North Vietnam Journey

Small Group Journeys

Highlights

Tour Details

Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival to Hanoi

Arrival in Hanoi. A driver takes you to the hotel, and nothing is asked of you before the group briefing.

Day 2: Hanoi

This morning belongs to Dong Ngac, out beyond the edge of the capital and still very much itself. Bicycles are the way round it, with a stop at the market for vegetables and herbs that will be needed later. The old Communal House stands on the way, and at the Ancestral House someone from the Do Clan, who still live here, sits down with you and describes what village life is really like. Then a cooking lesson: what comes off the stove is your lunch, after which you drive back into Hanoi.

Day 3: Hanoi to Sapa

The morning takes in several of the odder corners of the capital. Hoa Lo Prison opens it, the place American prisoners christened the ‘Hanoi Hilton Prison’; after that the Temple of Literature, and a long walk through the streets that surround the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. The afternoon is loose. In the evening you join the Fanxipan Overnight Train, or an equivalent service, and sleep on board while it runs north towards Sapa.

Day 4: Sapa

The train reaches Lao Cai Station early and a vehicle carries you up to the hotel. Breakfast comes first, then walking: Tan Van and Lao Chai, a pair of quiet villages on the Muong Hoa valley floor. Hau Thao and Saseng follow, where Black H’mong households go about the morning without hurrying for anyone. The walk ends easily enough at Ta Van Hoa Valley, terraces climbing the hillsides and the view carrying for miles.

Day 5: Sapa

It begins with a long drive to Ban Khoang, a Red Dzao village well away from anything. Walking there, you take in some of their customs, what is particular to their culture, and the choices they have made about how to live. From there the road continues towards Ta Giang Phinh and several smaller hamlets, where the ordinary business of the day is out in the open. Lunch is eaten before the return to Sapa.

Day 6: Sapa

A slow morning on the mountain road, pulling up first at the Silver Waterfalls, then at Tram Ton Pass — ‘Heaven’s Gate’ to people here. A trek then crosses paddy fields beneath the mass of Hoang Lien Son. Coming back there is O Quy Ho, a farm growing medicinal herbs, flowers and speciality crops. Late in the day the road drops to Lao Cai station, where the Fanxipan Overnight Train — or a comparable service — takes you south again.

Day 7: Sapa to Ninh Binh

You are back in Hanoi early, and a local breakfast is eaten with the group before the drive south to Ninh Binh — a fine stretch of country cut by rivers, laid out in paddy and punctuated by hundreds of limestone karsts. Hoa Lu, capital of Vietnam a thousand years ago, is first; a rowing boat then works its way through Trang An and the run of caves and grottos along it. The remainder of the day is unscheduled.

Day 8: Ninh Binh to Halong Bay

You drive across to Halong Bay in the morning, among the finest natural landscapes the country has, and a properly equipped junk is moored ready. Lunch arrives once you are aboard, and the afternoon is given to inlets away from the main routes, where hardly anyone goes. As it gets dark you can shut the cabin door behind you, take the deck, or find a seat at the bar. Bhaya Cruises, or a boat of similar standard, is where you sleep.

Day 9: Halong Bay to Hanoi

First light brings Tai Chi on the sundeck, then brunch as the junk sails back towards the harbour. A car meets you at the pier for the road to Hanoi. Nothing is fixed for the afternoon; in the evening the group sits down together for a farewell dinner.