Upon your arrival, your tour guide and driver will wait for you at Noi Bai airport to transfer you to Hanoi. Drive straight to your hotel from Noi Bai airport. It often takes about 45 minutes to travel.

Please be ready at 7:30 am. The guide and driver will pick you up at your hotel. You will go straight from Hanoi to Ninh Binh, which is about 100km, and start the journey to visit Ninh Binh for the full day.

Thung Nham Bird Garden is the largest nature reserve in the North, located in the Thung Nham ecotourism area, belonging to the famous Trang An landscape complex. Ninh Binh Bird Park is 12km from Ninh Binh city to the east-south. Like a miniature “oasis” full of clarity and dreams, the Thung Nham ecotourism area stands out with the fresh air of the mountains and forests.

Bich Dong Pagoda is a historical and cultural relic belonging to the Tam Coc scenic complex of Ninh Binh province. This is an attractive spiritual tourist destination, bringing visitors to the majestic place of the Buddha’s door, the peace of the mountainous region. Every spring, the temple attracts a large number of Buddhists and tourists from all over the world who come here to worship and enjoy the scenery.

In the afternoon, visit Tam Coc by sampan boat. Tam Coc River is considered the most attractive tourist destination in Ninh Binh, known for its famous name, “Halong bay on land”, and is a part of the Trang An scenic landscape complex, a World Heritage site (UNESCO).

Then, bike or travel by car to the Dancing Cave mountain, where visitors need to climb up more than 500 steps to reach the top with a panoramic view of Ninh Binh, Trang An, and the Tam Coc landscape. Overnight at a bungalow in Tam Coc.

At 7:30 am, after breakfast, you will go to visit Trang An Unesco Site, an embodiment of a harmonious blend of nature and culture where picturesque and uninhabited nature coexists with local culture and civilization. In 2014, the Trang An area was designated as a dual UNESCO World Heritage site for its natural and cultural values.

Hoa Lu Ancient Capital was chosen to be the first capital of Dai Co Viet during the period of 3 dynasties Kings Dinh, Le, and Ly. Since King Ly Thai To moved it to Thang Long (Ha Noi today), Hoa Lu became an ancient capital that maintained many ancient temples and relic sites. You can visit King Dinh Temple, which is one of the unique architectures in Hoa Lu Ancient Capital, which worships King Dinh Tien Hoang (King of Dai Co Viet Dynasty).

Cuc Phuong National Park is situated in the foothills of the northern Annamite Range. The park consists of verdant karst mountains and lush valleys. Elevation varies from 150 meters (500 feet) to 656 m (2,152 feet) at the summit of May Bac Mountain or Silver Cloud Mountain. The limestone mountains house numerous caves, many of which are accessible for exploration. Inhabitants of the park include 97 species of mammals, most notably endangered langurs; 300 species of birds; 36 reptilian species; 17 species of amphibians; 11 species of fish; 2,000 species of vascular plants; and thousands of species of insects. A number of species in the park are listed in the Vietnam Red Book of endangered species.

And then, if you have enough time, you can visit the bear sanctuary. Overnight at the same bungalow in Tam Coc.

After breakfast, you and your driver will go straight to Lao Cai on the highway. After arriving in Lao Cai, travel more than 30 km to Y Ty. Your guide will meet you in Lao Cai.

In Y Ty, there are nearly 1000 households living in 16 villages with 4 ethnic groups: H’Mong, Ha Nhi, Dao, and Kinh. Therefore, the cultural identity and the cuisine here are extremely diverse and unique. Coming to Y Ty, you will be immersed in the romantic scenery of the cloudy sky along with the endless terraced fields, and far away are majestic high mountains.

Then, you go to the Lung Po flagpole in A Mu Sung commune. Lung Po village of Mu Sung commune is also the first place where the Red River flows into Vietnamese territory.

Homestay Y Ty Clouds is located on a small hill overlooking the valley. This place was built by the love of the homeland of the Ha Nhi people, with the desire to build and develop the Y Ty land, creating jobs for the Ha Nhi people.

At the same time, we will introduce the culture of our people to the lowland friends so that each person who comes to Y Ty is not only impressed with the stunning scenery but also their friendly people, rich in identity and very dear to their homeland.

At 8:30 AM, after having breakfast, continue your adventure to visit local ethnic hamlets here.

Visiting the village of Ha Nhi people, you will feel extremely excited with the unique “Trinh Tuong” house. Unlike the common stilt houses of the upland ethnic people, the typical Ha Nhi houses are located right on the ground, the walls are made of clay, 40–45 cm thick, 4–5 m high with two outer and inner rings, the sloping short roof is covered with grass but it is very reliable. This house structure will help Ha Nhi people keep warm in winter but still cool in summer.

Looking down from above, these houses are like beautiful giant mushrooms on the side of the mountain, hidden in the mist. The Ha Nhi people live in small colonies in the mountainside or in the terraced fields. Since the bridge over Muong Hum spillway was put into operation and the border patrol road along the Red River was completed, visitors have paid much attention to Bat Xat District, with Y Ty, A Lu, and Ngai Thau Communes being as beautiful as Sapa. Coming to Y Ty, visitors can rest and enjoy pristine places that have not been urbanized like Sapa.

Overnight at a hotel in Bat Xat town.

Check out your hotel and be ready for hiking from Khoang hamlet to Ta Giang Phinh village. Ta Giang Phinh is an ancient village located on the foot of the majestic Ngu Chi Son mountain, also known as Buddha’s fingers mountain, which belongs to the Hoang Lien Son range. The highlight of Ta Giang Phinh is the beauty of landscapes with the paddy terraces, stunning waterfalls, magnificent old forest, and the winding road to the village.

If the weather is nice, this is a great spot for you to admire majestic Ngu Chi Son Mountain at 2850m, the second-highest one in the Sapa area after Fansipan Mountain. Surrounded by breathtaking scenery, the attraction for tourists is the untouched local villages of local ethnics with authentic cultures. Most people in Ta Giang Phinh village are Hmong, Red Dao, and Giay.

Coming here, you will learn about the differences of each ethnic group with their house styles, lifestyles, language and unique dresses. Here, you can observe some activities such as plowing, harrowing, harvesting, and doing housework or interact with the locals directly. The people are friendly, and everything is not yet influenced by tourism, so it still stays authentic.

Learn hemp weaving from Black Hmong women and their indigo dye technique en trekking route when stopping at Ta Giang Phinh village. Overnight at Valley View Homestay in Sapa.

Overnight at the same homestay in Sapa.

After breakfast and check out of your homestay, let’s go to Fansipan Peak with your guide and driver. Fansipan, Vietnamese: Phan Xi Păng, is the highest mountain in the Indochina Peninsula, comprising Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, hence its nickname “the Roof of Indochina”, with more than 3,147m (10,326 ft). Get to the peak by cable car and train through Muong Hoa rice valley, and visitors will be lured into its stunning, spectacular landscape running along the way like a green dragon lying under there.

In the afternoon, move to Mu Cang Chai. We’ll cross over O Quy Ho Pass, one of the four greatest passes in Vietnam, linking Sapa and Mu Cang Chai with gorgeous scenery. Cross Tan Uyen district, where you can see the majestic Green Tea Hills. Our guide will take you to visit the tea plantation, a demonstration of the tea-making process, and about a dozen cups of the local green tea. You will have an experience of how to tell when tea leaves and buds are ready to be picked and how to tell their quality grade.

Overnight at Mu Cang Chai.

After breakfast, we will leave for Nghia Lo. En route, drive over the Khau Pha pass, one of the four greatest passes in Northern Vietnam, connecting Tu Le and Mu Cang Chai. These scenic roads offer a lot of stops for picture-taking as it is the viewpoint to see the Lim Mong, Lim Thai village or paragliding point on the top of this pass.

On the way, spend time visiting La Pan Tan village and Raspberry Hill, one of the most famous destinations in the country with round shapes following the mountain shape. La Pan Tan Village is well-known for its large and high rice terraces in Mu Cang Chai. Everything was built by the hand of the H’mong people over the past hundreds of years. Lunch will be served at a local restaurant.

Depending on your fitness and health, if you want to have more time to rest in the afternoon, we can choose the option of hiking to see the sunset in Sán Nhù village. If the weather is good, we will make a hiking trip to Sán Nhù village in Mu Cang Chai, which has a beautiful rice terrace field with horse feed shapes and amazing sunset. However, this hiking trip is quite steep.

If not, we will travel by car to these attractions. At some places, our car can not access, we must hike to get those points such as Pu Nhu waterfall and Mo Waterfall. Overnight at a hotel in Nghia Lo.

NOTE:

• We must walk to Mo Waterfall in about 30 minutes from the national road with quite easy steep route. You will be lured into the dreamy waterfall landscape. The waterfall has 3 levels. Not recommend you to climb to the 2nd and the 3rd level because it is quite slippery. Pu Nhu Waterfall is easy to reach, with a distance of 1.6km from the national road.
• If the weather is rainy, we will check the road quality to get to those waterfalls. The rainy season makes water rise very high. Our guide will consider whether it is safe for you to get there.

Check out after having breakfast at your hotel, then return to Hanoi today. On the road, let’s visit Suoi Giang Commune, Van Chan district, to admire the hundreds of years old ancient tea trees, which make up the specialty Tea Shan Tuyet. The wild tea trees growing in the high mountains, plus a cool climate all year round, create the haze tea flavor.

Then, you will head back to Hanoi.