Sapa Emotion, 7 days

On arrival at Hanoi Airport, you are greeted  by our guide and taken to your hotel by private transfer. You will have some time free to relax or explore at your own leisure. The capital city of Vietnam, Hanoi is a fascinating blend of East and West, combining traditional Sino-Vietnamese motifs with French flair. The building boom has made Hanoi a rapidly developing city in Southeast Asia. However, it still retains an old charm brought from a thousand year of history, with many interesting cultural and historic monuments, beautiful lakes, shady parks, bustling street markets, funny shops and open air eating spots jostled in ancient houses, and historic temples adjoining colonial style structures. They offer both local and foreigner visitors an endless exploration. You might like to stroll through the fascinating old quarter containing many vibrant streets which are named after the specific goods once offered for sale at these places. The lively atmosphere in Hanoi old quarter runs from the early hours until late at night  with many street vendors calling, horns honking, and chaotic traffic with waves of motorbikes you’ve never experienced.

Today, we spend our time to explore Hanoi, taking a short drive through diverse streets encompassing a millennium of the city culture and evolution to the Ba Dinh Square. This park setting contains the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (close on Mon. and Fri. and Oct. to Nov) and the Ho Chi Minh Residence. We queue up for a walk past silent sentries, paying a homage to Ho Chi Minh before  continuing  to his residence, a simple stilt house set in a well-tended garden. He has lived and worked in this place until his final days. Nearby this complex is the One Pillar Pagoda, of which the origins date back to the foundation of Hanoi City. We visit all of them and head to the Temple of Literature. This well preserved temple is now dedicated to the scholars of Confucius but was once the first university of Vietnam. The successful candidate records are still found in various stone steles set over giant stone turtles in the temple ground. We keep going to the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology (close on Mon.) where display in both outdoor and indoor sections, various documents, images and objects focusing on 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam. The sightseeing tour takes us past various attractions, including Tran Quoc Pagoda, Quan Thanh Temple, West Lake, Long Bien Bridge, and Opera House. There are no stops planned as it is simply a glimpse of the cityscape. We finish a round of city tour  with a fantastic water puppet show followed by a pleasant walk around Hoan Kiem Lake, one of the major scenic spots in Hanoi.

The journey north begins as we leave Hanoi and drive along the new highway to  Lao Cai.  We make our way uphill to Sapa Town.  This zigzag road follows the mountainsides, giving us some fantastic views of  vertical rice terraces and towering cliffs. We arrive in Sapa by early afternoon and check in our hotel. This remote town set at an elevation of 1500m was once a hill station for the French administrators to escape the summer heat in delta regions. The colonial time has left in Sapa its legacy in form of villas and church.  We soak up the fresh climate as much as we want by strolling around.  The fascination is not  in the townscape but in the surrounding nature beauty. We enjoy a  walk downhill to the Cat Cat Village nestled at the  Phan Si Pan mountain foot. This small village is home to the Hmong ethnic minorities who are mostly living from rice and corn cultivation, fabric  weaving and handicraft creation. The village name came from the nearby Cat Cat Waterfall, which originates from the high mountains and flows down through the thick forests  to the Muong Hoa Valley.  We admire  the  gorgeous scenery  of  rice fields, mountains and  waterfall before we stroll through the Cat Cat Village, exploring the simple lifestyle of villagers.

The imposing mountain peak of  Phansipan lends an alpine feel to the surrounding hillsides and valleys. They  are homeland to many tribal groups, including the Hmong, Dao, Tay, Giay and Xa Pho. These ethnic minorities are usually settled in off beaten track areas, therefore it involves some downhill and uphill walking to see their villages.  Today we  take a short drive to Y Linh Ho before starting  a two-hour walk  to Lao Chai and Ta Van Villages. The local footpaths give us a chance to meet many mountaineers doing their daily works, such as logging, herding buffalo, and tilling the fields. On arrival at Lao Chai Village, we have a stop to admire the beautiful scenery  of mountain backdrop and  steep terraced rice fields, and also make friends with local ethnic minorities frequently seen along village lanes.  Perhaps they are Dao, Hmong or Giay who come on promenade or sell local textiles and handicrafts. We continue our walk to Ta Van  Village, home to the Zay ethnic minorities. These local villagers  often stay on stilt house and have their own culture and traditions , which are different from their nearby Hmong people. Upon leaving Ta Van, we  drive back  to Sapa Town and have some time free at leisure. The memorable experience of Sapa will be left behind  as we make our way back to Hanoi this afternoon. This long journey will take anything between 5 to 6 hours to reach the capital city.

Heading out of the town, we make our way to Halong City, a base for our exploration of Halong Bay. This journey takes anything between three and four hours, passing through the beautiful countryside  to the stone formations of Halong Bay. The cruise team will welcome us on board with refreshing drinks and provides some information about the watercraft and the activity program. We check in our private cabin and unpack for a two-day cruise. The exciting excursion begins as our boat  zigzags itself in Halong Bay. Along the way, we feast on a huge lunch (veg. meals also available on request), catching some beautiful views of the bay with a blend of the sky and limestone islets jutting out from the clear and emerald water. These rocky outcrops are usually named by their distinctive shapes and littered with tiny beaches and beautiful caves. You spend this afternoon to simply admire the splendid scenery unfolding beyond your eyes or go for some activities; rowing boat excursion, swimming and kayaking (optional). We can improve our culinary skill while participating in a cooking class in the flavor of the sea. The master chef will show the guests how to make some traditional Vietnamese delicacies. We follow it  with a sumptuous dinner and enjoy some evening entertainment at the dining room. There are also possibilities to try your hand at squid fishing from our boat.

The early light begins washing the night away, unveiling the marvelous beauty of Halong Bay. You can participate in a Taichi exercise on the sundeck and may get a chance to catch some wonderful photos of the sunrise over Halong Bay. The boat trip continues past many imposing  islands, giving us a new exploration of this beautiful bay.  We can spend our time at leisure or step onto a tender to visit Sung Sot, one of the many beautiful caves hidden beneath towering cliffs. The uphill walkway with nearly 100 steps is somewhat arduous; however, the panoramic view from nearby boat pier to rocky islands in the far distance, makes the hardship all worthwhile. We enjoy this splendid landscape before we start the exploration of Sung Sot Cave. This remarkable cave is naturally adorned with countless stalactite and stalagmite formations. They stretch amazingly from floor to ceiling, forming various pillars to support the cave dome. The illuminating spotlights of various colors within the stone formations add more enchantment to this beautiful cave. We come back to our cruise and weave our way through a spectacular seascape of limestone pillars towards Tuan Chau Marina. The wonderful time in Haling Bay is followed by a drive back to Hanoi. Along the way, we make stop at our pleasure, to stretch our legs and see many local villagers making excellent craft objects in traditional ways. 

The holiday comes to an end with a transfer to Hanoi Airport for  your departure.  There are no activities planned for the final day. You may have free time to continue your exploration of Hanoi City, do your last shopping or simply look back upon your trip images before your airport transfer.