Vietnam The Charming North

Welcome to Hanoi  Vietnam! Our driver will be welcoming you at Noi Bai airport; it takes us 35 minutes driving to hotel in the centre of Hanoi. Overnight in Hanoi. Please note: Standard check in time is 14:00. Early check in is subject to availability of the hotel. Night activities suggestion: enjoy local beer at Ta Hien Streets, experience the ambience of sleepless street with lifemusic, the young people of Hanoi and also foreign tourists. Hundred of bars and pubs in the Old Quarter are also atyour disposal. Or just simple spend your time at shopping malls or various boutique Shops.

Breakfast at hotel. Around 8.00: Pick up from your hotel take you to visit the Ho Chi Minh Complex, which includes Ho Chi MinhsMausoleum  the final resting place of the beloved national hero, Uncle Ho  and President Ho Chi Minhs stilt housewhere he lived off and on from 1958 to 1969. 9.30: Youll visit the One Pillar Pagoda, which is actually a group of structures that collectively make up a pagoda builtover the water in the middle of a square lake.After that, youll have a chance to explore the Tran Quoc Pagoda on the shore of West Lake. From there, its onto theTemple of literature, which was Viet Nams first university and is dedicated to Confucius. 12.30: You have lunch at the restaurant in the Old Quarter. Afterwards, youll visit Hoan Kiem Lake - the heart and soulof Hanoi. OPTION 1: TUE, THU, SAT, SUNDAY Stop at Museum Of Ethnology. This superb museum showcases the depth of Vietnamese cultural diversity with anastounding collection of 15,000 artifacts gathered from throughout Vietnam. Maps, displays and dioramas are labeledin Vietnamese, French and English. Displays portray a typical village market, the making of comical hats and a Tayshamanic ceremony; videos show the real thing. You can also check out a traditional Black Thai house reconstructed inthe museum. There's also a centre for research and conservation where scientists from all over the world studytraditional Vietnamese cultures. OPTION 2: MONDAY, WED, FRI Depart for Bat Trang ceramic village which is about 20 km away from Ha Noi, this is pottery village with a half-millenary historic development. 15.30 - 16.00: Take the car back your hotel. Overnight in Hanoi.

Breakfast at hotel and check out. From Hanoi, at 8AM, head East for more than 3 hours to Halong Bay, the pride of the Gulf of Tonkin, a Natural WorldHeritage as designated by UNESCO in 1994. The road will pass by the Red River delta with green paddy fields and rural villages, where hard-work farmers are busy with their farming jobs, ploughing buffaloes or planting seedling. Uponarrival in Halong, well take a big boat to cruise the Bay to discover the magnificent beauty of this Descending-dragon bay, created by thousands odd-shaped limestone rocks and karst grottoes. After a lunch of fresh seafood onboard, we can visit the Surprising Grotto, stop for swimming or kayaking, passing floating villages and approach isletsto enjoy their beauty in close distance. Back to the boat for dinner late afternoon. Evening attend activities on theboat or relax at your own leisure. Overnight on the boat near Titov Beach. Please note! The program may be little varied upon the cruise you choose.