of seeing colors, understanding traditions and feeling the atmosphere. The market

offers a variety of local products includes colorful embroidery, handicrafts and all types of daily necessary

stuffs. Here also available animal market where people sell and buy or barter animal such as dogs, pot-

bellied pigs, cows, buffalos and so on.

After lunch, just take a short walk to a hill-tribe village. Here you’ll visit some local homes to understand

more about their daily life as well as their culture and traditions. Followed by a short boat trip along Chay

River (If the water level is high enough) then head back for Lao Cai city. Dinner at a local restaurant in Lao

Cai City before your overnight train in a AC soft sleeper cabin back to Hanoi.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------DAY 05: HANOI - NINH BINH (HOA LU & TAM COC)

Arrive at the railway station early in the morning, get on your car and drive to Ninh Binh with your breakfast

on the way. Refresh yourselves at a restaurant before 2-hour sampan boat trip a long a little river at Tam

Coc (three cave). This area is considered as “Inland Halong Bay” featured with karst formations, gardens

and rice fields. The row offers you stunning scenery with rock, water, green paddies and caves. You then

turn around and head back to the dock for lunch in the restaurant.

In the afternoon, you will jump on a bike for a stunning bike ride along the back roads through the beautiful

scenery of towering karsts on the ground of ponds, rice paddies and rural villages to Hoa Lu Commune. You

will call at Hang Mua for some hundred steps to the summit for the panorama over the area for taking

photographs. Hoa Lu was chosen as the capital of ancient Vietnam in the 10th century, located in a flat

valley between small but steep limestone mountains. Arrive at Hoa Lu, walk to visit a beautiful temple, which

dedicated to a Vietnamese heroic king, Dinh Tien Hoang, who reigned the country in the 10 century.

Strolling around and learn the typical architecture of Vietnamese religious buildings and a bit about

Vietnamese history after a thousand years under the Chinese domination. Dinner and Overnight in Ninh

Binh.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------DAY 06: NINH BINH - HALONG BAY

After the breakfast, take 4 hour drive overland to Halong Bay with stop on the way for photos and break.

Arrive at the pier around noon for embarking a Deluxe Junk for the afternoon cruise. Have lunch while

cruising to magnificent BaiTu Long Bay, admiring by the fascinating formations of limestone islands. The

activities include swimming in the crystal water; exploring the well-hidden Thien Canh Son Cave; a short

cruise to Hon Co Island where you can enjoy relaxing on a white sandy beach, swimming or kayaking. Have

dinner and overnight on board.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------DAY 07: HALONG BAY - HAI DUONG (STORK ISLAND)

Wake up early in the morning for sunrise and a view of Bay’s landscape with a cup of tea or coffee. Have

breakfast in the fresh air. Visit Vung Vieng fishing village by a rustic row-boat, meet the local people and

pass through the floating school and fish farms. This morning, you still have more time for swimming if you

wish. Start cruising towards the harbor while an A la cart lunch is served. Disembark at noontime, and travel

to Hai Duong province with your private transport. Arrive at Thanh Mien Commune and take a late afternoon

boat row to visit the Stork Island. This time of the day, you can see thousands of birds flying back and land

on the Island for their night shelter. Dinner and overnight at a typical house of a Vietnamese family.

Overnight at the home-stay.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------DAY 08: HANOI DEPARTURE

This morning, after the breakfast, you will join the local people with some farm works and learn the daily life

of the locals. After lunch, you will drive back to Hanoi for the night or onward to the airport for your

departure. End of services.

Meals: Breakfast

---------------------- Have a wonderful holiday ------------------------

Email us for more information: info@customvietnamtravel.comBook this Northern Vietnam Essentials Special Tour right now.Or you can tailor made the tour upon your desires.

Custom Vietnam Travel, Co., LtdCommitment to satisfaction!