Program in detail:

Day 01: Ha Noi (D)

Reception and transfer to Ha Noi Center, where we check in  the hotel, the streets of old Hanoi lined with small old houses typical. The rest of the day is free to rest or start exploring the city. Welcome dinner. Overnight at hotel.

 Day 02: Hanoi - Night train to Lao Cai (B, L, D)

Full day exploring the capital of Vietnam. Visit the major sights: the Little Lake, a true pearl in the center of the city, the Temple of Literature, Vietnam's first university with its original architecture, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and One Pillar Pagoda, the Museum of History and Museum of Ethnography. Tower rickshaw near the thirty-six cooperation: the opportunity to truly immerse yourself in the daily life of the city market.
Imagine a city incorporated: two or three lakes green, gray cathedral, some purple and golden pagodas and quantities of streets: the street buttons, closures - lightning and balls of wool, the street exhaust pipes and hubcaps, street offerings for the dead, the street of sandals, the street children's toys and books, the street locks and keys, the street bears and caps bra ... street scooters and street motorcycles, mopeds of all streets, the street that begins and ends nowhere, the road running through the world and mixed passersby.
Dinner and transfer to Hanoi Railway Station. Train to Lao Cai. Overnight in the train (sleeper car conditioning).

Day 03: Sapa and its surroundings - Ta Van (B, L, D)

Welcome  by the driver at the train station of Lao Cai. After breakfast at a local restaurant near the station, we start to climb the road to Sa Pa in stunning scenery. After we arrived in Sa Pa, we make a detour to visit the village of Ta Phin where the  two ethnic groups black Hmong and Dao minotitaires in the region of Sa Pa live ,each of which still preserves its cultural identity.

This after - noon, you make a descent into the valley of Muong Hoa valley of terraced rice paddies of Vietnam's most beautiful extending beneath your feet, the highest Indochina mountain range's  which arises Mt Fansipan to 3.143m stands beside you. The landscape by the French dubbed "the Alps of Tonkin." If you come at the right time, you can see a show, very colorful, represented by local young people who you share dances, songs, musical instruments closely related to their life and their culture.

Dinner and overnight homestay in Ta Van

Day 04: Ta Van - Sapa (B, L, D)

This morning you will have an excursion to the waterfall and a village Giang Ta Chai village nestled in a valley covered with lush vegetation. You'll meet people of the Black H'mong minority, in road  to the central market of Sapa. The market is in general not only a place of barter and trade, but also a entertainement for all ethnic minorities in the region. The Black H'mong, originating in China from where they emigrated to Vietnam there are over 300 years, are recognizable by their clothes usually black or dark blue. These colors are made from hemp and indigo grown in the region. The women wear dresses and blouses embroidered aprons and are wearing turbans, while men are dressed in baggy pants and shirts in the same colors sombres. Back to Sapa in the morning

After- noon is the best time of day to hike in the valley of Cat Cat. You will visit the villages to meet with the Hmong, the largest minority in Vietnam with nearly 1 million of peoples. Late afternoon, you will return to Sapa. Overnight in Sapa

Day 05: Sapa - Bac Ha (B, L, D)

You will visit a small pagoda near the station and attend the opening of the border gate between Vietnam and China. Striking contrasts between the two shores of the river that serves as a natural border between the two countries. Transfer to Bac Ha, possibility of visiting a market for ethnic minorities (if you arrive on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Saturday). Walking around the  Bac Ha village populated by Mong, colorful ethnic and other minorities (Ban Pho). Overnight in Bac Ha Homestay.

Day 06: Bac Ha - Can Cau - Ta Van Chu (B, L, D)

Starting from Bac Ha to Can Cau. Open only on Saturdays, it always delivers a very photogenic display of Flower Hmong, Nung, Phu La ethnic costumes. Having spent the morning exploring the market, you will leave Bac Ha, where you have lunch. After the lunch, start trekking for the half day. We'll take a limestone mountain with a height of 1200 to 1300 meters. After about 3 hours walking we reach the summit where we stopped to admire the beautiful landscapes that offer a view: rice terraces, vegetation, villages of ethnic tribes. After a few hours, we reach the village of Ta Van Chu composed of about fifty families of the Phu La . This village, located not far from anything the town of Bac Ha, remains very isolated by the valleys. Dinner and overnight at the inhabitant in a house on stilts.

The Hmong in bloom is a small group of local ethnic Hmong (consisting of 600 000 individuals in total), immigrated from southern China in the late 18th century. The other factions are: Green Hmong, Hmong red, black Hmong, Flower  Hmong and white Hmong.

5 hours walking - Elevation: 500 meters

Day 07 * Ta Van Chu - Ban Lien (B, L, D)

After breakfast we say goodbye to the villagers to continue walking. We will cross this morning a small forest of pines, a village populated by the colorful Phu La, a village populated by Dao, before reaching the summit of a high hill where we will have a panoramic view of the region. Lunch picnic.

In the afternoon, the path leads down to a hamlet and a village populated  Phu La, where we stop to visit their homes and their way of life, before going into a village a score of Tay homes to spend the night.

The Phu La, present in Vietnam long before the Hmong, inhabit the provinces of northern mountains. The Phu la population currently has about 7000 people. They live mostly sedentary mid-slope of the mountains, in small hamlets, each consisting of several houses. In the region of Bac Ha, they gather in larger villages, alongside the Hmong, Dao and Hoa.

The Dao ethnic group in Vietnam has about 500 000 people divided into a dozen factions premises. They occupied land at any altitude in the regions of the Far North of Vietnam. Despite their very easy contact with the Viet, Dao are little influenced by the culture of the latter.

5-6 hours walking - Elevation: 1000 meters

Day 08 * Ban Lien - Na Lo (B, L, D)

After breakfast, We will cross the hills of medium altitude, thick forest, rice terraces and a Hmong village that is located in an extremely wild. We stop in this village for lunch and we talk to people.

Check in late afternoon - noon to Na Lo village  located a few miles as the crow flies from the town of Bac Ha. Overnight in Homestay.

The Tay, also known under the name of Tho, live in the North and the highlands of Central Vietnam and have about 2 million people. Unlike the Hmong or Phu La, Tay are indigenous to their current living area.

5 hours walking - Elevation: 1000 meters

Day 09 * Na Lo - Bac Ha - Vulinh (B, L, D)

Transfer to Vulinh. We will meet with  Tay peoples in road and then to Lake Thac Ba the beautiful to village of Dao. Boat trip on Thac Ba Lake, the largest in the North Vietnam's beautiful landscape. You'll see the sun set over the lake and fishing activities with local sampans. Night at the house of Dao. Night in Dao house

 Day 10 Vu Linh - Ba Be (B, L, D)

Departure for Ba Be, passing through mountainous regions. The terraced rice fields consist of beautiful landscapes. Continue to the village of Pac Ngoi Tay located not far away from the lake . The Tay who settled there, living on fishing, rice and corn. Their houses on stilts, with thatched roof, decorate graciously austere surrounding landscapes. Overnight homestay in a traditional wooden house on stilts. Or you could sleep in  hotel in Ba Be National Park.

Day 11: Ba Be Lake (all day) (B, L, D)

Breakfast. Boat ride in the beautiful town of Lake Babe. The lake "three seas", which stretches over 9 km long and 100 to 1800 m wide, is located 145 m above sea level. It is at the mouth of 3 valleys that converge in an arc. Babe is not only a site for imaginative, but also for nature lovers. Nearly forty species of mammals live here, and over a hundred species of birds and many butterflies. Visit Dau Dang waterfalls, cave Puong and hiking in the countryside. Night in the house on stilts of Tay to Pac Ngoi

Day 12: Pak ngoi - Cao Bang (B, L, D)

Road to Cao Bang. Near phac Na, walking on foot across the fields that will be an opportunity to discover the techniques of field work of Tay. Encounter along the way Dao sapeck with silver coins on their costumes.  Overnight at the hotel in Cao Bang.

Day 13: Cao Bang - Lang Son (B, L, D) :

We take the famous Colonial Road N4 or there were 5000 french soldiers were killed in 1950. Walking tour to Dong Khe before arriving at That Khe. Arrive late afternoon in Lang Son border town between Vietnam and China. Free time to visit the Dong Kinh Market. Overnight at hotel.

Day 14: Lang Son - Ha Long (B, L, D) :

Drive to Halong Bay and watching the busy rice paddies over the road.
Arrive in Bai Chay, boarding a boat at night or you will spend the night aboard. We will walk between the 3000 island emerging from the emerald water. We visit the cave of surprises and there are some numbers to work at Titov beach is worth the look above, an extraordinary 360 degree view of the Wonder of the World with sunset . Swimming possible.
Dinner and overnight on board in the private boat

Day 15: Halong - Tam Coc (B, L, D)

Getting up early, we can hear the sound of the ocean. We'll take our breakfast on boat, then by rowboat we'll visit the cave Luon, and a floating village. Landing at our embarcadaire has Halong City. Departure to Ninh Binh traverssant the Red River Delta
Arrival to Tam Coc, Night at the hotel.

Day 16: Tam Coc - Biking - Mai Chau (B, L, D)

Morning departure to the village of Kenh Ga in  3 hour bike ride through the flooded rice fields. Boarding small boats on the Hoang Long River to discover the rocky peaks and villages pecheurs.Transfert drive. to arrive at Mai Chau village of the White Thai. . Night in the stilt house of Thai in Mai Chau.

Day 17: Mai Chau - Ha Noi (B, L, D)

 Short trek in mai Chau valey. Back to Hanoi in the end of afternoon. Overnight in Hanoi

Day 18: Ha Noi - Departure: ( B)

Transfert to airport for your departure  .

End of programme

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