12 Days – Vietnam Boutique

Morning, start a full day city tour beginning with Ho Chi Minh Complex which features the life of Ho Chi Minh, the nation’s founder. At the complex, visit Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum where the nation’s founder’s body is preserved (closed on Monday, Friday and through October - November) and the rural style house on stilts where Ho Chi Minh lived and worked. Stop by one of Hanoi’s icons, the One Pillar Pagoda, built in the 11th Century in dedication to Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara or Buddha of Compassion and reminiscent of a lotus blossom rising from a pond. Continue to the Temple of Literature, known as the first university of Vietnam built in 1070 by the Ly Dynasty to honor Confucius, sages and outstanding Vietnamese scholars. 

Afternoon, continue the tour to one of the following museums of choice namely the Museum of Fine Arts, the National Museum of Vietnamese, the Museum of Revolution, the Museum of Military History and the Museum of Ethnology. Go to Hoan Kiem Lake, the center point of Hanoi whose name “The Return Sword Lake” originated from a legend of a sacred sword and home to a rare endangered giant turtle species and visit Ngoc Son Temple on the lake. Next, take a one-hour cycle tour of the Old Quarter of Hanoi with its ancient streets representing traditional trades from the past. Finish the tour at the Thang Long Opera Theatre with a traditional Vietnamese water puppet show.

Meals: Breakfast 

Accommodation: Overnight at hotel in Hanoi

After breakfast, meet our guide and transfer to the highland town of Sapa. 

Afternoon, take a short car ride just 3 km out of Sa Pa to Cat Cat village inhabited by a community of Hmong ethnic minority people. The village is known as a cultural site since many traditions and customs of the Black Hmong are still preserved to date. The traditional trades of brocade making and silver and bronze smith are still practiced nowadays by villagers after numerous generations of their ancestors. You can see the Hmong women by their looms weaving fabrics, which will be later on dyed with sap from leaves for the desired coloration. Your walk through the village will take you to Tien Sa waterfall (Silver Waterfall) where a French-built hydropower station has been in service since 1920. Leave Cat Cat village and trek a 5 km winding dirt trail by mountainside along a small river in a tranquil setting of hilly land with terraced paddy fields. Arrive in Y Linh Ho village, another Hmong residence characterized by simple houses built of bamboo and clay. Wander around to observe and interact with villagers dressed in elaborate silver-studded clothing and leggings.

Meals: Breakfast 

Accommodation: Overnight at hotel in Sapa

Leave Sapa early in the morning to drive to Bac Ha Market (approximately 2.5 hours). Arriving at Bac Ha, visit the big outdoor market with its colorful ethnic minority people such as Flower Hmong; Phu La and Dao Tuyen gathering here to buy and sell their handicraft products. After visiting the market, leave Bac Ha Market for Trung Do Village to enjoy a magical water buffalo cart ride while traveling through amazing countryside inhabited by the happy and hospitable Tay minority people. Then travel by boat down the Chay River to experience the picturesque scenery and magnificent sights along the river. After the boat trip, enjoy a refreshing cup of tea before driving back Sapa

Meals: Breakfast 

Accommodation: Overnight at hotel in Sapa

Travel out of Sa Pa town for about 20 minutes by car to Muong Hoa valley, one of the most scenic valleys in Northwestern Vietnam. As a narrow strip of land of over 30 km in length sandwiched between two mountain ranges of Hoang Lien Son and Den Thang, the valley is farmland to quite a few ethnic minority groups and thus housing the largest colony of terraced paddy fields in the region. Enjoy the stunning view of the imposing mountains and of the terraced fields’ soft contours embracing the hillsides. From your entry point to the valley, which is Lao Chai village of the Black Hmong minority people, walk along the valley and cross to its other side. Arrive in Ta Van village where you will have a chance to observe its inhabitants, the Giay people belonging to a very small minority group only found in Northern highlands of Vietnam.

Late afternoon, drive back Hanoi, check in & free at leisure

Meals: Breakfast 

Accommodation: Overnight at hotel in Hanoi

Morning, transfer to Ha Long Bay, which is about 160 km or 3.5-hour drive away. On the way, you will see some rural areas of the Red River Delta with plenty of chances to take photos of Vietnamese farmers working in paddy fields. Stop half way to visit a handicraft workshop of fine clothes and embroidered paintings. Arrive in Ha Long City at 11:30 AM and check in aboard the booked junk right after the welcome drink is served. Start cruising while having lunch on board and enjoy the mighty bay view. Ha Long Bay meaning Descending Dragon Bay in Vietnamese as legend has it that it was where a holly dragon landed down from sky. The bay, famous as one of the world’s wonders and heritage sites whose formation dates back 500 million years, consists of around 2,000 karst islands and islets scattered over an area of 1,553 km2. The bay cruise will continue with up close sighting of Dinh Huong Island, Ga Choi Island, Dog Island, Sail Island, a visit to Sung Sot Cave and swimming stop at Titov Beach. Relax to enjoy the bay view at sunset, have dinner after, go fishing at 09:00 PM and spend a night on board.

Meals: Breakfast / Lunch/ Dinner 

Accommodation: Overnight on board in Halong

Wake up at 06:30 AM and refresh your body and mind with a Tai Chi exercise on the sundeck. Tai Chi is an ancient internal martial art often practiced in soft and gracefully slow moves to enhance internal harmony and vitality. Have tea and coffee onboard before proceeding to Titov Islet or Soi Sim Island to trek and swim. Check out at 09:30, have a buffet brunch while cruising back to shore. Disembark at 11:00 AM to transfer to Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi for flight to Danang 

Arrive in Danang, welcome by our guide and transfer to Hotel for check-in and time at leisure. 

Meals: Brunch

Accommodation: Overnight at hotel in Hoian

Morning, meet our guide at your hotel and transfer out for a full day city tour to discover the charm of Hoi An as a renowned World Heritage Site. Once a bustling maritime commercial port of Asia between 15th and 19th centuries, Hoi An is now a peaceful town of exceptionally well-preserved architecture, lifestyles and traditions. The town exemplifies a fascinating fusion of cultures between Vietnam and the outside world including China, Japan, Thailand and the Philippines. Highlights for sightseeing include the town’s iconic 400-year-old Covered Bridge with a small temple attached to one side as a prominent example of Japanese architecture, the Museum of Trade Ceramics which is an elegant Vietnamese style wooden house built in 1858 showcasing antique ceramic artifacts, the 200-year-old Tan Ky House typifying an ancient Chinese merchant residence, the Ong Temple built in 1653 by Chinese settlers to worship Guan Yu, an ancient Chinese general whose character stands for loyalty, bravery and justice and the local market vibrant with colors and activities. 

Afternoon, take a boat cruise on the Thu Bon River to enjoy the countryside landscapes. Land on Kim Bong village where carpentry has been practiced since the 16th Century as the village’s trademark to visit some old-fashioned boatyards using timber as the main material. Move on to Thanh Ha village to see its traditional ceramic production trade still alive and thriving despite the 500-year passage of time.

Meals: Breakfast 

Accommodation: Overnight at hotel in Hoian

Morning, free at leisure until transfer to Danang Airport for flight to Hochiminh. 

Arrive at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, welcome by our guide and transfer to your hotel for check in. Ho Chi Minh City formerly named Saigon is the largest city and economic center of Vietnam always bustled with activities of modern life. It is where businesses converge and shoppers indulge themselves into unlimited choices. However the city also carries with it a rich historical legacy in contrast with its dazzling glamor. 

Afternoon, take a short city tour to visit the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica a neo-Roman cathedral built by the colonial French with materials entirely imported from Marseilles, the Saigon Central Post Office, which was designed and constructed in the early 20th Century by the famous French architect Gustave Eiffel, Cho Lon area or the city’s China Town and the Jade Emperor Temple (Phuoc Hai), a rare Taoist structure in Vietnam built by the Cantonese community in the area in 1909.

Meals: Breakfast 

Accommodation: Overnight at hotel in Hochiminh

Morning, welcome by our guide and transfer to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels. The tunnels in Cu Chi district, 75 km North west of downtown Ho Chi Minh City, which were once a major underground hideout and resistance base of Viet Cong forces during the two wars against the French and later on Americans. The tunnels, entirely hand-dug, formed a highly intricate labyrinth-like network of interlinked multilevel passageways at times stretched as far as the Cambodian border and totaling over 120 km in length. Its complexity is beyond imagination containing meeting rooms, kitchens, wells, clinics, schools, depots, trenches and emergency exits all aimed for guerrilla warfare. The tunnels were deep and strong enough to withstand destructive bombings and self-contained enough to outlast prolonged sieges. 

Afternoon, take a sightseeing tour of Ho Chi Minh City that includes the War Remnants Museum, which features a comprehensive collection of the machinery, weapons, photos, and documentation of Vietnam War with the both the French and Americans, former Presidential Palace and Ben Thanh market.  

Meals: Breakfast 

Accommodation: Overnight at hotel in Hochiminh

Morning, pickup at your hotel to transfer about 136 km to Vinh Long, a riverside town in the vast Mekong Delta, the world’s largest delta. Take a boat cruise to lively Cai Be floating market where sellers and buyers bargain and exchange goods from their boats. Proceed through a fascinating maze of shady canals to HoaBinhPhuoc Island. Beautiful landscape of zigzag canals, lush vegetation, peaceful villages and activities of rural life will make you a delightful sight. There on the island, visit some local farmers’ homes, interact with warm-hearted hosts and learn about their trades of bonsai gardening, tile and ceramic production and rice paper and coconut candy making. 

Meals: Breakfast 

Accommodation: Overnight at hotel in Hochiminh

Leisure time until transfer to Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City for departure