The tour guide and driver will pick you up at your hotel at 09:00am and head off on your adventure trip around the north of Vietnam. Our destination today is the Mai Chau valley where we will overnight in a traditional Thai Stilt House but modern and comfortable amenities are available. Upon arrival you get to take a walking tour through the rice fields and enjoy the peace and quiet compare to Hanoi. Dinner tonight is at the home we stay in.

After breakfast, you continue to go to the north to Son La and have plenty of time to stop along the way for photos of the wonderful landscape. Along the way, you get to visit Moc Chau, a highland town which produces some of Vietnam's best tea( you will see there are many tea plantations on the way) and milk products. Upon your arrival in Son La, you will check in to your hotel and have lunch. After lunch, you will tour the old French Prison and learn about the history of the area. You then will explore the local market and mingle with different minorities and maybe find some handicrafts of interest.

Today you will get to take out breakfast for the early start and continue driving north over some impressive mountain passes with fantastic views on your way to Dien Bien Phu. The Pha Din Pass is definitely a photo stop before you arrive in Tuan Giao town. Upon arrival in Dien Bien Phu, you will begin the tour of this valley city with a visit to the battlefields that shaped current Vietnam. Starting with the bunkers used by the French, Bunker Headquarters and A1 Hill where bitter fighting took place. We then visit the Dien Bien Phu Museum for an overview and relics of the battlefield.

It takes 6 to 7 hours for driving today 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.

You can 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. Overnight at the hotel in Sapa.

You will be taking a jeep ride along the rugged but scenic road downhill from Sapa. Starting trekking across paddy fields, villages and streams. Discovering a gentle, more tranquil way of life as you experience the genuine hospitality of the hill tribe people. Have a picnic lunch on the way. Taking an afternoon trek to Giang Ta Chai village of the Dzao people. Back to Sapa in the afternoon then transfer to Lao Cai.You have your dinner at a restaurant then take overnight train back to Hanoi (A/C soft sleeper cabin, 4 pax/cabin).

You will be arrived Hanoi in the early morning, picked up and transferred to the hotel in the old quarter for shower and breakfast.You will be picked-up from your hotel in Hanoi. Heading to Halong City through paddy fields in the Red River Delta. Stopover on the way for a refreshment break. Board the Junk and enjoy a welcome drink on arrival, check in to your cabin. Enjoying a sea seafood lunch served on board. Cruise on the Bay and enjoying beautiful views of this world natural heritage site with limestone cliffs growing up from the green tranquil water. Your destinations will be Dinh Huong Island, Ga Choi Island, Dog Island and Sail Island. You can visit the Vung Vieng fishing village by local rowing boat (01 hour) or Kayak into the village then return to the vessel for your leisure or join one of the following optional activities: Sunbathing, traditional massage, swimming etc Have dinner and relax in the quiet and calm of the Bay. Overnight on board.

Your day will be started with Taichi on the sundesk. Have breakfast, coffee, tea and pastries… for breakfast are served in the dining room with morning view of bay’s landscape.

Transferring by tender to Tuan Chau wharf. Our guide and driver will pick you up and transfer to Cat Ba Island.

Duration: Approximately 5.5 hours. Depart - Return: Cat Ba Island Town

Agenda Time Segment Option 1:

8:30 AM – 9:00 AM ……………. Coastline ride into the small farming village of Lien Minh

9:00 AM – 9:30 AM ……………. Basic instruction and introduction to Rock Climbing

9:30 AM – 12:30 PM…………… Guided Rock Climbing in Butterfly Valley

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM…………… Delicious lunch on a bee farm with fresh local food

1:30 PM – 2:00 PM ……………. Return to Cat Ba Town

Agenda Time Segment Option 2:

11:45 AM – 12:30 PM …………. Coastline ride into the small farming village of Lien Minh

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM ……………Delicious lunch on a bee farm with fresh local foods

1:30 PM – 2:00 PM…………….. Basic instruction and introduction to Rock Climbing

2:00 PM – 5:00 PM…………….. Guided Rock Climbing in Butterfly Valley

5:00 PM – 5:30 PM ……………. Return to Cat Ba Town

Primary Activities: Scenic Coastline Ride, Rock Climbing, Local Farming Village Experience with Lunch on a Small Farm.

Other Activities: Petting Water Buffalo, Chasing Baby Cows, Hammocks, Bouldering, Drinking locally made honey rice wine!

Dinner at a local restaurant. Overnight at a hotel in Cat Ba Island.

Your breakfast is at the hotel. You will go to the National Park for trekking. Trek in the National park, climb up to visit Ngu Lam. Back to the bus for transfer back to hotel, check out and have lunch at a local restaurant. After lunch we take a high speed boat back to Hai Phong. Arrive Ben Binh Harbor, transfer back to Hanoi. Overnight at a hotel in Hanoi.

Your breakfast at the hotel. Visit the Ho Chi Minh Complex, containing the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the Presidential Palace, Ho Chi Minh's house on stilts and the One Pillar Pagoda. Continue on to the Temple of Literature, Vietnam's first university .Your lunch is at a local restaurant. In the afternoon, visit the Museum of Ethnology, Hoan Kiem Lake, Ngoc Son temple and enjoy riding in a rickshaw for 1 hour in the old quarter of Hanoi and its teeming streets filled with fascinating shops. Free at leisure until time to transfer to the airport for the departure. End of services. Finish your Northern Vietnam Adventure Tour. .