Day 1: Hanoi city tour (L, D, A)
Breakfast at hotel. Our guide will pick you up at 8:00 and you will start your journey. The first place to visit today is Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, which boasts a variety of real traditional houses of many ethnic minorities throughout Vietnam, thousands of exhibits ranging from traditional clothes, working tools to music instruments, religious items…This must be an ideal place for you to take an overall and deep insights into the diversified and unique culture of Vietnam.
At 11:30, you move to a restaurant in Hanoi center to enjoy lunch. Then you will go to Temple of Literature (Van Mieu), the first National University in Vietnam. At Van Mieu, you can admire the various pavilions, halls, statues and stelae of doctors are places where offering ceremonies, study sessions and the strict exams of the Dai Viet, one of the most prosperous dynasties in Vietnamese history, took place. After visiting Van Mieu, you will head to Hoan Kiem lake, walk around the lake and Hanoi Old Quarter to witness how the Hanoians live nowadays. Meanwhile, you can do shopping to possess some typical souvenirs of Vietnam like traditional silk products, conical hats…and even try street food. In late afternoon, you will watch a famous show of water puppet before enjoying dinner. Then you come back to hotel.
Day 2: Hanoi – Halong Bay (L, D, A)
After having breakfast at hotel, you will head to Halong Bay with a refreshment break en route. Arrive in Halong Bay at midday, you will transfer to a deluxe junk and begin your cruise around majestic Halong Bay accompanied by a delicious lunch. Today you will explore a number of limestone caves dotted around the bay and soak up the sun on the top deck.
In the evening the chef will prepare a splendid meal comprised of fresh seafood dishes.
Day 3: Halong Bay – Hanoi (B, L, D, A)
Let’s start your new day by swimming in the tranquil sea water and enjoy breakfast on board then. Today you will take a small boat or do kayaking to explore Luon cave, the perfect combination of lime-stone mountains and jade-green sea makes Luon Cave a unique site to visit on Halong bay and an ideal place for kayaking lovers. Passing through Luon Cave, tourists will reach a lake formed by an enclosed group of lime-stone mountains. The lake inside seems like a stadium surrounded by high podium. It’s a brackish lake with calm and green sea water. Size of the lake is nearly 1 square kilometers. On the cliff are many fossilized freshwater snail shells proving that place used to be a deep freshwater valley. Especially, it’s highlighted with pristine setting of ferns, orchids and wild golden monkeys.
Then you will have lunch before coming back to Hanoi. The tour ends.
Day 4: Hanoi – Ngoc Son Ngo Luong (L, D, A)
Breakfast at hotel. It will take you about 3.5 hours to travel from Hanoi to the Nature Reserve. It may be a long time but worthy because what you are going to experience is the things that you find hard to taste anywhere else. Travelling on Ho Chi Minh highway along rice paddy fields, passing a winding road to the top of the mountain and capturing the beauty of nature under your foot will make you feel so excited. Upon arrival, you will listen to the brief introduction about the Nature Reserve and how the local people coexist with the nature for generations. Different from the luxury of the cruise in Halong Bay, you will be warmly welcomed by the hospitable local people in the mountainous area.
12:00: Enjoy lunch at Mountain Flower homestay in Chieng village.
In the afternoon, you walk down the valley to Mu village where you can enjoy the beauty of traditional stilt houses under the canopies of palm trees, visit the remaining old water-power rice mortar and swim in the stunning and peaceful Mu waterfall. After that, you will move to the homestay located next to Mu stream.
After a long day of driving and walking, let serve yourself with a delicious home-cooked dinner and immerse into the music performance of the local women and famous tasty Can wine, a kind of wine that you will enjoy with straw instead of glass.
Overnight in a cozy stilt house.
Day 5: Ngoc Son Ngo Luong – Hanoi (B, L, A)
Wake up in the murmur of the stream. You can start a new day by swimming at the stream and have breakfast then. In the morning, you stroll around Khuong and Sat Thuong villages to learn more about the daily life of the Muong people, one of the biggest ethnic groups among 54 ethnic groups living throughout Vietnam. You may even join hands to do farming work at the rice paddy field, try making some traditional fabrics with loom, enter the local kindergarten to interact with kids…
At 11:30: you will come back to the homestay to enjoy lunch and take a short rest.
In the afternoon, you will walk or experience the feeling of adventure by taking motorbike to to Mountain Flower homestay where you have a car transfer back to hotel in Hanoi. Tour ends.
Tour includes:
- Car transfer
- Entrance & sightseeing fee
- Puppet show ticket
- Boat
- Onboard insurance
- Meals as indicated
- Accommodation as indicated (Deluxe Cabins with A/C and en-suite Bathrooms in Halong Bay, hotel in Hanoi, homestay in NSNL)
- English/French speaking guide
- Music performance
Tour excludes:
- Airfares & visa
- Personal expenses and tips
- Meal and beverage not mentioned
- Kayak
- Motorbike service
- VAT invoice
