Day 1 – Sapa Adventure – Hanoi Arrival

Complimentary airport pick-up.  We have a welcome dinner with the ViF team at a gourmet Vietnamese restaurant, before heading out for a Hanoi by Night tour. We explore the area around Hoan Kiem Lake and the streets of the Old Quarter. The evening culminates with the lowering of the flag at Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum.

Day 2 – Sapa Adventure – Tho Ha Village

We’ll have a relaxed morning with breakfast and coffee near Hoan Kiem Lake, and an introduction to the tour.  We then head out for Tho Ha, a beautifully preserved traditional village in the Red River Delta.  The village is renowned for its rice paper pancakes, and we’ll have a chance to witness and photograph the process of creating this delicacy.  In the afternoon, villagers lay out the rice paper across the rooftops and alleyways to dry in the sun.  We return to Hanoi in late afternoon, and enjoy dinner before preparing for our train to Sapa at 9pm.

Day 3 – Sapa Adventure – Fan Xi Pan Mountain

We arrive in Lao Cai at 5:30am, and head up the mountain to Sapa by minibus  to check into our hotel.  Sunrise brings beautiful mists across the valleys on our approach to town.  After breakfast, we’ll strike out for a trek among the villages surrounding town, our first encounter with the varied ethnic minorities of the area.  In the afternoon, we take the winding road to the Tram Ton and O Quy Ho Passes, spectacular locations to capture the wonderful scenery around Sapa.  At sunset, we take a cable car to the peak of Fan Xi Pan mountain for stunning views over the Hoang Lien Son range.

Day 4 – Sapa Adventure – Ban Ho Village

After breakfast, we journey further out of Sapa to Ban Ho village.  The road to Ban Ho features many beautiful vantage points, and we’ll enjoy lunch with a Tay minority family when we reach the village.  In the afternoon, we’ll have a cycling trip to visit the Dzao and H’mong villages scattered around this area.  We return to Lao Cai in late afternoon to get ready for our train trip back to Hanoi at 8pm.

Day 5 – Sapa Adventure – Hanoi

We arrive back in the capital at 5am, and have a final encounter with Hanoi at sunrise, taking in Long Bien and Quang Ba Flower market, and mingling with locals exercising next to century-old Hang Dau water tower.  Check in to our hotel, and onward travel departs at various times of day.