indochina tours, indochina holidays

Hanoi - Sapa - Ha Long Bay 6 Days/5 Nights

Day 1: Hanoi Arrival (D)
Enter Vietnam at Noi Bai airport, you’ll be met and driven to your hotel. You will have time to relax before we present you with Vietnam daily life in the past and now with one or two hour cylo tour around the Hoan Kiem Lake, Ngoc Son temple and Old Quarter of Hanoi. You will then enjoy a Water Puppet Show and a welcome dinner at a restaurant with Vietnamese cuisines. You will spend the night in Hanoi

Day 2: Hanoi City Tour – Overnight train to Sapa (B/L)
You will have the whole day to explore Vietnam’s capital city. Your guide will take you to the Temple of Literature, the first university in Vietnam dating back to the 11th century, and a popular attraction, as is Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, his simple stilt house where he lived and worked, and the museum dedicated to his memory. After lunch, you will call in at the serene Tran Quoc Pagoda, the oldest in Hanoi and the excellent Ethnology Museum for an overview of Vietnam’s 54 distinct ethnic groups. In the evening, you’ll take an overnight train to Sapa.

Day 3: Lao Cai – Sa Pa - Cat Cat & Tafin villages (B)
Arrive at Lao Cai Train station at about 6.30, you will be met by your guide and driven to Sapa. After breakfast and relaxing, you will explore Sapa town and talk to ethnic minority people there. Small girls there are all good at English. You will understand more about their daily life and culture. In the afternoon, take a 2km trek to Cat Cat Village, home of H’mong Ethnics. Then you will head to Tafin village (12km from Sapa) home to the Red Dzao minority. Visit Tafin Cave, Tafin handicraft shops and see the daily life of Red Dzao people. Drive back to Sapa for overnight.

Day 4: Sapa - Lao Chai - Ta Van villages (B/L)
After breakfast at your hotel, you will be transferred by a private car to Lao Chai village of Black H’mong people. Trek from Lao Chai village to Ta Van village of Dzay minority people. Trek through the village and then drive back to Sa Pa for lunch. You will be free for the remainder of the day until being transferred back to Lao Cai. Overnight train back to Hanoi.

Day 5: Hanoi – Ha Long Bay – Hanoi (B/L)
Arriving in Hanoi at around 5am in the morning, you will be picked up to a mini hotel for breakfast and re-freshment. 8:30am: Depart from your hotel to Ha Long Bay, one of the most spectacular UNESCO World Heritage Areas and the world’s largest marine limestone ‘karst’ landscape. There you’ll board a traditional-style boat for four-hour cruise on the bay to visit some of the less well-known grottoes and caves. Weather permitting, you’ll be able to swim, and climb hills (not mountains!) for an overview of the Bay’s remarkable seascape. You’ll be served a seafood lunch on the boat. In the late afternoon, you’ll return to Hanoi. Tour ends at your hotel in Hanoi at 19:00. You will spend overnight in Hanoi.

Day 6: Hanoi departure (B)
After breakfast, you will be free until your driver arrives to take you to Noi Bai airport for your departure flight.

Vietnam Highlights 7 Days/6 Nights

Day 1: Ho Chi Minh City Arrival (D)
Arrive at the Tan Son Nhat airport, you’ll be greeted by your guide and driven to the city centre for hotel check-in. You’ll have time to relax after your journey before a welcome dinner at a Vietnamese traditional restaurant. Your overnight will be in Ho Chi Minh City.

Day 2: Ho Chi Minh City – Cu Chi Tunnels (B/L)
After breakfast at your hotel, you will drive to Hoc Mon District to visit the famous Cu Chi tunnels, a byzantine maze of underground passages, chambers, rooms and booby traps used by both the Vietminh and the Viet Cong to suddenly materialise as if from nowhere, launch a lightning ambush, and vanish equally rapidly. Return to the city for lunch. In the afternoon, visit the War Museum, Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Old Post Office and Ben Thanh Market. Your overnight will be in Ho Chi Minh City.

Day 3: Ho Chi Minh City – My Tho – Ho Chi Minh City – Danang – Hoi An (B/L)
In the morning, depart from your hotel to travel to My Tho. On arrival, you’ll board a boat to cruise on the Mekong River and rowing through small canals and channels to Thoi Son Island where you’ll disembark and walk along a small village road to visit fruit gardens, the elementary school, the local distillery, and witness the daily life of Mekong villagers. You’ll have chance to sample some of area’s tropical fruits and watch a traditional music show. After lunch at a local restaurant on the island, you’ll climb back on the boat to visit a coconut candy workshop. Return to Ho Chi Minh City and then drive to the airport for your flight to Danang. Upon arrival, you will be greeted by your local guide and driven to Hoi An ancient town for hotel check-in. Overnight in Hoi An.

Day 4: Hoi An – My Son Sanctuary – Hoi An (B/L)
After breakfast, your guide will meet you at your hotel to take you to the World Heritage My Son Sanctuary, 40km southwest of Hoi An. Located in a lush valley, My Son was a capital and religious center of Cham people, now remaining with red brick towers and sanctuaries. Return to the town for lunch. In the afternoon, you will follow your guide to visit the ancient town including 400 years old Japanese Bridge, 300 years old Chinese temple, 200 years old Vietnamese former merchants’house before being dropped off at your hotel. You will spend the night in Hoi An.

Day 5: Hoi An – Hanoi (B)
You will be free in Hoi An until being transferred to the airport for a flight to Hanoi. Arriving at Noi Bai airport, you will be met and driven to your hotel. You will have time to relax before we present you with Vietnam daily life in the past and now with one or two hour cylo tour around the Hoan Kiem Lake, Ngoc Son temple and Old Quarter of Hanoi. You will then enjoy a Water Puppet Show before return to the hotel. You will spend the night in Hanoi.

Day 6: Hanoi – Ha Long Bay - Hanoi (B/L)
8:00am: Depart from your hotel Ha Long Bay, one of the most spectacular UNESCO World Heritage Areas and the world’s largest marine limestone ‘karst’ landscape. There you’ll board a traditional-style boat for four-hour cruise on the bay to visit some of the less well-known grottoes and caves. Weather permitting, you’ll be able to swim, and climb hills (not mountains!) for an overview of the Bay’s remarkable seascape. You’ll be served a seafood lunch on the boat. In the late afternoon, you’ll return to Hanoi. Tour ends at your hotel in Hanoi at 19:00. You will spend overnight in Hanoi.

Day 7: Hanoi City – Departure (B/L)
In the morning, your guide will take you to the Temple of Literature, the first university in Vietnam dating back to the 11th century, and a popular attraction, as is Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, his simple stilt house where he lived and worked, and the museum dedicated to his memory. After lunch, you will drive to the the airport for your departure flight.

Red River Delta - Ha Long Bay

Rising a Legend

Ha Long literally means descending dragon(s). According to local myth, long ago when the Vietnamese were fightiing Chinese invaders, the gods sent a family of dragons to help to defend the land. The family of dragons began spitting out jewels and jade. These jewels turned into the islands and islets dotting the bay, linking together to form a great wall against the invaders. The people kept their land safe and formed what later became the country of Vietnam. After that, dragons were interested in peaceful sightseeing of the Earth and decided to live here then.

The place where the Mother Dragon flew down was names Ha Long, the place where the dragon children attended upon their mother was called Bai Tu Long Island, and the place where the dragon children wriggled their tails violently was called Bach Long Vy Island.

A World Natural Heritage
Ha Long Bay is located in Northeastern, Vietnam, around 165 kilometers far from Hanoi. The bay stretches from Yen Hung district, pass Ha Long City, Cam Pha Town to Van Don District, bodered on the south and southeast by Gulf of Tonkin, on the north by China and on the west and southwest by Cat Ba Island. The bay has a 120 kilometers long coastline and is approximately 1,553 square kilometers in size.

The bay consists of a dense cluster of 1969 limestone monolithic islands, each topped with thick jungle vegetation, which rise spectacularly from the ocean. Sereral of the islands are hollow, with enormous caves. Hang Dau Go (Wooden stakes cave) is the largest grotto in the Halong area. French tourists visited the cave in the late 19th century and named it Grotte des Merveilles. Its three large chambers contain large numerous stalactites and stalamites. There are two bigger islands with permanent inhabitants, Tuan Chau and Cat Ba. Both of them have tourist facilities, including hotels and beaches.

There are a number of wonderful beaches on the smaller islands. Some of the islands support floating villages of fishermen, who ply the shallow waters for 200 species of fish and 450 different kinds of mollusks.

Many island in Ha Long bay have acquired their names as a result of interpretation of their unusual shapes: such names include Voi islet (elephant), Ga Choi islet (fighting cock). And 989 of the islands have been given names. Birds and animals including bantams, antelopes, monkeys, and iguanas also live on some of the islands.

The bay is a sea island in tropical wet with two seasons: hot and moist summer, dry and cold winter. Average temperature is from 15 °C- 25 °C. Annual rainfall is between 2000mm and 2200mm. Halong Bay has the typical diurna tide system (tide amplitude ranges from 3.5-4m). The salinity is from 31 to 34.5MT in dry season and lower in rainy season.

In 1994, the bay was the first time listed as World’s Natural Heritage by UNESCO for its outstanding universal aesthetic value. Ha Long Bay was introduced to nominate by New Open World Foundation as World's 7 Natural Wonders having result on 08/08/2008.

Vietnam at a Glance 9 Days/8 Nights

Day 1: Hanoi Arrival (D)
Enter Vietnam at Noi Bai airport, you will be met and driven to your hotel. You will have time to relax before we present you with Vietnam daily life in the past and now with one or two hour cylo tour around the Hoan Kiem Lake, Ngoc Son temple and Old Quarter of Hanoi. You will then enjoy a Water Puppet Show and a welcome dinner at a restaurant with Vietnamese cuisines. You will spend the night in Hanoi.

Day 2: Hanoi – Ha Long Bay - Hanoi (B/L)
8:00am: Depart from your hotel Ha Long Bay, one of the most spectacular UNESCO World Heritage Areas and the world’s largest marine limestone ‘karst’ landscape. There you’ll board a traditional-style boat for four-hour cruise on the bay to visit some of the less well-known grottoes and caves. Weather permitting, you’ll be able to swim, and climb hills (not mountains!) for an overview of the Bay’s remarkable seascape. You’ll be served a seafood lunch on the boat. In the late afternoon, you’ll return to Hanoi. Tour ends at your hotel in Hanoi at 19:00. You will spend overnight in Hanoi.

Day 3: Hanoi – Hue (B/L)
You will have the whole day to explore Vietnam’s capital city. Your guide will take you to the Temple of Literature, the first university in Vietnam dating back to the 11th century, and a popular attraction, as is Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, his simple stilt house where he lived and worked, and the museum dedicated to his memory. After lunch, you’ll call in at the serene Tran Quoc Pagoda, the oldest in Hanoi and the excellent Ethnology Museum for an overview of Vietnam’s 54 distinct ethnic groups. You will then drive straight to the airport for your flight o Hue. Your overnight will be in Hue.

Day 4: Hue (B/L)
After breakfast at the hotel, you’ll be escorted by your guide to visit the Imperial Citadel of Hue and the Dong Ba market. After lunch, you will take a boat cruise along Perfume River to visit Thien Mu Pagoda and the Royal Tomb of Emperor Minh Mang. Drive to visit Khai Dinh tomb before returning to your hotel for overnight.

Day 5: Hue – Hoi An (B/L)
After breakfast, you will drive to Hoi An via the Hai Van Pass. The views from the top are excellent – you’ll be able to see Lang Co beach and the lagoon far below, and Danang spread out before you to the south. Upon arriving in Danang, you’ll visit the the remarkable Hindu statuary in the Cham Museum before leaving for Hoi An. You will visit the ancient town including 400 years old Japanese Bridge, 300 years old Chinese temple, 200 years old Vietnamese former merchants’house before being dropped off at your hotel. You will spend the night in Hoi An.

Day 6: Hoi An – My Son Sanctuary – Hoi An – Ho Chi Minh City (B)
After breakfast, your guide will meet you at your hotel to take you to the World Heritage My Son Sanctuary, 40km southwest of Hoi An. Located in a lush valley, My Son was a capital and religious center of Cham people, now remaining with red brick towers and sanctuaries. When you return, the rest of the day will be free until being transferred to the airport for your flight to Ho Chi Minh City. Upon arrival, you will be greeted by your guide and driven to your hotel for check-in. You will spend the night in Ho Chi Minh City.

Day 7: Ho Chi Minh City – Cu Chi Tunnels (B/L)
After breakfast at your hotel, you will drive to Hoc Mon District to visit the famous Cu Chi tunnels, a byzantine maze of underground passages, chambers, rooms and booby traps used by both the Vietminh and the Viet Cong to suddenly materialise as if from nowhere, launch a lightning ambush, and vanish equally rapidly. Return to the city for lunch. In the afternoon, visit the War Museum, Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Old Post Office and Ben Thanh Market. Your overnight will be in Ho Chi Minh City.

Day 8: Ho Chi Minh City – Vinh Long – Ho Chi Minh City (B/L)
After escaping from Ho Chi Minh City’s urban sprawl, you’ll travel to Vinh Long. There, you’ll cruise on the Mekong River, visit Cai Be floating market, fruit orchards, a traditional family-run brick kiln, and drop in to look at some traditional cottage industries - a workshop making the huge coffins unique to the Mekong is particularly interesting. Take a bike to ride around to explore daily life of local people. Return to Ho Chi Minh City for overnight in the afternoon.

Day 9: Ho Chi Minh City Departure (B)
After breakfast, you will be free until your driver arrives to take you to Tan Son Nhat airport for your departure flight.