Sapa Essential (5 days)

• DAY 1 Hanoi Meeting & greeting at the airport upon your arrival and transfer to hotel for check-in and tour briefing. If time permits we will take an orientation tour around central Hanoi. Welcome dinner at a fine restaurant, an introduction to Vietnamese cuisine.
• DAY 2 Lao Cai Today we’ll visit the most outstanding attractions of Hanoi. First we pay a visit to the memorial complex to Ho Chi Minh to know his amazing life. Continue to the Single Pillar Pagoda and the Temple of Literature to gain understanding of the two driving forces in Vietnam culture. Afternoon we visit the Museum of Ethnology which exhibits a large collection of artifacts about the cultures of the 54 ethnic groups in the country. Next we enjoy a rickshaw ride through the lively Old Quarter, a series of 36 ancient streets where peddlers still trade the way they have done for centuries. Later we walk through the busy traffic to the water puppet theatre and enjoy a performance of the famed traditional art form created by village farmers around the Red River Delta region. Transfer to Hanoi Railway Station and board a night train to Lao Cai. Overnight on the train in a soft-bedded cabin with air-conditioner.
• DAY 3 Sapa Early morning arrival at Lao Cai, we’ll be greeted and transferred 40 km upland to Sapa. After breakfast we travel by car to Muong Hoa Valley and trek a meandering path through the villages of Lao Chai and Ta Van of the Black Hmong and Day people. Home visits are included to discover local life. Enjoy the picnic lunch on the way. Return to town at the end of the day.
• DAY 4 Hanoi We walk out of town up the Dragon Jaw Mount for a great view of Vietnam\'s highest mountain range, Fansipan, filled with terraced rice paddies and deep valleys. Enjoy the incredible mountain vista and a show by ethnic minority musicians. Afterwards we return to town and travel by car to the ethnic villages of Ma Tra and Ta Phin and take a light trek to experience the local life of the ethnic minority people of H’Mong and Red Dzao, 2 largest ethnic groups in the area, hiding away from the civilization. You can already recognize them by their distinctive dressings. Picnic lunch in the village. Late afternoon we transfer to Lao Cai and visit the border with gate to China before taking the night train back to Hanoi. Overnight on train as before. <br/><br/><strong>NOTE: If you’re in Sapa on Sunday or Tuesday, you can opt to visit a hilltribe market</strong><br/><br/><em>Morning transfer from Sapa to Coc Ly/Bac Ha passing the beautiful mountainous road. Arrive in Coc Ly/Bac Ha and visit the colorful market where you can meet about 10 different ethnic minorities, the place that people attending not only for trading but for rice-wine drinking, social communication, making friends… In the afternoon continue to some hilltribe villages to visit Trung Do/Thai Giang Pho village. A great opportunity to see local life in close-up, say hello to local children and enjoy the nice view along the trails. At the end of the day we transfer to Lao Cai and visit the border with gate to China before taking the night train back to Hanoi. Overnight on train as before.</em>
• DAY 5 Departure You tour concludes in Hanoi