Vietnam: The Northwest Loop

Morning
You will meet your private guide and driver at your hotel in Hanoi and begin the adventure. Embark on a four-hour scenic drive through the picturesque countryside of green paddy fields and spectacular mountains to the town of Mai Chau; home of the Thai minority. Set in an idyllic valley, hemmed in by hills, Mai Chau is a world away from Hanoi’s hustle.

Arrive Mai Chau around midday and check into the boutique Mai Chau Lodge.

Afternoon
Your guide will take you on a walking tour (or cycling if you wish) of Pom Coong and Lac villages. With stilt houses and lush, green rice paddy fields, Ban Lac and Pom Coong are quaint and serene ethnic Thai villages with many lovely and hospitable inhabitants. During the walk, you will be introduced to a local family. Have conversations on their life, festivals, and culture of the natives.

Continue your day to visit Mo Luong caves and Chieu caves. Two natural cavern systems with thousand-year-old stalactites and stalagmites are mother nature’s magnificent works of art. Filled with mineral structures of all shapes, sizes, and colors, these caves give you the feeling similar to that you get wandering into an ancient world of primitive creations. Such a unique experience cannot be ignored by those adventurous at heart.

You also pay a visit to Thai ethnographic museum. More than 1000 items on display are closely tied to the Thai’s everyday life. You will get to see hunting tools, ritual costumes, bowls, dishes, antique coins, musical instruments, hundreds of years old books, and so on. These authentic pieces of history represent the development of Thai culture over centuries.

Evening
Being one of the famous chef Gordon Ramsay’s destinations on his trip to Vietnam, Mai Chau offers an array of exotic native food. Tonight you will enjoy a delicious home-hosted dinner. Delight your taste buds with traditional dishes and try some rice wine made in the village.

After dinner, you will return to Mai Chau Lodge to attend a traditional dance show performed by the White Thai

Overnight in Mai Chau

Morning
After breakfast, you will depart Mai Chau for a three-hour drive to Son La. Stop en route to visit the lively Pa Co Sunday Hill -tribe Market and take a walk in the neighboring village of Sa Linh.

Continue to drive, you will pass Moc Chau Plateau where you can see acres of green meadows for grazing cows, tea farms and lush orchards.

Afternoon
Arrive in Son La and check into your hotel. The remainder of the day is free for you to explore the area. Son La is a mid-sized town, one of Vietnam’s most ethnically diverse and home to more than 30 different minorities, including Black Thai, Meo, Muong and White Thai.

Overnight in Son La

Morning
After breakfast and check out of the hotel, your private guide will take you to the old French Prison of Son La and the Museum where Vietnamese political prisoners were held during the French Colony (same idea as the Hoa Lo Prison, also known as the Hanoi Hilton).

Depart Son La you will head off for Dien Bien Phu with lunch in Tuan Giao town. The scenery along the way here is stunning, with approach roads scything through thick forests and steep terrain.

Afternoon
You will continue your journey through the wonderfully picturesque Pha Din Pass before arriving in Dien Bien Phu. Check into your hotel and enjoy your own time of leisure.

Dien Bien Phu is a little town that sits in the heart-shaped Muong Thanh Valley, surrounded by heavily forested hills. Dien Bien Phu plays a star role in Vietnam’s modern history. It was in the surrounding countryside here, on 7 May 1954, that the French colonial forces were defeated by the Viet Minh in a decisive battle, and the days of their Indochina empire became numbered.

Overnight in Dien Bien

Morning
Begin your new day with a visit to the local market where you will meet the charming White Thai Minority in their traditional costume exchanging their farm products.

After that, with your guide, you will discover the former French battlefields including the A1 Hill, General De Castries’s Bunker, War Museum, Muong Thanh Airbase, and the War Memorial.

Leaving Dien Bien Phu you will drive for five hours to Lai Chau. For this stretch of your journey, the roads will be fairly rough and uneven. However, the stunning view is worth it. Also, there is plenty of opportunities to see the colorful hill-tribes of Northern Vietnam such as Flower Hmong, Black Thai, and Black Dzao.

Afternoon
Continue to drive and stop in Phong Tho, a small town for lunch at a local restaurant.

Arrive in Lai Chau in the late afternoon and check into the hotel. The remainder of the day is free at your leisure. You can stroll around the town and visit the local market.

Overnight in Lai Chau

Morning
After breakfast, you will depart Lai Chai for a three-hour drive to Sapa. The road is a little bit bumpy at times, but the rough route is quickly compensated by magnificent mountains covered with deep valleys, thick rain forests, and lush plantation.

The drive to Sapa takes you up to Tram Ton (Heaven Gate Pass), the highest pass in Vietnam. From here you can enjoy a bird-eyes view of the enormous picturesque Muong Hoa valley and Fansipan Mount (considered as the rooftop of Indochina; Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia).

Continue to visit the nearby Silver Waterfall and then proceed to the gate of Hoang Lien national park, where you will take a short hike access into the jungle to visit the Love Waterfall. The area is covered by lush green forests and beautiful water falling from the rocky cove. Enjoy a great time by listening to the sound of the waterfall, deep your feet into the cool water that makes you feel very relaxing. Leave the waterfall by walking back to the vehicle and then transfer to Sapa town.

Afternoon
Arrive and check into your hotel in downtown Sapa. Spend the rest of the day at your leisure. Established as a hill station by the French in 1922, Sapa today is a must-visit destination in the Northwest. This is northern Vietnam’s premier trekking base, from where hikers launch themselves into a surrounding countryside of cascading rice terraces and tiny hill-tribe villages that seem a world apart.

You can stroll around the town, visit the Old French Church or climb the Dragon’s Jaw Mountain where you can enjoy the panoramic view of the Old town below.

Overnight in Sapa

Morning
After breakfast, you will leave Sapa for a 3-hour drive journey to the remote town of Bac Ha town where the colorful Sunday Hill-tribe market is located. Nestled deep in the mountains, Bac Ha town is a quiet backwater Monday to Saturday, but by Sunday crowds of locals from thousands of surrounding villages descend on the town for the colourful Sunday market. Here you will have a chance to meet some of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic minority groups.

Upon arrival, you will discover the lively market with your tour guide. The market itself is a kaleidoscope of color, noise, and culture, where locals in an array of traditional dress barter for cows and show off delicately embroidered and embellished designs. Wander, camera in hand, and soak in the lively atmosphere while fending off the persistent sellers. The scent of fresh herbs and fragrant, strong tobacco wafts among the tented stalls and the overpowering smell of animals drifts down from the live market above.

Afternoon
After lunch at a local restaurant, you will drive downhill and begin a short walk to Trung Do Village which is home to the Tay minority. Here you will visit a traditional Tay house and then travel by boat through this amazing countryside to Bao Nhai Village. Finish the boat trip you will return to Sapa for the second night.

Overnight in Sapa

Morning
After breakfast, you will meet your tour guide and begin the day with a 3km-trek through the breathtaking landscape to the village of Suoi Ho, home to H’mong minority. Along the way, you can enjoy beautiful views over endless rice terraces, and you will have plenty of opportunities to take photographs.

Continue your hike toward the stunning village of Matra. You will pass the impressive ruins of a French Catholic church built in the early twentieth century. Take a few minutes to explore this intriguing sight and take some photos as you wish.

Your hike will grow deeper until your arrival at Ta Phin Village, inhabited by another Red Dzao ethnic minority tribe, with their beautiful traditionally embroidered outfits and practice of shaving their hair and eyebrows as a sign of respect. Also in Ta Phin village, the black H’mong minority live their own way with no cultural mixture.

You will visit a Red Dzao family and over a cup of tea, have a chat with them learning about their lifestyle. Enjoy a delicious lunch cooked and served by the family.

Afternoon
After lunch, you have time to stroll around the village, take pictures and do some fun shopping. The Red Dao people are known for their expertise in herbal medicine as well as the usage of plants from the land to treat many illnesses. If you’re a bit sore from the activities of the day, sample a traditional herbal bath made by a local Dzao specialist, famous for its therapeutic qualities.

Leaving Ta Phin you will be picked by your private driver and taken back to your hotel in Sapa. The remainder of the day will be at your leisure.

Overnight in Sapa

Morning
After breakfast, you will depart Sapa and embark on a four-hour drive to Mu Cang Chai, home to breathtaking rice terraces. CNBC (the US-based media Site) describes Mu Cang Chai as a remote gem of Northern Vietnam and it’s in CNBC’s 2020 travel list.

During the road drive, you will make a short stop to visit villages of Muong Khoa, Muong Kim and Na Kim where you can see various indigenous ethnic minority groups.

Arrive Mu Cang Chai around midday and check into the beautiful Mu Cang Chai Lodge. After that, your guide and driver will take you to Kim Noi village, home to the Black Thai Minority. Here you will enjoy a delicious home-hosted lunch.

Afternoon
Following lunch is a leisurely walk around the village. Then return to Mu Cang Chai Lodge in the late afternoon where the balance of the day is free at your leisure. Enjoy the lodge facilities and comforts.

Morning
After late breakfast and check out of the resort you will depart Nghia Lo and wind your way back to Hanoi. Along the way, you will stop to visit Suoi Giang Eco-Park, a part of Hoang Lien Son national park, famous for its ancient green tea fields. Visit a local village and learn about the traditional method of processing green teas.

Continue to drive to Hanoi with lunch en route at a local restaurant.

Afternoon
Arrive in Hanoi and check into your hotel. The remainder of the afternoon and evening will be at your leisure. Enjoy the last night in Hanoi before going home.

Overnight in Hanoi

Your private transfer greets you at the hotel after breakfast and escorts you to Hanoi International Airport where you board your flight home or travel on to more adventures, we will help you with the planning.