Xin chao. Welcome to Vietnam. Your adventure begins with a welcome meeting at 6 pm. Please look for a note in the hotel lobby or ask the hotel reception where it will take place. If you're going to be late, please inform the hotel reception. We'll be collecting your insurance details and next of kin information at this meeting, so please ensure you have all these details to provide to your leader. The meeting is generally followed by an optional group meal out at one of Hanoi's fantastic eating spots. If you have time before the meeting, head out and discover Hanoi. It's a good idea to take a hotel business card so you can find your way back.

Notes: If you can't arrange a flight that will arrive to the meeting in time, you may wish to arrive a day early so you're able to attend. We'll be happy to book additional accommodation for you (subject to availability).

Depart by jeep from your hotel and head for Hoa Binh province . After weaving your way through the busy Hanoi traffic, you will soon be out of town and able to admire the scenic Vietnamese countryside. Traverse a region of spectacular limestone mountains, passes and valleys, as you wind your way downhill to Mai Chau Valley of the Thai people. Spend the afternoon strolling around one of their picturesque villages, learning more about the Thai and experiencing their renowned hospitality. Enjoy a sumptuous dinner whilst watching traditional local dancing and don’t miss the opportunity to sample the local rice wine, which is drunk with a rod. Sleep in a house on stilts. (Lac village home stay)

Today, you will travel about the same distance as you covered to Mai Chau. The road to Son La is lined with fruit orchards, tea plantations and towering mountains. En route, you will have the chance to meet and talk to the black Thai, white Thai, Hmong and Muong hill tribe people as they journey to work or the local markets. In the afternoon, visit the Prison Museum in Son La, which presents one perspective on the former French colonial rule. Dinner and overnight at the Cong Doan Hotel.

The farther you drive, the more impressive the mountain scenery will become. Visit more tribal village people on your way to Dien Bien Phu city. Stop for lunch in Tuan Giao. Continue on to Dien Bien and enjoy the spectacular scenery of Pha Din pass. In the afternoon, visit Dien Bien Phu, the last base of the French colonial power in Indochina. Monuments, museums and preserved bunkers all tell the story of the “final and victorious liberating battle” of 1954. After dinner, you are free to explore the nightlife of this remote mountain city. Overnight in Muong Thanh Hotel.

Today’s drive lasts 6 to 7 hours but the scenery of the Lai Chau valley is both breathtaking and dramatic. The road is sometimes steep and often rugged, hugging rice-terraced mountainsides and fording turbulent rivers. In addition to the visual spectacle, you’ll have a chance to meet the some of the most beautiful and friendly hill tribe people in North Vietnam, such as the Hmong, Black Thai, Black Dzao and Pazi. Dinner and overnight in the town of Tam Duong.

Take a short walk around this peaceful town and its market before hitting the road once again. As you wind your way through Tram Ton pass, the highest mountain pass in Viet Nam, you will be rewarded by truly magnificent views of the majestic mountains, passes and valleys. Prepare for a dramatic change of climate as you approach the old French hill station of Sapa. Now a busy market town for the regional minority groups, the town is encircled by towering peaks, often shrouded in cloud, and the air is cool and crisp. After checking into a comfortable hotel, you are free to explore this picturesque town.

Take a jeep ride along the rugged but scenic road downhill from Sapa. Start trekking across paddy fields, villages and streams. Discover a gentler, more tranquil way of life as you experience the genuine hospitality of the hill tribe people. Have a picnic lunch on the way. Take an afternoon trek to Giang Ta Chai village of the Dzao people. Back to Sapa in the afternoon.

After breakfast, go to the Bac Ha market for two hours by a van (AC).

This is the largest market in the region, a place where many ethnic groups gather to buy and sell, eat and drink together. There are 10 minority groups in the Bac Ha region. You can buy homemade handicrafts and clothes. In the afternoon we will have a 2 hour trek to Ban Pho village (Flower H’Mong people).In the village we can have a look in their house and understand little more about their lifestyle and traditional customs. Especially, we can try homemade wine from corn.

Afternoon then transfer to Lao Cai. Have dinner at a restaurant. Take overnight train back to Hanoi (A/C soft sleeper cabin, 4 pax/cabin).

Breakfast at the hotel. Depart for Halong through the Red River Delta. Transfer to Dragon Pearl’s junk and enjoy a welcome drink and a splendid lunch of local seafood. Then begin a 4-hour cruise of the bay to see amazing limestone karsts with different formations such as Lion, Tea Pot, Toad, Dau Nguoi (Human Head) islets. Take a walk through Sung Sot, the “Amazing Cave”. There is ample time for swimming and sunbathing (weather permitting), as the Dragon Pearl anchors for a night on the Bay. Enjoy a wonderful sunset dinner in the beautiful restaurant before retiring to the comfort of your cabin.

Early risers can enjoy an energizing swim in the cool, calm and quiet waters of the overnight anchorage. Breakfast, The cruise then continues, passing more interesting formations such as Ti Tot and Soi Sim Beaches, Ngon Tay (Finger) islet, Thien Nga (Swan) islet and Ga Choi (Fighting Cock) islet. Return to Halong City. Have lunch on boat Disembark at Halong Tourist Wharf for the return trip to Hanoi. Free at leisure until time to transfer to the airport for the departure. End of services.