A Panoramic Vietnam from the Mountain to the Sea

Sapa is a mountain retreat and former French colonial garrison, surrounded by lush green mountains and rice terraces. Breathe in the cool alpine air while wandering the town’s steep streets, stopping to buy handicrafts made by local Hmong women wearing bright, colorful traditional clothing, or pausing at a café for a cup of Vietnamese coffee.

Pick up at the train station when you arrive and transfer to Sapa by private car.

Early check in is possible when you arrive if the room available otherwise we will provide you a basic room where you can have shower.

Start the trip at 9:30 as below.

First start of 6km of walking down to the south east of Sapa along the side of Muong Hoa valley to Y Linh Ho village of the Black H’mong. Continue a 2km-trekking down to Lao Chai village, through terraced rice fields to Ta Van village of the Dzay minority people.
Lunch at restaurant or a local family, it gives you a worth chance for you to learn about the local house architecture which is full of their daily life styles and exclusive custom. Enjoy the landscapes…on the way.
Last trek is about 2Km to Tavan then get back to Sapa by private car.
Enjoy dinner by your own and overnight at the hotel.

Not only being the place for buying and selling, Bac Ha Market is also a meeting point for cultural and sentiment exchanging. When you have a chance to catch  the upland fair, you can see lines of people and horses pouring to the market through all paths and mountain roads. Sitting in groups, eating a hot soup pan (Thang Co) and talking to each other, all are what the locals normally do when they come to Bac Ha.

Return to Hanoi in the late evening. Overnight at the hotel.

Open only on Sunday

Later, we will visit the Ho Chi Minh Complex (outside) where the great President Ho Chi Minh rests in peace. We will visit the traditional stilt house and the respected One-Pillar Pagoda, the special pagoda with a particular structure. 

Afterward, our tour guide will take you around the Old Quarter for a street food tour tonight. Walking through the maze of bustling streets, the tour guide will suggest to you the most popular street foods in Hanoi which will surely make you water your mouth whenever you think of and some of them passed from mother to daughter for generations. Try the famed Hanoi dishes such as Bun Cha Ta (a grilled pork and noodle dish) or Banh Cuon at a local eatery and watch as the skilled chefs demonstrate how this tasty dish is put together.

The next two snack stops are at outdoor BBQ stalls. Sit down with the Hanoi locals and sample various meat, vegetable, and bread specialties that are flame-grilled over hot coals for extra flavor.  It’s now time for dessert!

Do not miss our famous Egg Coffee – there was a shortage of fresh milk in the country in the old-time so whisked egg yolk was used as a substitute and it became a must-try drink when you visit Hanoi. This hard-to-find café is one of the few left in the narrow street inside the old quarter of Hanoi.  Back to the hotel. Overnight at the hotel.

06:30 A light breakfast with some freshly baked pastries, coffee, and tea served in the restaurant.

07:00 Get on locals rowing bamboo boats or kayak to visit Bright Cave and a beautifully tranquil lake, surrounded by walls of stones in different scales and sizes.

08:30 Back on board, breakfast will be served as we once again cruise back to the harbour before your bill settlement and check-out.

09:30 After breakfast, you may settle your bills and check out. Then you may enjoy your remaining moments at Piano Lounge or on sundeck looking at the astonishing view of Lan Ha Bay.

10:15  After disembarking from Paradise Grand, you will be transferred on a speedboat back to Tuan Chau island

13:30 Arrive in Hanoi. Trip ends.

In the afternoon, the guide will pick you up at your hotel to start visiting the Imperial Citadel – The home of Vietnam’s last royal dynasty, the Nguyen Dynasty (1802 – 1945). 

Then, transfer to The Nguyen Emperor Khai Dinh’s Royal Tomb – a unique tomb among the royal tombs in Hue, Vietnam. Where other royal tombs are expansive and invite respectful reflection, Khai Dinh built his final resting place to be monumental in style and bombastic in execution.
Overnight in Hue.

Afterward, you will join the farmers in gardening activities such as preparing and applying organic manure to the land, raking the ground, sowing herb seeds, and watering or picking vegetables. Then, you will leave the farm to take a basket boat ride along the Do River to The Field Restaurant. While enjoying the beautiful scenery or fishing life of local villagers on the way, you will have a short cooking class and a Vietnamese family-style lunch or dinner. Then we will transfer you to the hotel. The rest of the day is free. 

After resting for a while, you will have the opportunity to choose bicycles for a cycling tour on village paths that will take you to Mr. Cong’s home. Here you will witness the process of making pop rice and the blend of traditional and modern agricultural methods that sustain the local village. Mr. Cong will even teach you the secret of making ‘rice pop’, a unique and nutritious foodstuff that can be given as a gift to locals or children in school. Your guide will explain how the animals are raised and show you how they collect ‘biogas’ to make free and sustainable cooking food.

Continue cycling on quiet village roads, you will pass by a duck farm (if possible), green rice paddies, sedge fields, and small villages. Along the way, you will visit one of the dragon or orange fruit plantations and taste the fruit directly from the garden. You will have plenty of opportunities to capture picturesque Asian sunset scenes before returning to the lodge on your bicycles.

After refreshing yourself with a shower, you will walk to the home of a neighbor who fought during the Vietnam War. Here, you will listen to his story and experience ‘poon’ lights and traditional music. At the end of the show, you will walk back holding traditional torches made of dried coconut leaves.

In the evening, you will have a traditional cooking class where you will learn to make Vietnamese pancakes. This will be a great learning experience that will allow you to take a bit of Vietnam home with you. Dinner will be served at the lodge’s restaurant.

Back to the Lodge, if time permitted, take some activities as to harvest some water coconut leaves and weave them up by you. These leaves are a key building material in the Mekong Delta as they are used to build the walls and roof of the houses. The local people will show you not only how they use these leaves but also how to make the ‘poon’ sticks that illuminated in the previous night. 

Check out and walk to home of Mr. Cong where you watch how he makes pop rice. He will reveal the secret of making ‘rice pop’. This unique and nutritious foodstuff will become a gift for locals or friends and family .

Your driver will pick you up and transfer back to Ho Chi Minh.