North East Discovery - 6 days / 5 nights
4WD Landcruiser or Mercedes Benz bus - (Private Tour)
Day 1: Leaving Hanoi at 7.30am we head north through Bac Kan province and into the beautiful region of Ba Be National Park.
Overnight stay in hotel.
Day 2: After breakfast we take a short drive to Ba Be lake which is actually 3 lakes joined together, Pe Lam, Pe Lu and Pe Leng.
Here we board our boat and set out to explore and enjoy the magnificent scenery of Dau Dang waterfall. The park is a tropical rainforest teeming with plant species and wildlife and home to the 'Tay minority tribes' people whose villages are spread in and around the surrounding park.
We depart our boat and go ashore for a gentle 2km walk to Tay village.
We are greeted by the Tay people who welcome us into their village and serve us with their hospitality.
Overnight stay in village.
Day 3: After an early breakfast we are picked up by our driver at 7.30am, we bid our hosts farewell and head to the east of Vietnam. Stopping for lunch on the way we arrive at Cao Bang shortly after. We check into our hotel and head off to Ban Gioc waterfall, passing through the rice paddies with there unique limestone karst formations and seeing the local Tay, Hmong and Dao ethnic minority peoples going about their everyday life.
The spectacular Ban Gioc waterfall stretches for 300m and is placed directly on the border of Vietnam and China. There is an invisible line that runs through the center of the river which is carefully respected by the rafts and canoes from either side.
Overnight stay in hotel.
Day 4: Before departing Cao Bang a steep walk up the hill to the War Memorial is possible, it offers a great 360° panoramic view of the area and is very peaceful.
The road to Lang Son winds its way through steep mountain passes and the views are truly spectacular. Lang Son province is populated by the Tho, Nung, Man and Dao Montagnards (Mountain people) most of whom continue to live their traditional way of life.
Being a main trading post between Vietnam and China, Lang Son has two markets were many imported Chinese products can be purchased.
On the out skirts of town there are two large beautiful caves and the remains of a 16th century Mac Dynasty Citadel which is a quiet beautiful spot with stunning views across the country and the surrounding rice fields.
Overnight stay in hotel.
Day 5:
Continuing south to Halong Bay we drive through some of Vietnams most impressive scenery. Winding through the many mountain areas on our journey, we encounter several different minority hill tribes people going about their daily business of herding buffalo to till the fields and log their forests. Although enjoyable the journey can be quite tiresome so on arrival at Halong Bay we check into our hotel and spend the rest of the day with free time to relax.
Overnight stay in hotel.
Day 6:
The final day of our tour takes us on a boat to explore the magnificent Halong Bay with its karst formations and spectacular caves. We visit the two caves Hang Thien Cung (Heavenly Palace) and the beautiful Hang Dau Go (Grottoe of Marvels) which is a huge cave consisting of three chambers which is accessed by 90 steps leading to the entrance. Both caves contain incredible limestone formations as well as numerous stalagmites and stalactites. After lunch on the boat we head back to the harbour for our return to Hanoi arriving back at 4-5pm.
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