Northwest of Viet Nam 8 days tour

Day O1 : Ha Noi - Mai Chau 

07h30 : Pickup at your Hotel departure for Mai Chau 

10h00 : Short break on the way of Da Trang pass where you take paranoma pictures of remote village and surrounding area

11h30 - 12h00 : Arrvie Mai Chau - You have time to visit local Ethnic Thai people living in 2 villages near by Pom Coong village and Lac village - See their daily life , culture , people and history

12h15 : Enjoy Thai Ethnic traditional lunch 

13h00 - 15h00 : Bicycle ride with local tour guide, see farmers working in fields, locals weaving scarves and visit surrounding peaceful villages , Enjoy nature beauty of Mai Chau town

18h00 : Enjoy the dinner at the homestay with local traditional food - Enjoy the Thai's ethnic folk dance and drink the traditional wine "ruou can" , Dancing with local , singing and sharing culture

Overnight in house on stilts or private Bungalow

Day O2 : Mai Chau - Suoi Lon 

Breakfast at homestay with home stay owner - say good bye to Lac village - 30 minutes drive then start trek up and down hill and then pass through a prosperous valley inhabited by Thai and H'mong ethnic. In Hang Kia and Cun Pheo villages you have chances to visit H'mong families those just started to settle for few years after practicing slash and burn agriculture for generations. Later the path gradually getting to the lower land as you approach to the Da River. Here, boarding a boat and cruise upstream the river for over 3 hours to explore wild life and meet Muong people who earn a living by fishing around this area of the Reservoir. Arriving at Suoi Lon Village of the Muong in the afternoon, you will join the local's work for your experience of local life. Home stay in the village.

Day O3 : Suoi Lon - Ban Yen - Thu Cuc 

Enjoy a morning short walk out of the Mount village and our jeep and driver will pick us up for a two hours transfer through beautiful area with rich farmland covered by tea plantations, fancy some side visit to ethnic villages along the way and seeing tea processing. We have long break at noon in a little pretty town Ta Sua, a local center where we have Lunch and walk around the market which is colorful with local farming produces as will as minority handicrafts. Later we take a walk for about 5 km along a track passing villages of Thai and Muong, tea farms, fantastic scenery. Visiting some local homes and tasting local wine which is fermented in pottery jar.

Arriving in Thu Cuc where we stay overnight in another Muong Village.

Day O4 : Thu Cuc - Nghia Lo 

The terrain changes today as we drive to Nghia Lo, Starting from Thu Cuc, featuring with fertile hilly area covered with green tea plantations, the mountains get higher and higher. Along the way you can see thick forests cover high mountains. Spending about 4 hours walking through a narrow and long valley, we meet three tribal setting their villages in different ways which reveal their traditional customs and living style: The Thai occupy the low land almost at bottom of valleys, near river or streams from which they build up water wheels for transfer water to rice paddies on which they farm wet rice intensively. The H'mong settle at the highest elevation, grow corn and dry rice on the burn-over land and the Zao live in the middle practice both methods of farming and it is easily to realize that they learn a lot of farming technique from the Thai.

Arriving in Nghia Lo, a pretty mountainous town, we spend the remaining hours of the day wandering the town including the market area.

Day O5 : Nghia Lo - Tu Le 

It is not far from Nghia Lo to Tu Le. The road ride today takes only 2 hours so we have a lot of time exploring the area for real mountainous life of the local ethnic minority people. Fancy a four hour trekking along a trail which connect villages to villages, meeting different tribal people such as White Thai, Black Zao, Red H'mong...who seem very surprise, staring at you for the first moment and turn out very friendly and inviting you to their homes in which you will be hosted with tea or home made wine.

We enjoy another home staying in a large Thai village, which offers fantastic hours for your culture discovery.

Day O6 : Tu Le - Mu Cang Chai - Than Uyen

We are heading uphill to Hoang Lien Son range of mountains, the roof of Indochina, for our discovery from the back side of this famous area. The Northeast of this range, consider the front side with Sa Pa has been known and become popular tourist destination for almost 2 decades but the back side is staying unknown to many, even local travelers talking of the area which we are going today as of another world.

The first tip of the day is the morning market at the center of Tu Le. Tribal peoples from remotest villages in their traditional costumes which are very different from one another go to market with cheerful faces...which makes you surprise!

Leaving the market for a short drive, you will find yourselves in the magnificent area of this unspoiled area, Kau Pha. From the foot of this mountain pass, we challenge a 9 km trek through thick jungle up to the top of the pass which is at 1,800m above sea level. Enjoy fresh air and great view.

After Lunch in Mu Cang Chai town, we continue our drive uphill which offers even more spectacular scenery, far away from what you expect!

Arriving in Than Uyen town late in the afternoon, check in and relax in the only local guesthouse.

Day O8 : Sapa - Lao Cai - Hanoi 

Most other tourists come from Hanoi will be anxious for trips to explore tribal villages around Sapa town but not you! Because these trips can not compare with what you had experienced so far. So the plan today is set open for your flexibility.

However we suggest a morning trip to visit Lao Chai and Ta Van to admire scenery of Muong Hoa Valley, the most beautiful one from the east side of Fansipan. Car and guide will pick you up at hotel and drive 12 km to the center of the valley where you will enjoy an easy walk along the river, paying visit to Black H'mong and Zay villages for about 3 hours. Drive back to hotel and free to relax.

Late afternoon, you will pick up for a road transfer downhill to Lao Cai station for taking the overnight train to Hanoi, which arrives early next morning. Pick up and transfer to your hotel in Hanoi.

Tour price included & Excluded :

Included : Homestay & hotel as in itinerary

Private transportation as in itinerary

Train ticket Lao Cai - Hanoi

Private English speaking tour guide

All Meals in itinerary

All entrance fee

Excluded : Personal expense , Tip for tour guide and driver, other expense not mention in itinerary