A Marvelous Photography And Eco Tour

Day 1: Hanoi arrive – Hanoi half day city tour (Meal: No)

Day 2: Hanoi – Pu Luong (Meal: Breakfast, Lunch)

Day 3: Pu Luong – Ban Hieu – Pu Luong (Meal: Breakfast, Lunch)

Day 4: Pu Luong – Phu Tho - Nghia Lo (Meal: Breakfast, Lunch)

Day 5: Nghia Lo – Tu Le – Mu Cang Chai - trekking around villages (Meal: Breakfast, Lunch)

Day 6: Mu Cang Chai – Lai Chau – Sin Ho (Meal: Breakfast, Lunch)

Day 7: Lai Chau – Sin Ho Sunday market (highly recommend this market, the market is available only on Sunday) – Tam Duong - Sapa (Meal: Breakfast, Lunch)

Day 8: Sapa – Bac Ha (Meal: Breakfast, Lunch)

Day 9: Bac Ha – Hoang Su Phi (Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

Day 10: Hoang Su Phi (Meal: Breakfast, Lunch)

Day 11: Hoang Su Phi - Hanoi (Meal: Breakfast, Lunch)

Day 12: Hanoi – Ha Long (Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

Day 13: Ha Long – Hanoi (Meal: Breakfast, Lunch)

Day 14: Hanoi local villages & city (Meal: Breakfast, Lunch)

Day 15: Hanoi departure (Meal: Breakfast).

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Arrival at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport, collect your luggage during process through custom. Our tour guide and driver will be waiting for you outside the baggage claim/ customs area to transfer you in a private vehicle to the hotel downtown.

Note: For the Vietnamese Visa on Arrival, please make sure you have 2 passport sized 4 cm x 6 cm photos and $25 for the stamping fee.

We start a city tour of Hanoi, visiting:

• The Ho Chi Minh complex, including the One Pillar Pagoda, the former leader’s house on stilts and his Mausoleum.
• Transfer to West Lake to visit Tran Quoc Pagoda, known as the oldest pagoda in the city, originally constructed in the sixth century during the reign of Emperor Ly Nam De.
• Thang Long Citadel (the most recent UNESCO World Heritage Site of Vietnam), built in the 11th century by the Ly Viet Dynasty, marking the independence of the Dai Viet (former Vietnam)
• The peaceful Temple of Literature - the first university of Vietnam.
• Traveling by cycle rickshaw is the best way to get a real feeling of the town as well as capture great photographs on your first day in Hanoi. Then we attend a water puppet show.

Overnight at the hotel in Hanoi

After breakfast, we transfer to Pu Luong.

You enter Pu Luong Nature Reserve by road via a breathtaking mountain pass, giving you a panoramic view of the whole valley. You arrive at your accommodation for a delicious lunch, followed by free time to explore this beautiful retreat, with its captivating panoramic views and tranquil setting.

You will be transferred to a suspension bridge over the Cham River, where you begin your walk in search for stunning water wheels. Get up close to each wheel and discover how water is moved from the river to handmade bamboo aquaducts via simple constructions of different sizes.

Arrive at a local fisherman’s house, you have a short rest to gear up for the bamboo river rafting with Dinh and his team. Float along the calm river and enjoy the views, while you learn how to paddle and steer your handcrafted rafts.

After reaching the scenic Tan Lap Bridge, you disembark to be transferred back to Pu Luong Retreat for dinner.

Overnight at the hotel in Pu Luong

After breakfast, we transfer to Pu Luong.

You enter Pu Luong Nature Reserve by road via a breathtaking mountain pass, giving you a panoramic view of the whole valley. You arrive at your accommodation for a delicious lunch, followed by free time to explore this beautiful retreat, with its captivating panoramic views and tranquil setting.

You will be transferred to a suspension bridge over the Cham River, where you begin your walk in search for stunning water wheels. Get up close to each wheel and discover how water is moved from the river to handmade bamboo aquaducts via simple constructions of different sizes.

Arrive at a local fisherman’s house, you have a short rest to gear up for the bamboo river rafting with Dinh and his team. Float along the calm river and enjoy the views, while you learn how to paddle and steer your handcrafted rafts.

After reaching the scenic Tan Lap Bridge, you disembark to be transferred back to Pu Luong Retreat for dinner.

Overnight at the hotel in Pu Luong

Wake up early to start our descend into the beautiful valley facing the retreat where you walk around tumbling rice terraces. Trek through small paths shrouded in vegetation to slowly reveal a picturesque village sitting at the base of a towering mountain. Your camera has lot of work to do here !!

Back to the retreat, then we drive to Nghia Lo. We are flexible during the journey,  with stops to take photos of the marvelous scenery here.

Overnight in Nghia Lo – Nghia Lo hotel - http://www.nghialohotel.com.vn/

After breakfast, we say goodbye to the host family and head for Tu Le town. Tu Le is a little town located in the beautiful valley at the foot of Khau Pha Pass. Upon arrival, we get ready for a soft trek to the rice valley and visit some villages. Photography time.  We also meet local people. Back to the town, we have lunch at a local restaurant. In the afternoon, we start our drive up the famous Khau Pha Pass. This mountain pass is famous for the terraced rice paddies. The scenery over the valley from the pass is so stunning during rice reason, especially during harvesting time. We will have some stops for photoshooting on our way to Mu Cang Chai. We arrive in Mu Cang Chai town late in the afternoon. Check in in a home-stay in town. After getting our baggage stored, we will end the day with a smooth and easy walk to visit a village of the Thai ethnic minority at the foot of a mountain nearby.

Dinner and overnight in Mu Cang Chai.

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After breakfast, your support vehicle will transfer you up a steep mountain pass to the starting point. From here, you'll glide down 60kms to Than Uyen through valleys where the old growth forest, tea plantations and verdant rice paddies surround you. After lunch in Than Uyen, you'll have a wonderful afternoon as you explore some single track trails to visit local minority villages, including the interesting Lu people with their distinctively black teeth.

Continue on to Sin Ho. Then you will have the opportunity of having a walk around in the small town, soft trekking in the mountains, floating downstream the river...or just taking a shower and relax over a cup of coffee or a beer.

Overnight at the hotel in Lai Chau.

Wake up early for breakfast and drive to Sin Ho Sunday market.

Every Sunday, the different and colorful ethnic minority come all here to sell their homemade products or buy something for the family.

You will attend the market on your own. This market is known as the most remote ethnic market of all Northwest Vietnam. It is a fusion of many different hill tribes inhabiting in Sin Ho district, and you can easily distinguish them by their different colorful costume dressing. They are Tay, the Dzay, the Red Dzao, and the Black H’mong minorities. Some of these ethnic minorities can’t be met in any other areas.

After the market we continue our trip on the hidden loop to Tam Duong for lunch.

In the afternoon, drive on the thread road up to the Heaven Gate for universal view of Lai Chau and Sapa and Hoang Lien Son mountain range with Fansipan summit of 1343m high

Afternoon arrive in Sapa. Check in hotel then free time to relax and stroll around Sapa.

Overnight at the hotel in Sapa.

This morning, together with your tour guide, you will have a nice trek down the valley of Muong Hoa to visit the rice terraces and hill tribe village of the Black H'mong at Y Linh Ho and Lao Chai Villages. After having lunch at a family-run restaurant in Ta Van village.

Continue on, you will take a cable car to Fanxipan Mountain (Optional – 32$/ person). Currently the highest point of Fanxipan is at 3,143m high. As you know the cable in Sapa is the world’s longest and highest cable car, running up from sleepy Sapa town to the Peak of Fanxipan Mountain, known as Indochina’s rooftop. Enjoy the view from the highest point of this incredible mountain. The lush green and subtropical vegetation makes this mountain really very beautiful. Take some pictures for unforgettable experiences from the top.

Transfer to Bac Ha.

Overnight in Bac Ha.

Remark: Bac Ha market is available on Sunday only.

This morning, we drive to Hoang Su Phi. Hoang Su Phi is a rural district of Ha Giang province in the northeastern region of Vietnam. While Dong Van Karst Geo-park makes Ha Giang a bigger name for visitors from far and wide thanks to the grey limestone mountains, Hoang Su Phi offers visitors a different taste with stunning rice terraces. The highlights and must-see places for the terraces are near and along the main road between Hoang Su Phi and Xin Man, where those terraces are classified as a National Heritage by the Vietnamese Government.

Overnight at Hoang Su Phi Eco Lodge - http://www.panhou-village.com/en/

After breakfast, we depart for 6-7-hour trek to explore the villages on high altitudes around Thong Nguyen. The path goes up slightly for half an hour and we'll find ourselves hiking through a forest, tea plantations, terraced rice fields, scenic mountain slopes… Our lunch is at a local ethnic family. During our trek, there are possible nice encounters with locals going out for their daily work.

We arrive back at our lodge. Have free time for refreshment.

Overnight at Hoang Su Phi Eco Lodge - http://www.panhou-village.com/en/

Breakfast at the hotel then we drive back to Hanoi.

Arrival Hanoi in the late afternoon, check in hotel then free time to explore the city.

Overnight in Hanoi.

We depart from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay, listed as a World Heritage Area of outstanding natural beauty. “Dragon descending to the sea“ as it is known in Vietnamese, the picturesque Ha Long bay has more than 1.000 limestone islets rising from the sea, many of them containing beautiful grottoes.

Upon arrival at Ha Long Bay, we embark on a boat trip to cruise and discover this magnificent UNESCO World Wonder. This is a great journey among surreal islands rising from a tranquil emerald sea. You will visit several highlights.

Visits:

– One of the most stunning caves of Halong Bay

– Stop at a beautiful beach and take a refreshing swim or sunbathe on the sundeck; take a short trek to the nearby summit for a panoramic view of the bay.

Back on board of the junk, you will watch the sunset and be served a sumptuous dinner, with cocktails available for purchase from the bar. You will spend the night on board of the junk, in a cabin with an ensuite bathroom.

Early morning coffee and tea will be served on the sundeck, followed by a Tai Chi class. After breakfast we take a Sampan boat or Kayak to explore the bay. We may have a chance to see the wild monkeys that gather around, waiting for food from the tourists. After that we continue to cruise around the bay. Lunch is served on the boat on our way back to the docks. Say good bye to the cruise’s staff.  Then we visit Ha Long market before transfer back to Hanoi.

Stop on the way to visit one of the following places:

• Dong Ky pottery village
• Phu Lang ceramic village
• Bat Trang ceramic village
• Overnight in Hanoi.

This morning, you leave Hanoi center and drive about 35 minutes to the west of the city. It is about 17 km from old quarter to Xuan Phuong vegetable village. Upon arrival, you will meet the host at the meeting point and she will show you a local market since Le King Dynasty. It is the most famous market in the region where many traditional items are for sale. If on market days (two or three times per week, the other days the market is not too crowded), people from all surrounding villages come here to trade. People bring dogs, cats, pigs, chickens, ducks, and bamboo baskets to sell. Everyone is excited to meet each other on that day. You will be surprised about bustling and colorful market which is working under the canopy of old tree. You will see old women chew betel and areca nut and blacksmiths work hard with their bright brazier. Right next to the market place is a nice vegetable farm. We take a tour around the vegetable fields, growing a variety of products including: bitter melon, corn, cauliflower, cabbage, tomatoes, green peas, snake peas and corn, as well as fruit gardens with oranges, pomelos, papaya and more (depend on the season to grow different crops). You will learn more about the background of vegetable and you may have the chance to help a farmer on his field. Afterwards, we go to her house and cook together delicious dishes. She will teach you how to cook some Vietnamese dishes with simple and traditional recipes. Enjoy local fresh vegetable, fruit, make traditional cake and talk about Vietnamese family’s custom together. After that we return to Hanoi.

Continue on visit:

• The Ethnologic museum, which focuses on the 54 officially recognized ethnic groups in Vietnam, it is widely considered to be the finest modern museum in Vietnam and a tourist attraction in Hanoi.
• Hoan Kiem lake and Ngoc Son Temple.

In the evening, seating on the back of a scooter, riding on Long Bien Bridge, along West Lake, Hoang Dieu street for beautiful sightseeing and photoshooting. Continue riding around the old quarter of Hanoi with a stopover at the Opera house, the Metropole Legend Hotel, the Hanoi Cathedral.

Enjoy a cup of Egg coffee at Pho Co Café with stunning view on Hoan Kiem Lake and the surroundings.

Overnight at the hotel in Hanoi

This means the end of your trip in Vietnam. Depending on the time of your departure flight, your private driver will pick you up from the hotel and take you to the airport for your outbound flight home. Your driver will ensure that you are taken to the correct gate.

End of the trip!