Hanoi | Sapa | Hanoi

HIGHLIGHTS

This 7-day adventure tour ends at the top of Mount Fansipan, the "Rooftop of Indochina". Enjoy the colonial charms of Hanoi before meeting the Black H’mong tribe in Sapa and camping under the stars on the slopes of Mount Fansipan.

Price: 580 per person, twin share (single-supp: 85)

Minimum  02 persons

Tour includes:

• All land transportation as shown in the program (Jeep for Sapa excursion)
• 4 nights in comfortable 3-star accommodation in twin sharing room
• 2 nights aboard a sleeper train (sharing 4-berth cabin) on Day 2 & 6
• 2 nights camping on Mt.Fansipan
• 18 meals - 7 breakfasts, 6 lunches, 5 dinners
• English-speaking guide
• Porters during Mt. Fansipan trekking
• Cooking & Permission
• Tents and sleeping bags
• Cyclo ride in Hanoi
• All entrance and sightseeing fees

Tour excludes:

• International airfares & airport taxes in/out Vietnam
• (Single) Entry visa to Vietnam (US$ 69 per person for On-arrival visa)
• Meals that not mentioned in the program
• Travel insurance
• Personal expenses (drinks, laundry, telephone...)
• Tips

Hotels to be used:

• Hanoi: Green Park/Hoa Binh/Galaxy or similar
• Sapa: Bamboo/Sapa or similar
• Camping during Mt.Fansipan trekking

*Note: Our accommodations in remote areas are the best available in the regions, offering  basic amenities. With flexibility and a sense of adventure, you'll find them enrich your experience.

 Itinerary
   
 Day 1 : Arrival in Hanoi

Meet & Greet at Noi Bai international airport and transfer to your hotel in Hanoi city.
Our guide will provide you with a welcome kit which contains all the necessary information about your journey.

Free at leisure and overnight in Hanoi city.

Day 2 : Hanoi City tour – Night Train to Lao Cai  (B, L, D)

Hanoi, located at the confluence of the Red and Duong Rivers, has come a long way from the stilt houses of the stone and bronze age dwellers of four and five thousand years ago. Myths link Hanoi’s origins to the center of the earth, with visions of soaring dragons, and fears of invasions or fierce winds from the north.

Between Chinese power struggles, peasant rebellions, invasions from warring Mongols, the French occupation and American bombing attacks, the city has undergone and continues to undergo tremendous growth and change. Today’s Hanoi, “the city inside a bend of the Red River,” is a blend of thousand-year-old temples, tube houses, neo-Parisian buildings, and new, modern hotels and office buildings.

Today we will begin to tour Hanoi, visiting the Ho Chi Minh Complex, containing the Mausoleum of the national’s founder Ho Chi Minh , the Presidential palace and the Ho Chi Minh’s house on stilts. This complex also comprises the One pillar pagoda, whose origins date bak the the foundation of city. We follow this with a trip to the impressive Museum of Ethnology, dedicated to Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups.  Afternoon, we visit and the Temple of Literature which well known as the first university of Vietnam, before walk around the peaceful lake of Hoan Kiem, and then enjoy a one hour cyclo ride around the Hanoi Old Quarter with its lively and narrow streets as well as we will visit a typical local market.

In the evening after dinner, we will be transferred to Hanoi Railways Station for night train to Lao Cai – departs at 9.30pm.

Overnight on train.

Day 3: Lai Cai – Sapa - Ta Phin village (B, L, D) 

On arrive Lao Cai railway station around 6.00 am. The bus will pick you up and leave to Sapa city
(1 hour) for breakfast. Check in hotel and relax.

Sapa is located at the extreme north of Vietnam, near the Chinese border. The Sapa plateau was identified in 1901 during the first topographic plotting of the area. A military post was built in 1903. Originally, Cha Pa was created for medical purposes. Its bracing climate was beneficial to westerners exhausted by a long stay in Vietnam. The military sanatorium, completed in 1913, was built on the hill on which the municipal cistern now stands.
As of 1914, the main purpose of the civil authorities was to create in Tonkin a veritable summer of 1914; the offices of all the local services were moved form Hanoi to Cha Pa. In 1922, the building of the most sumptuous hotel in the station, the Residence du Tonkin started on the “governor’s hill”. The number of French permanent civilian residents was never very high: only twenty odd people in 1942

After lunch , we trek to Ta Phin Village to meet friendly Back Hmong and Red Dao minorities, explore their famous handicrafts making and the old French catholic church, the peace grotto.

The Hmong: The main subgroups present in Vietnam are the White Hmong, the Hmong Leng, Hmong Pua, Hmong Shi or Sheu and Black Hmong. In Sapa, the Hmong Leng and Hmong Pe women – with their colorful skirts and double –breasted tops-come from the Muong Khuong district. Today, the economy is still based on family farms raising pigs, chickens, buffaloes and horses, on food crops (rice, corn, manioc) and cash crops ( cardamom and vegetable).

The traditional social organization of the Hmong is based on the clan. In the Hmong household, up to four different generations may be gathered under the same roof. The household is the most important economic, political and ritual unit.

The Dao: The Dao-Mien settled in Vietnam two to three centuries ago, depending on the area. One of the Dao’s specific cultural features is their traditional writing system using Chinese characters.  Like Hmong, the Dao build terraced paddy-field irrigated by a sophisticated system of canals.

After visit Ta Phin village, we come back Sapa by jeep for dinner and free at leisure.

Overnight in Sapa city.

Day 4: Sapa - Fansipan (B, L, D) 

We start out together with our team of Black Hmong porters from Sa Pa around 9.00 am and head for the Black Hmong village of Sin Chai in the bottom of the valley. Soon thereafter the ascend starts and we will walk for about three hours before our cook serves a well prepared lunch in the forest. We continue our climb and around 4.30 pm we arrive at our campsite at approximately 2500 m. The tents are raised for your comfort and the cook is already busy preparing a well deserved dinner. It is time to enjoy the fresh air and the nocturnal sounds of nature!

Overnight in tent.

Day 5: Conquer Mt. Fansipan ( B, L, D)

Today is summit day, so after an early breakfast we leave our base camp around 7.00 am and start climbing upwards. Around noon we can put our hands on the marker and quietly enjoy the spectacular view towards Laos and China, while having our lunch and resting our feet! The duration of our stay at the summit depends on the weather conditions, but normally it takes around four hours to get back to our camp, were we have a little feast celebrating the climb and simply enjoy life!
Overnight in tent.

Day 6 : Fansipan –Sapa ( B, L , D)

 Maybe your body feels a bit busted, but a refreshing cup of coffee and some breakfast gives new energy to the descend from the mountain. After the camp has been packed down we start walking around 9.00 am. We enjoy lunch in the forest before reaching Sa Pa in the early afternoon, rushing for a cold drink and a hot shower. Overnight in Sapa city.

Day 7 : Sapa – Lao Cai – Hanoi ( B, L)
Today is set aside for our relaxation, either to stay at our hotel or walk down to the local market to take some pictures. In the afternoon, we will return to the Lao Cai train station to catch the night train back to Hanoi (The train departs at 21.15).
Overnight in train. On arrival Hanoi railways station at 5.30am, we will be picked up transfer to hotel for early check in and relax. Free at leisure in Hanoi until time transfer to airport for departure or extension.

Click here to see the full list of our Daily  Tours , Small group Tours , Break & Easy Tours, Holiday Extensions or Specialized Tours