Vietnam Sonata Touring Holiday
This 15 day touring holiday of Vietnam is a truly authentic voyage of discovery and enlightenment of the country and her people. This tour is for experienced travellers and those who really want to experience the country first-hand, including cycling, having lunch in local houses and staying overnight on a boat in Ha Long bay.
Day 1: UK to Hanoi
Day 2: Hanoi Arrival
Arriving at Noi Bai airport in Hanoi, you’ll be met and driven to your hotel. You’ll have time to relax after your journey before a welcome dinner at a good restaurant in a colonial building. In the evening, you’ll have tickets for a performance of traditional Water Puppetry (an art form unique to northern Vietnam, and an interesting, light-hearted introduction to its rural culture). Your overnight stay will be in Hanoi. Dinner is included.
Day 3: Cycling and exploring villages around Hanoi - Overnight train to Lao Cai
At 09.00, you’ll be picked up to drive to Bat Trang. On arrival, you’ll be able to stroll in the small alleys of this old village to watch local people producing their fine products and visit some of the houses used as workshops and showrooms. You’ll then pick up your bicycles and ride along the riverside dike, through some more of the many villages surrounding Hanoi. The total distance on bicycles is about 7km along a small road that runs beside a tributary of the Red River.
You’ll then drive to Dong Ho village - famous for its traditional paintings. After a picnic lunch, your vehicle will take to Tam Tao village to enjoy its traditional Quan Ho music performed by villagers in the commune house. The singers have recently been officially designated as part of Vietnam’s ‘living heritage’. In the late afternoon, you’ll return to Hanoi for your overnight accommodation.
At 20.00, your car arrives to take you to Hanoi railway station in time to board the 21.15 p.m. overnight sleeper to Lao Cai.
Breakfast and lunch is included.
Day 4: Lao Cai - Sapa
You’ll arrive in the early morning, where you’ll be met and taken up into the mountains by car to Sapa, a small town perched on the mountainside opposite Mt. Fan Si Pan, Vietnam’s highest peak. After breakfast at your hotel, you’ll hike down a scenic valley calling in at the H’mong ethnic minority villages on the way. After a streamside picnic lunch, your route will take you to a Day ethnic minority village. You’ll spend the night in the house of one of the village’s families. Breakfast, lunch and dinner is included.
Hiking around Sapa can be quite arduous. The tracks are rough in places, and your route will take along undulating terraces and through the villages. Stout walking shoes and good sun protection are essential. The total distance is 12 kilometres on the first day and about 4 km on the second day. However, travel by jeep can be arranged as an alternative.
Day 5: Sapa
After breakfast and an early start, you’ll hike to visit the Red Dao ethnic minority people of Giang Ta Chai village, where you’ll have lunch. Later in the afternoon, you’ll be picked up by jeep to travel to Ban Ho village where you’ll have dinner and spend the night in a Tay ethnic minority group stilt-house. Breakfast, lunch and dinner is included.
Day 6: Sapa - Lao Cai - Hanoi
After breakfast, you will have the opportunity to explore the Tay village of Ban Ho before crossing the suspension bridge over a stream. The route will continue taking you through the rice fields to the Red Dao village of Nam Toong where your guide will prepare your lunch in a local house. After lunch you will go swimming by a waterfall (weather permitting) before ascending back to Supan where your driver is awaiting for you to take you back to Sapa and, later to Lao Cai station by car to catch the overnight train to Hanoi.
Breakfast and lunch is included.
Day 7: Hanoi - Ha Long
You'll arrive in Hanoi early in the morning and taken to your hotel for freshen up ad breakfast.
At 08.00, you’ll leave for Ha Long Bay, one of the most spectacular UNESCO World Heritage Areas and the world’s largest marine limestone ‘karst’ landscape. There you’ll board a wooden junk to take you through Bai Tu Long Bay area. You’ll dock to visit one of the less visited caves in the Bay. From there, you’ll then continue your cruise toward Cong Do area for swimming or kayaking though a hiden lagoon. The route is designed to avoid the busy areas and includes a very quiet location for your overnight stay. Breakfast, lunch and dinner is included.
For your two-day Ha Long excursion, you'll board the Red Dragon Junk, one of the best wooden boats on the Bay. It’s based on the model of the old Chinese court vessels with three barge sails, a wide transom and a rectangular superstructure. The boat has five cabins, accommodating for up to ten people, so you're likely to be joining other travellers for the cruise.
The cabins are air-conditioned and have windows overlooking the bay. The floor area of each cabin is about 10 m2. The cabins are furnished with two twin beds or a double queen size bed. The interior panelling, floor and furniture are made of hard wood. The cabin has a wardrobe, pillows, white cotton sheets, and an en-suite toilet and a shower with a good selection of high-quality toiletries. All meals, usually based on fresh seafood, will be provided on board. Kayaking is available and included in the price.
Day 8: Ha Long – Hanoi – Danang - Hoi An
You’ll wake in the fresh air of the bay with a swim or you can relax on the sundeck. After breakfast, you’ll continue your cruise to visit a fishing village where you’ll have an opportunity to explore the village and the hidden lagoon in a rustic rowing boat. The route will ends at a Pearl Farm where you can see the whole process of making high quality pearl.
You’ll then cruise back to dock around noon whereupon you’ll be picked up to Noi Bai airport in Hanoi late afternoon/evening flight to Danang where your guide will be waiting for you to take you to Hoi An. You’ll spend the night in Hoi An. Breakfast is included.
Day 9: Hoi An tour ½ day
After breakfast, your guide will meet you to show you the Ancient Town and explain its considerable significance in the history of Vietnam. You’ll be free after lunch. You’ll spend the night in Hoi An. Breakfast is included.
Day 10: Hoi An – From Farmer to Fisherman Tour ½ day
The day starts with cycling the narrow roads through the countryside, passing by rice paddy fields, water buffalos, bamboo bridges and local farmers on their daily work. You’ll then board a boat to the mouth of the Thu Bon estuary where the river meets the Cua Dai Sea and cruise along the coastline observing the lives of the local fishermen.
After joining the fisherman to try your hand at catching fish in a traditional ‘Thung Chai’ basket boat, you will meander through the water palm coconut canal. During the American War, Viet Cong soldiers made use of this area as a highly effective hiding place from enemy attacks through their long struggle. Following an insightful visit to a local fishing village, you’ll be free to relax and enjoy a fresh seafood lunch before cycling back to your hotel. Breakfast and lunch is included.
Thung Chai Basket boats, similar in style to coracles in use throughout the ancient world, are widely used throughout Central Vietnam, and are highly suited to the local terrain and lifestyles of local fishermen due to their relative light weight and portability, often doubling as a carrier for various handy items. Circular and constructed of bamboo and tarred for waterproofing, these small boats can typically carry up to five people, and represent a fun-filled opportunity to touch the authentic rural soul of Vietnam. As a precaution, life jackets are provided for your safety during this excursion.
Day 11: Hoi An - Ho Chi Minh City - Cu Chi Tunnels
You’ll have a free morning until you’re picked up for a morning flight from Danang to Ho Chi Minh City.
Upon arrival, you’ll be picked up to visit the famous Cu Chi tunnels, a Byzantine maze of underground passages, chambers, rooms and booby traps used by both the Vietminh and the Viet Cong to suddenly materialise as if from nowhere, launch a lightning ambush, and vanish equally rapidly. You’ll return to Ho Chi Minh City where you spend the night. Breakafst and lunch is included.
Day 12: Ho Chi Minh City - Vinh Long - Can Tho
After escaping from Ho Chi Minh City’s urban sprawl, you’ll travel to Vinh Long where a Mekong River cruise will take you to visit the fruit orchards, a traditional family-run brick kiln, and some long established cottage industries. You’ll drive further into the Mekong Delta to Can Tho. Upon arrival you’ll call in at the Munir Ansay – an ancient Khmer style pagoda, renowned for its unique structural decorations. You’ll then drive to your hotel in Can Tho where you’ll spend the night. Breakfast and lunch is included.
Constructed in 1948 and modelled on Cambodia’s famous Angkor Wat complex, the’ Three Treasures’ tower, the Munir Ansay pagoda has many intricate statues and pillars. Today, approximately a million Khmer people live in Vietnam, mostly in the Mekong Delta provinces.
Day 13: Can Tho - Phu Quoc
The day begins with boarding a boat to cruise to Cai Rang floating market on the Mekong Delta – both the journey and the market provide insights into the Mekong rural lifestyle. Your time will be your own until your driver and guide arrive to take you to Can Tho airport for a noon fight to Phu Quoc. Upon arrival, you’ll be met and picked up to your hotel. Your overnight will be in Phu Quoc. Breakfast and lunch is included.
Day 14 & Day 15: Phu Quoc Free
Your time will be your own! Breakfast is included.
Phu Quoc is at its best, making diving in Vietnam an all-year-round activity. There, the rainy season lasts from mid-May to mid-November. The centre is new, and developing, so there are opportunities to explore new areas. The coral is pristine, and the scattering of small islands at the bottom of Phu Quoc is home to a rich variety of marine bio-diversity. Although there are very few large pelagic species, dugongs have been sighted from time to time.
Day 16: Phu Quoc/Ho Chi Minh City departure
Your time will be your own until your private car and driver arrives to take you to the airport for an afternoon flight back to Ho Chi Minh City to connect with your international departure flight. Breakfast is included.
The price for this tour based on two people sharing: £2,700 per person
Our price includes:
•Return flights from London to Vietnam (Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City) in economy class, with Malaysian Airlines via Kuala Lumpur (flights with British Airways via Hong Kong are also possible at a supplement).
•Breakfast and accommodation sharing a twin or double room.
•Pick-ups and transfers by private air-conditioned vehicle as specified in the itinerary above (Please note: pick-ups will be by a guide and driver or, where a guide is not necessary, a driver only. All unaccompanied drivers will be briefed in advance, and will carry a mobile phone to ensure smooth transfer arrangements)
•Domestic flight tickets: Hanoi – Danang and Danang – Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho – Phu Quoc and Phu Quoc – Ho Chi Minh City, including domestic airport taxes.
•Return train tickets: Hanoi – Lao Cai (air-conditioned soft four-berth cabin, good local standard in ‘Fanxipan’ carriage – private cabin for sole use of two people)
•Boat cruises as specified in the programme. All Ha Long Bay boats will be fully licensed and comply with current safety regulations.
•Travel in an appropriate private air-conditioned vehicle with an experienced driver.
•The services of experienced English-speaking guides as indicated in the itinerary (please note: guides will be on hand from pick-up until guests’ return to their hotel or reaching their destination). Free days or part days will not include the services of a guide unless requested and included in the final itinerary.
•Where necessary, entry fees for all visits as mentioned in the programme.
•Lunches and dinners (as specified in the itinerary) in the best local restaurants, or picnics where no suitable restaurant is available, and full board on the boat in Ha Long Bay.
•VAT and other taxes
Our price does not include:
•Visas
•Dinners, except as specified above.
•Drinks, gratuities and personal expenses.
•Insurance.
Hotel list for this tour:
•Hanoi: Golden Lotus Hotel (** boutique hotel conveniently located in the city centre, a short walk from Hoan Kiem Lake – Deluxe room)
•Ha Long Bay: Red Dragon Junk: traditional junk [Unique] (Superior quality wooden junks modelled on Imperial Court vessels – Deluxe cabin)
•Sapa: Homestay with local families
•Hoi An: Ancient House Resort (*** special resort – hotel with traditional architecture and authentic ancient house inside the complex - Special room)
•Ho Chi Minh City: Elios Hotel (*** city centre – Deluxe room)
•Can Tho: Victoria Can Tho Resort (**** best hotel in Can Tho, colonial architecture on the bank of Hau River - Superior Room)
•Phu Quoc Island: Mango Bay Guesthouse (Unique off the beaten track, attractive bungalow overlooking the sea - Fisherman Bungalow)
If any of the above hotels are not possible, replacements of a similar standard will be found.