South & Northern Charms Of Vietnam – 10 Days

Leave the city for the drive of about two hours to Cai Be, in the heart of the delta. Board a traditional wooden sampan to explore the Cai Be Floating Market, where boats piled high with tropical produce trade on the river, and stop to chat with the vendors. Step ashore at a small workshop to see how puffed rice, the local answer to popcorn, and other sweets are made.

Lunch is a home-cooked Vietnamese meal with a local family, followed by a stroll through their orchard to see the fruit of the season and listen to don ca tai tu, the lilting folk music of the south.

Back on the boat, follow the small, quiet canals around the island to Vinh Long, then drive on to Can Tho, the largest city in the delta.

Spend the rest of the day strolling along the lively waterfront, across the pedestrian bridge and through Ninh Kieu Park.

Leave your hotel early by motorboat for Cai Rang Floating Market, where traders sell fruit and vegetables straight from their boats. Continue to the orchards of the delta to taste fresh tropical fruit, then go deeper into the countryside, past traditional houses of wood and palm leaves, watching the locals at work.

After lunch, return to Can Tho for your flight to Hanoi. Your driver and guide meet you in the baggage hall at Noi Bai Airport and take you to your hotel in the heart of the city.

Take it easy for the rest of the day.

Rise early with your guide for Long Bien Market, the largest wholesale fruit and vegetable market in northern Vietnam. Locals crowd around open-backed trucks, traders count money at their stalls and motorbikes weave down the aisles, all before most of the city is awake. Return to your hotel for breakfast and a rest.

Your guide meets you again for the Ho Chi Minh Complex, where the granite Mausoleum stands beside the modest stilt house in which the country’s founding father lived and worked. Nearby, the One Pillar Pagoda rises from its pond like a lotus flower, and the yellow Presidential Palace shows the French side of the city. Continue to the Temple of Literature, dedicated to Confucius and later home to Vietnam’s first university.

Visit the Museum of Ethnology, both a research centre and a museum, which brings to life the traditions of Vietnam’s many ethnic groups.

End in the Old Quarter, where thousands of small shops and family businesses fill a maze of narrow streets and alleys. It is a wonderful place to wander with your camera.

After breakfast, drive east through the rice fields of the Red River Delta to the coast.

Step aboard your traditional junk and settle into your private cabin. Lunch is served on board as the boat sails out among the islands, whose cliffs hide beaches, grottoes and caves.

Drop anchor in a quiet cove for a swim, then visit Sung Sot, the Surprise Cave, one of the many caverns hidden beneath the bay’s high cliffs.

Relax on deck and watch the light change over the bay, then enjoy dinner on board.

Rise early for tai chi on the top deck, or simply watch the sun come up over the islands with a cup of coffee or tea.

Explore the nearby islands by rowing boat, then return on board and relax on the sundeck as the rock formations drift by. Brunch is served as the junk cruises slowly back to the harbour.

Your driver meets you at the dock for the drive back to Hanoi. The rest of the day is at leisure to unwind or explore the Old Quarter on your own.

Your driver and guide collect you early for the drive of about six hours to Sapa along the Noi Bai to Lao Cai highway, with a break on the way. As you climb, the mountains and terraced fields of the northwest come into view.

Arrive in Sapa and have lunch at a local restaurant.

Set off on foot along buffalo paths and trails through the villages of Lao Chai and Ta Van, home to Black Hmong and Giay families. Once down in the valley, the scenery opens up all around you: terraced rice fields rising in layers up the slopes, with villages scattered between them.

Spend the night with a local family in a village homestay, sharing a home-cooked dinner.

After a hearty breakfast, walk to Giang Ta Chai, a village of the Red Dao people. The trail leads through the bamboo forests of Hoang Lien National Park and past a waterfall, a lovely spot to rest and take in the view.

Stop for lunch along the way.

Continue to Su Pan, a small village by the road, where your driver meets you for the drive back to Sapa.

After breakfast, stroll through Sapa’s morning market, where people from the surrounding villages come to buy and sell.

Drive for about five hours straight to Noi Bai Airport for your flight home.