“Adventuring Vietnam’s Eco-Play grounds”

Routes: Hanoi – Sapa – Halong – Hue – Danang – Hoi An – Saigon – Cu Chi – Mekong

Feature:

This package tour is ideal for the traveler who wants to see everything but whose time is limited. This is an intense trip producing an overview of Vietnam’s cultural diversity and natural beauty. Visit Sapa, Hanoi, Halong, Hue, Hoian, Saigon, Tay Ninh – Cu Chi and the Mekong delta. A one of a kind trip not to be forgotten. From North to South, travel by land, sea and air. Travel your way, fun guaranteed ! all places on tour is Vietnam Highlight.

Organizer: Origin Vietnam Travel

Tour type: Private tour

Itinerary in Brief

• Day 1 : Arrival Hanoi
• Day 2 : Hanoi, city tour of the1000 year old capital. Night train to Lao Cai
• Day 3: Sapa – Taphin, trekking and home-stay
• Day 4: More trekking and back to Sapa
• Day 5: Sapa – Hanoi, via night train
• Day 6: Hanoi – Halong Bay
• Day 7: Halong Bay – Hanoi. Night train to Hue
• Day 8: Hue, city tour
• Day 9: Hue, boat trip – Transfer to Hoian
• Day 10: Hoian, walking tour in the ancient town
• Day 11: Hoi An – Da Nang – Fly to Saigon,
• Day 12: Tay Ninh and the Cu Chi tunnels
• Day 13: Saigon- Day trip to Mekong Delta
• Day 14: Departure Saigon, Goodbye Vietnam

Itinerary in Detail

Day 1: Sunny Welcome to Hanoi

Welcome to Hanoi, we will meet and take you to your hotel, check-in and today is free at your leisure to rest or explore, discovering your own first impressions of Vietnam. Overnight in Hanoi.

Inclusion: Transfer, tour guide, hotel

Day 2: Hanoi thousand years old city tour, night train to Lao Cai.

Depart at 8:00 am from your hotel by van. We will begin our day by visiting Uncle Ho, learning about his great life at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Presidential Palace, and his residential place. Next stop is the nearby Temple of Literature. The site of Vietnam´s first University, built in twelfth century, to teach Confucius’s theory to royals. Here we will also have a chance to see a traditional music performance. Lunch will be served at a local restaurant for a taste of authentic Hanoi Pho (noodle soup). In the afternoon, choose one from the numerous museums or temples around Hanoi (Museum of Ethnology, Women´s Museum, History Museum or Quan Thanh Temple). In the late afternoon walk around Hoan Kiem lake and Hanoi´s fascinating Old Quarter for some great fun, shopping, and street side traditional food, may be to try one “hanoi bia”. This is your chance to be part of typical Hanoian style and its traditional Vietnamese culture. We finish our relaxing but informative day by attending a Water Puppet Show, a favorite experience for all visitors to Vietnam. We can help you to get back to your hotel if you wish, but often our guests would rather just spend the evening enjoying a drink with a view of the city. Dinner on your own.
8:15 pm: Transfer from an prearranged meeting spot to the station for your night train to Sapa boarding at around 9:15 pm. You will be in shared AC soft sleeper cabins to travel North to Lao Cai town.
(Our tour guide will show you a mini hotel which you will have shower and basic breakfast before going on Halong bay).

Inclusion: Transfer, guide, entrance fee, lunch, puppet show ticket,1 local beer, train ticket.

Day 3: Hanoi – Lao Cai – Sapa, trek to Ta Phin (Homestay of Red Dzao People)

The train arrives at about 6:00 am; look for the “Origin Travel” welcome sign when you exit the train station, as our guide will pick you up. Then take a morning drive through the clouds by car / van to Sapa (~ 1.5 hours). When you arrive in Sapa you will be taken to a local restaurant for a morning shower &breakfast.
We will then take short ride from Sapa to our trekking base where we start our trek up and down hills (~ 5- 6 hours) through terraced rice fields, bamboo ranges and many minority villages. Lunch break before we keep hitting the road to Ta Phin village. Our Dao host family will welcome you to their traditional home where we will share in an ethnic style dinner and stay the night.

Inclusion: Transfer, guide, train ticket, entrance fee, all meals, permit, homestay.

Day 4: More Trekking around Ta Phin Village and back to Sapa

At the first gleam of daylight, you will see and hear the sounds of morning village life. You can join your host family in some of their activities like feeding the animals, cleaning the houses, gardening or preparing breakfast. After breakfast, we could take a short morning wander around the village or resulting in more time spent with the host family.
You will be then supported by our car / van back to Sapa (30 minutes). When we arrive back in Sapa, check in to the hotel, shower and pause for lunch on your own. At 2:30 pm we will take an easy walk (~ 5km) to Cat Cat village, homeland of Black H’mong hill tribe and to take part in a traditional ethnic music performance put on by the ethnic minority people. Your own dinner and evening, sleep in the hotel in Sapa.

Inclusion: Breakfast, transfer, guide, entrance fee, music show ticket, hotel.

Day 5: A wonderful trek to Hmong village (~ 6km),then Lao Cai for night train to Hanoi

Wake up in Sapa town, breakfast at the hotel then enjoy the morning with some of your new friends that you may have met the afternoon before. You have the entire morning and lunch for free time and visiting the lively markets.
At around 2:00 pm, travel by car/van down to the south of Sapa town then we will do a mix of wonderful trek &hike along the terraced paddy fields, streams and villages (2- 3 hrs) to visit the peaceful Hmong village of Y Linh Ho to learn more about the Black Hmong. You will return to Sapa by van. A refreshing shower will be arranged before your train in Sapa or Lao Cai. Dinner on your own well before the train leaves for Hanoi and arrives to Hanoi at about 5:00 am.

Inclusion: Transfer, guide, train ticket, breakfast, entrance fee

Day 6: Hanoi – Ha Long, welcome on Princess Junk

Arrival in Hanoi in the early morning at round 5:00 am. Please find your way by foot back to a mini hotel near the Tran Quy Cap station gate to have shower and basic set menu breakfast.

Depart,8:00 – 8:30 am on a shared van from your hotel to Halong city. After 3.5 hours driving and viewing simple, countryside, rice paddy life, we arrive at the at port. At 12.00,the junk crews welcome guests on board at Hon Gai Wharf. Check- in, enjoy welcome drink &cruise briefing. Lunch with fresh local seafood while cruising to Bai Tu Long bay via Indochina film studio, Teapot islet, Blockhouse islet, Goat Head islet. Stop for swimming, visit mysterious Thien Canh Son cave. Relax at a wild beach, swim &kayak to explore the bay. Back to junk to enjoy relaxing or the sunset. Dinner and overnight on board nearby Vong Vieng village or Trinh Nu cave.

Inclusion: Transfer, guide, entrances fees, kayak, boat/junk, breakfast, lunch, dinner, permit, insurance, fishing gears.

Day 7: Explore the tranquil scenery in Bai Tu Long bay, back to Hanoi- Night train to Hue

Early risers can enjoy the sunrise and the quiet breath-taking beauty of Bay’s landscape. From 7.30 to 8:00 am have breakfast in the fresh air then visit Vong Vieng fishing village by a rustic row-boat. Meet the locals, visit floating school &fish farms. More time to swim in the middle of the bay. From 10:15,we serve on a La-Carte-Menu, you can order any dishes in the menu whenever you want for breakfast and lunch. Continue cruising through the bay, along the way seeing more of the fascinating formations. 11:45 check out cabin while cruising back. By noon at 12:00,we will be ashore then hit the road back to Hanoi at around 4:00 pm.
6:00 pm, we pick up from hotel where you stayed before for night train to Hue. Boarding at 7:00 pm. You will be in shared AC soft sleeper cabin (s).

Inclusion: Transfer, guide, entrance fee, boat/junk, breakfast, lunch, train ticket.

Day 8: Arrival Hue, city tour of Vietnam last feudal dynasty, boat trip

Arrival Hue at around 10:00 am. Station pick up then transfer to hotel to take a short rest, have late breakfast before visiting the former Imperial Citadel. Lunch is next at a local restaurant. Then in the afternoon we will visit the splendid royal tombs, there are actually more than 6 tombs but we will choose to visit two of three tombs as below: Minh Mang, Tu Duc and Khai Dinh. After that we walk/transfer to the boat dock for our cruising on the Perfume River, viewing the city and the tranquil villages on the riverbank. We will walk up to visit the Thien Mu pagoda, a nicely located pagoda, overlooking the Perfume River and the beautiful scenery beyond, where you get to learn more about the Buddhism in Vietnam. Transfer back to your hotel. Check in hotel. Free time to relax, shower and stay overnight at your hotel.

Inclusion: Transfer, guide, entrance fee, breakfast, lunch, local boat, hotel.

Day 9: Hue – Vietnam cyclo, visit market. Transfer to Hoi An

After breakfast at your hotel 9:00 am. We will go on a relaxing Vietnam cyclo ride to visit Dong Ba market around 1hour then transfer to Hoi An. From here it will take us about 4 hours to get to Hoi An. There is fabulous sightseeing en route and we may make stops at: Lang Co beach, Hai Van pass, Cham Museum, and the Marble mountains. Then onto Hoi An, overnight here. This is also a very good chance for you to get nice tailor-made clothes at a reasonable price.

Inclusion: Transfer, guide, entrance fee, breakfast, Vietnam cyclo, hotel.

Day 10: Hoi An, walking tour in the ancient town

The center of Vietnam has many World Heritage Sites and Hoian is one of them. This ancient town of Hoi An,30 km south of Danang, lies on the banks of the Thu Bon River.
9:00. Hotel pick up then we walk around the town with your tour guide to visit the old charming Hoi An. We will visit the old Tan Ky House, the famous Japanese Covered Bridge, the stylish Phuc Kien Assembly Hall…Drive back to your hotel then free time to relax, go to Cua Dai Beach which is only 4km away from Hoi An. Stay overnight at your hotel.

Inclusion: Transfer, guide, entrance fee, hotel.

Day 11: Hoi An – Saigon, City tour

Breakfast at the hotel then transfer to the airport in Danang for early morning-flight to Saigon. Transfer down town and check-in at our hotel before our city tour of bustling Saigon starts. Visit the Binh Tay Market in Cho Lon; stopover at Thien Hau, a 150-year-old Chinese Temple; then to a Lacquer wares workshop and the Jade Emperor pagoda. In the afternoon visit the War Remnants Museum, the Notre Dame Cathedral and the historic Central Post Office, we will drop you off at your hotel around 5:30 pm.

Inclusion: Transfer, guide, entrance fee, breakfast, domestic flight ticket, hotel.

Day 12: Tay Ninh and the Cu Chi tunnels

Departing Saigon at 8:00 am from your hotel for a morning excursion to Tay Ninh to the Great Cao Dai Temple (a place to worship a mixture of Buddhism, Confucius, Taoism, Hinduism and Christianity). We see the noon mass at the temple (1 hour). Lunch in Tay Ninh.
In the afternoon we visit the Cu Chi outdoor museum to learn about the infamous tunnel systems of the Viet Cong. Take this opportunity to get a unique understanding of the guerillas underground fight strategies during the war and crawl through 50 –100 meters of the 200 km tunnel system. On the way back to Saigon, local rice paper workshops, and views of Vietnam countryside and paddy fields are pleasant sights. We’ll drop you off at your hotel around 5:30 pm. Check in and stay overnight at your hotel.

Inclusion: Transfer, guide, entrance fee, breakfast, hotel.

Day 13: Sai Gon – Visit the fertile Mekong delta.

Getting started at 07:30 from your hotel and heading south of Saigon to Cai Be. On arrival at 10.00,boarding a boat for a journey through the town’s floating market. See how river life goes on, trading between merchant ships and local farmers. We walk through the village streets and watch locals making manioc chips. Cruise through the secluded canals where we stop at an ancient house of the area to enjoy seasonal fruits / lunch before our boat takes us to the Mighty Mekong (1km wide),cruise to other island for walking, visiting fruit orchards. Cruise through natural waterways to Cai Be where our bus picks us up for return. Back in Saigon around 6:00 pm. Overnight at your hotel.

Inclusion: Transfer, guide, entrance fee, local boat trip, breakfast, hotel

Day 14: Departure Saigon, Goodbye Vietnam

Breakfast at hotel. Depending on your flight you may have sometime for some more shopping. Then we will transfer you to the airport for your flight home. Goodbye and hope to see you again soon!

Inclusion: Transfer, breakfast.

Price: $US 1269/person (Priced on a private tour for 2 persons only)

Costs are $US NET. Subject to 3% surcharge if paid by credit cards or 2% on travellers’ cheque.

Inclusion: See inclusive items listed after each day

Exclusion: Visa, insurance, drinks, personal expenses, others not mentioned in details, tips are welcome!

What to bring: sun-glasses & hat, sun-block, hiking shoes, camera and a lot of film

Notes:
• We use standard 3 star hotel, twin shared room. Upgrade is available on request.
• Meals: Vietnam food.
• Guide: English speaking guide (on site).
• Time to travel: Good to travel year round but best from September to April.
• Please travel responsibly: The small things you do will make a big difference!

Why book this tour with Origin Travel?

• Attention to your personal needs before and after the trek
• Origin Travel bring you SEE and KNOW the Original of Vietnamese people’s culture, tradition, customs and habits…
• Origin works to help local communities by sharing the benefits of RESPONSIBLE TOURISM

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