Dig deeper into Vietnam’s local culture on this 3-day tour which goes through Mai Chau’s villages including the Green Hmong hill tribe, Van Mai, Mai Hich, Cum, and Xam Khoe. Trek through the hill tribe of Xa Linh, walk along with the small villages and take a bike ride through the Mai Chau Valley. It’s a great way to be immersed in the vibrant hill tribe culture and learn more about the ethnic minorities.
Upon arrival in Hanoi, be met by the guide and private car and be transferred to the hotel for check-in. Spend the rest of the day at leisure.
Overnight in Hanoi.
Notes: The itinerary can be flexible base on the arrival flight schedule; some sites can be visited today to have more time at sites or adding some other sites in the next day (with small surcharge).
Drive from the hotel through the historical Ba Dinh Square where President Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the independence of Vietnam in 1945 and find out outstanding architecture, beautiful atmosphere around this square. Then reach to Lenin Garden, a communal space for locals. This also offers a perfect opportunity for people-watching, to get a better idea of the daily activities of the locals. After that, we make our way through a small alley of Hanoi where sewing shops have been in family hands for generations and admire the daily life of local people who still practice old an old way of life in the alleys of Hanoi. Do not forget to bring your camera along to capture the unique experience. Continue walk to visit the Temple of Literature, Vietnam’s first national university built in the late 11th century and explore its role in the country’s past.
Then visit the fascinating Ethnology Museum (closed Mondays), which is both a research center and a public museum exhibiting the ethnic groups of Vietnam.
And enjoy your lunch at a local restaurant before making a stroll around the charming Hanoi old quarter to explore the fascinating maze of back streets. Then walking to the busy street of Nha Chung where every day is always busy by several vendors of food or vegetables gather for sale. And stop at the old French house of Hanoian for a tea break and talk with him to discover more about the change of local people, life and listen to the story of a family in each period.
Finally, you will enjoy a Water Puppet show. A uniquely northern Vietnamese art form said to have originated in the flooded rice fields of the Red River Delta. Drive back to the hotel.
NOTES
Availability: Morning
Suggested time: 08:00
Duration: 7 hour
Depart Hanoi for a scenic 4hr drive southwest to Mai Chau. Located in Hoa Binh Province, Mai Chau is famed for its splendid vistas of mountains and valleys surrounded by lush landscape and stilt houses, inhabited mainly by the White Thai ethnic group. On arrival, enjoy lunch at a local restaurant before cycling on a 2hr tour through the beautiful valley of Mai Chau. Your guide will facilitate chats with local hill tribe people to learn about their daily lives including planting rice, herding buffalos and building traditional houses.
Overnight in Mai Chau (L, D)
NOTES:
Suggested departure time: 08:30
Tour duration: 04 hours
Biking distance: 7km (4mi)
Grade: Easy
The homestay standard is very basic. While the bedding, including mosquito net, may not be as luxurious as a hotel, this homestay experience provides an unforgettably intimate perspective of life in Mai Chau.
After breakfast, drive 30mins to the village of Mai Hich village where you will spend the morning walking through the remote scenery against the backdrop of the Tonkinese Alps. Expect to receive a warm welcome from the friendly villagers as you observe typical traditional village life - women tending to their homes and working on their embroidery, children, and animals playing in the yard and men talking shop over wood fires. Then enjoy lunch at local restaurant before the drive back to Hanoi in the afternoon.
End of service (Breakfast, Lunch)
