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This twelve-day tour includes Hanoi, Cuc Phuong National Park, Ha Long Bay and Sapa. It combines a range of physical activities in our northern part. But it is much more than just activities as you'll experience our varied lifestyle and culture. You'll encounter many of the colourful ethnic minority people living in the northwest of Vietnam.

Don’t forget that we’re tailor-made specialists. All you need to do is tell us what you want, and we’ll make the necessary modifications. There’s no fee for making changes, and no limit on the number you make!

Day 1: Hanoi Arrival (D)
Arriving at Noi Bai airport in Hanoi, you will be met and driven to your hotel for check in. 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 (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. Your overnight will be in Hanoi.
Day 3: Hanoi – Cuc Phuong National Park (B/L/D)
In the morning, you will depart from your hotel by private vehicle to Cuc Phuong National Park. You will visit the Endangered Prime Rescue Centre to learn about the importatn work being done to help protect the endangered species of the park. You’ll have lunch at the restaurant in the park centre before trekking through the subtropical forest, rich in flora and fauna with thousand-year-old trees and dripping vines and visiting the Prehistory Cave. Your overnight will be at the guesthouse in the park.

Day 4: Cuc Phuong National Park – Tam Coc – Hoa Lu - Hanoi (B/L)
After breakfast, you will head to Hoa Lu, the former capital of Vietnam and the famous ancient temples of Emperor Le and Emperor Dinh. After lunch at local restaurant, you’ll drive to Sunny Wharf, a small dock, for a sampan boat journey in the heart of “Ha Long Bay Inland”. There you’ll row along a gentle river between paddy fields and through the caves. On the way back, you’ll disembark for a pleasant stroll through the rural sceneray to Thai Vi temple. Return to Hanoi in late afternoon for overnight. Your overnight stay will be in Hanoi.

Day 5: Hanoi – Ha Long (B/L/D)
After breakfast, you will leave Hanoi to Ha Long Bay, one of the most spectacular UNESCO World Heritage Areas and the world’s largest marine limestone “karst” landscap. You arrive at Ha Long City at around noon and then be transferred by tender to your boat, a wooden junk built from the model of the old Vietnamese court vessels with sails, a wide transom and rectangular superstructure, that will take you first to the busy World Heritage area and then to some of the less well-known grottoes and caves. Weather permitting, you will be able to swim, fish, climb a hill for an overview of the Bay’s remarkable seascape. Your overnight will be aboard.

Day 6: Ha Long Sea Kayaking (B/L/D)
After breakfast, you will be transferred by a tender to the kayaking area. This is the most untouched place of the bay. There, you can enjoy swimming on virgin beaches, paddling to visit the sea level caves or floating villages. Lunch will be served on a small boat. In late afternoon, you will return to the mother boat for dinner and overnight.

Day 7: Ha Long Bay – Hanoi – Overnight train to Sapa (Brunch)
Your morning start with Meditation and Yoga Section on the sundeck and enjoying the sunrise. Your boat will then depart to Surprising Cave (Sung Sot) followed by an international breakfast set menu or buffet just before docking around noon and leaving for Hanoi. You should arrive in the afternoon. In the evening, you will be picked up to the railway station for an overnight train to Sapa.

Day 8: Lao Cai – Local Market - Sapa (B/L)
Arriving at Lao Cai Railway station early in the morning, you will be met and taken by a private car to a local restaurant for breakfast and then explore one of the colourful markets in Sapa or nearby Bac Ha. In afternoon, you will drive to Sapa for overnight. The schedule of the local markets as below: Tuesday: Coc Ly Market Wednesday: Cao Son Market Thursday: Lung Khau Nhin Market. Saturday: Can Cau Market Sunday: Muong Hum or Bac Ha Market
Day 9: Sapa – Lao Chai – Ta Van (B/L/D)
After breakfast at your hotel, you will start trekking down to the Golden Stream Valley. Stop on the way for a pinic lunch and then continue to Ta Van village to visit Dzay minority people for a unique homestay experience. Your dinner and overnight will be at the homestay.

Day 10: Ta Van – Ban Ho (B/L/D)
After breakfast at homestay, you will have a full day of trekking along local paths. The trekking route offers some challenge as you balance on the rice terraces and a small trail on the steep mountainside. The vegetation is dense as the trail leads up to a peaceful village perched on the Hoang Lien mountainside. Head downhill and relax by a local stream for a picnic lunch. In the afternoon, trek about 1.5 hours uphill before descending down to the quaint Tay hill tribe village of Ban Ho. After checking into the home stay, your guide will lead you to La Vie waterfall for a fresh shower. Your dinner and overnight will be at homestay.

Day 11: Ban Ho – Sapa – Lao Cai – Overnight train back to Hanoi (B/L/D)
After breakfast, you will trek to the main road where your car are waiting to pick you up to Sapa. You will be free to explore Sapa town and its centre market. In the evening, you will be tranferred to Lao Cai for overnight train back to Hanoi.

Day 12: Hanoi Departure (B)
You will arrive in Hanoi at around 5am in the morning. Our car will drive to your hotel for breakfast and re-freshment. You’ll be free for the remainder of the day until being transferred to Noi Bai airport for your departure flight.
www.littlevietnamtours.com.vn
www.triptovietnam.asia
www.holidaysinindochina.com

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Formal complaint in two parts. (USLA2-232)10/21/2012-10/23/2012
#1 - Wrong information from Tours4fun.
Before booking I spoke to one of yours

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someday!!!!

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We joined the Oct 6-13, 2012 tour and it was not that good as compared to the previous East coast tour that we took 2 years ago. It's primarily due to the dismal performance of the tour guide, Kelvin, who was not as good as the previous tour guide we had (Tony Cheng). For one, Kelvin failed to consistently guide tourists when visiting a place. He would not give complete instructions on where to go to while inside the building leaving the tourists wondering where to go. Very typical was when we were in Hershey's Chocolate Factory. He just told us to go in and meet up at a certain time. Our previous guide (Tony) would always escort us inside the building and guide us where to go. In this case, not all tourists knew that there's a ride inside to explain chocolate manufacturing. Kelvin's priority was to smoke after each stop and would not dare come with us into the place. Kelvin would always be late during morning meeting time. We'd be left waiting for him, especially on the 7th day when he promised us breakfast in Montreal (due to the delay we had the previous night when the bus bogged down) but did not bother arranging it with the hotel, more so did not even show his face at the lobby when we were all waiting for the restaurant to accommodate us. The worse was when the bus encountered a problem on day 6 while we were in Montreal and we had to wait for more than 4 hrs inside a building so the bus could be repaired. He did not bother informing the group on the status, in the meantime, we were left hoping that things will work out right. It was only when we confronted him and told him of his lack of care for his customers that he started to update us on what's happening. Super Vacations did not do well in appeasing us amidst all these delays (some did not have dinner) such that we even had to demand for any compensation as we missed a few places in Montreal and had to rush through other remaining places in our itinerary. I asked Kelvin of his plan when the bus gets repaired but he could not offer a cohesive plan. He just walked away and tried to evade us! When the mechanics completed repair of the bus, we proceeded to our destination but again the same problem recurred and we had to stop along the freeway late at night, which placed all of us in danger. A customer had to be placed in an ambulance as she experienced problem due to this. It angered all customers such that some did not pay Kelvin’s service fee. Be informed of the waiver that Super Vacations placed on the contract - that they would be exempt from any liability in case the bus bogs down and the tour gets delayed, etc. What kind of a provision is that??? Because of this experience with Super Vacations, we are not anymore taking a tour with them.

Category: Miscellaneous

On arrival, we board on boat for visit the floating market and cruise over the mighty Mekong River to Dong Phu Island. We start cycling one hour under green canopy, exploring the orchards and daily life of the localhost.

Saigon - Cai Be- Vinh Long - Ben Tre - Saigon
Day 1: Saigon – Cai Be – Vinh Long – Ben Tre
8.00 am we depart by bus for Cai Be. On arrival, we board on boat for visit the floating market and cruise over the mighty Mekong River to Dong Phu Island. We start cycling one hour under green canopy, exploring the orchards and daily life of the locals. Lunch break on the island. Then we cruise 1.5 hr down Mekong River to Cho Lach canals. After that we ride to discover the nursery gardens and fruit orchards. Then we cruise again 1.5 hr to Ben Tre for the night. Overnight home stay with a local family.
Cycling 20km / Boat trip 3hrs / Lunch, Dinner / Home-stay

Day 2: Ben Tre – Saigon
After breakfast, we start cycling 4hrs back on small trail along the river, see daily life of the locals, feeling lost on winding road under the green coconut canopy. The coconut palms make Ben Tre famous in Vietnam. On arrival in Ben Tre at noon time, we cruise down the busy branches of Mekong and into a peaceful canal. Visit an island orchard, lunch break with local delight, see the daily life of farmers and try exotic seasonal fruits unique to the region. Hammock siesta, then we cycle to explore this quiet area, call on coconut-candy workshop and other handicraft workshop (if time permits) before coming back to our bus. Return to Saigon. Trip completes in Saigon around 5.30pm.
Cycling 35km / Boat trip 1hr / Breakfast, Lunch

What to bring: Comfortable shoes, sunglasses, hat & sun cream, clothes to change for 2 days

Important note: We reserve the right to deviate from this itinerary for any reasons, including road and weather conditions, or for any other factor which may influence client safety.

Inclusions
AC vehicle, mountain bike, helmet, English speaking tour guide, Home-stay permission, Meals as indicated in the itinerary, Sightseeing fees & entrance fees, 02 bottle of drinking water per person per day, snacks, first-aid kit
Exclusions
Visa, Hotel in Saigon, Travel insurance, personal expenses.

Price:
2 persons: $200/person
3 persons: $185/person
4 persons: $155/person