North Vietnam At A Glance: Halong Bay & Sapa 5 Days

20:00 Our guide will pick up you at your hotel lobby and transfer you to the train station, take an overnight train to Lao Cai. Notes: - Our tour guide will not accompany us during the train trip - Train schedule is subject to change. - Private compartments on request at a surcharge. - Train journeys are part of a great local experience. Cabins are shared with other local passengers (unless private cabin is requested and all berths paid for - with supplement). Restrooms at either end of the carriages complete the local experience. Meals: NA Accommodation: 04 soft sleeper sharing cabin

Arrive at Lao Cai Train Station at around 05:00. Then take a one-hour bus ride uphill to the beautiful town of Sapa. The ride gives you a glimpse of the stunning vistas and impressive rice terraces that make Sapa famous with travellers. 9.30 am: Meet up with your local guide and start trekking. The first part is on the road but we soon turn to the right and walk on a small path down the valley to Y Linh Ho village settled down by the Muong Hoa River and from here to the Black Hmong village of Lao Chai. Black Hmong is one of the biggest minority groups in the Sapa area. They have their own language and wear traditional indigo blue clothing. The Hmong peoples have just recently changed their living way from sifting style into the sedentary one. So there are still a lot traces of the past time can be seen: rudimentary houses, stone wall around homes… After this you continue to Ta Van village (1.200 m) to visit Zay people. Zay is a fairly small minority group of about 38.000 people who live mainly in the mountains in Northwest Vietnam. After visiting Ta Van village the car will return you to Sapa. Free at leisure the rest of the day. Overnight at Sapa Hotel. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch Accommodation: Hotel in Sapa

In the morning, have breakfast at the hotel and then check out. Take a walk down to the South-west of Sapa (around 3 km) to visit Cat Cat Village of the Black Hmong, one of the more well-known ethnic villages of Sapa. Relax at the foot of the stunning waterfall and the vestige of a hydroelectric power station that was constructed by the French during the colonial time in Vietnam. Enjoy a picnic lunch by the side of the river, and then continue trekking to 3 km to Sin Chai Village, located at the foot of Fansipan Mountain - “the Roof of Indochina”, where you enjoy a stunning landscape of the mountain. Then come back to the main road to be transferred to Sapa town for 3km. 15:00 - 15:30 Driver will pick you up & transfer 5 hours to Hanoi. Meals: Breakfast Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi