TOURS

Trekking

 Kayaking

Cycling

4WD expedition

Motorbiking

 Golfing

Others

ABOUT VIETNAM

Hanoi & surroundings

Halong & Catba island

The Northeast

Sapa & the Northwest

DMZ

 Hue

Hoian - Danang

Coastline

Central Highlands

Saigon

Mekong Delta

COUNTRY INFO

Air access

Overland

Entry Formalities

Customs Regulations

Climate

Health equipment

What to take with you

What to wear

Currency

Securities

Languages

Drinking

Film & Developing

Shopping

Others

TRAVEL GEARS

Backpacks and luggage

Bike and Motorbike

Camping equipment

Electronic gears

Food and cooking

Footwear

Lights and Maps

Outwear and apparel

 Travel Health

TRAVEL SERVICES

Visa arrangement

Train ticket booking

Air ticket booking

Car for rent

Tour guide

NORTHWEST LOOP

Vietnam adventure tours and outdoors activities

Quotation (per person)

Includes  

Excludes

Itinerary

Day 1: HANOI - MAI CHAU 160km (-/L/D)

Morning drive from Hanoi to Mai Chau, a beautiful valley inhabited by the Thai people in Hoa Binh province. As soon as you get out of Hanoi, the limestone mountain ranges rush up and give the scenery an imposing view. Arrive in Mai Chau late noon, have lunch in Mai Chau and hike around the villages full of house-on-stilts and textile products of local people to learn about the routine life of Thai tribal people. Dinner and O/N in a house-on-stilt in Mai Chau.

Among the villages you will pass by during this trip, Mai Chau is the closest place where you can meet the hill tribal people, though, due to the ease to reach the nearest town of Hoa Binh, the village is gradually losing its primitive characters. Still, it’s the most convenient 1^st stop on the long route of the Northwest Loop. The village is inhabited by Thai people, who are believed to be homogenous with the Thai people in Thailand and Southern China. Amongst the 53 ethnic groups of Vietnam, they are considered one of the most civilized for the delicate dress, for beauty and elegance of women, and for nice, wide, spacious houses-on-stilts, and above all, for hospitality.

Day 2: MAI CHAU -  MOC CHAU - SONLA - TUAN GIAO - DIEN BIEN PHU – 350km (B/L/D)

It’s a long day today since the mountain roads do not allow the car highest speed exceed 45km per hour. In return, you are crossing the most magnificent part of the Hoang Lien Son – the

Tonkinese Alps, the home of most colourful-dressed Montagnards who still maintain lots of their long-term culture and traditions. From Mai Chau drive to Son La via Moc Chau, where located hundreds of immense farms of dairy cattle and where produce the best tea of Vietnam. Surrounding Moc Chau is the inhabitation of various tribes including the H’mong, Thai, Muong and Dzao. To see them leaving the very early morning market, you should wake up an depart early, too. At Sonla (200km from Mai Chau), you can pay a visit to an old French prison used during the 1^st Indochinese War. Have lunch in Son la. Afternoon head to Dien Bien via Tuan Giao. The most picturesque scenery is that of Pha Din Pass, which is well-known as a historical site during the French War in 1954, a high and dangerous pass at elevation 1,300, and a breathtaking view. Arrive Dien Bien in the evening for dinner and O/N.

Day 3: DIEN BIEN PHU - LAI CHAU - TAM DUONG - 200km ( B/L/D)

Dien Bien is only 35km from the border with Laos. Being the last battlefield of the French during their war with the Vietnamese, which ended with the fall of the French colonial control in Indochina and the replacement of the US Army not so long, Dien Bien Phu now returned to be a green valley inhabited by dozens of the ethnic groups. Visiting the historical sites in Dien Bien will also make your trip more memorable. To name a few, they are Dien Bien Museum, A1 Hill, the shelter of the French general De Castries and the cemetery and memorial of the Vietnamese and French soldiers died during the fierce fight in 1954. Head North to Tam Duong via Lai Chau, the old chief town of Lai Chau province before Dien Bien took over this role in 1993. You should known that soon before 2010, the nice valley of Lai Chau will be underwater in a construction plan of the biggest hydropower station in Southeast Asia. The communication with the people from tribal groups living surrounding Lai Chau like Black Thai, White Thai, Muong and Dzao people will sweep away your tiredness of the long trip. Dinner and O/N in Tam Duong.

Day 4: TAM DUONG - SAPA. Trekking ( B/L/D)

Make a 2-3hour trek to visit hill tribal villages from the town of Tam Duong before going on to Sapa (80km). Lunch in Sapa and afternoon hike around the villages, amongst which the best and nearest that reachable on foot is Cat Cat stream. To reach this point, you need to go downhill for 3km, following a road passing many French ruins of villas and constructions dated back to 1920s, bamboo forest and breathtaking view of mountains. In clear days, you can see from here the Peak of Fansipan (3,143m). The end of the road is a village of the Black H’Mong people. You can explore their routine life, walk around the village to enjoy the scenery of forests, Old Power Station and Cat Cat cascade. Back to Sapa to visit its fascinating market. Dinner and O/N in Sapa.

Sapa, elevation 1,650m, a magical combination of alpine landscape, ethnic cultures, and bracing mountain air, was built as a hill station inside a beautiful valley in 1922. It’s home of various hill-tribe communities, it’s the only place in Vietnam that catches extremely rare snow flakes in winter, the base to start any conquest to Fansipan, the highest peak of Indochina (3,143m) via primitive forests and spectacular mountainsides. As in other far mountainous regions, where the hill tribal villages take some days to move to one another, Sapa has a weekend market, during which the town fills up with hill tribal people selling their wares. If you prefer to be apart from crowds of visitors who will also gather in the marketplace in weekend, visit Sapa on weekdays and hike to villages which are easily reached by trekking, or take short excursions by car to the hamlets of colorfully-dressed H’mong, Red Dzao, Dzay, Tay and Xa Pho people, whilst enjoying spectacular terraced fields along the roads.

Day 5: SAPA - BAC HA (B/L/D)

With a dozen of tribes living in the surroundings, including Flower H’Mong, Chinese, Nhang, Dzao, Nung, Phu la, Thai and King (or Viet), the Sunday market of Bac Ha is extremely exciting esp. in the early morning. Not a unique in the Northern mountains of Vietnam but one of the very few places whose infrastructure allow the car to reach, Bac Ha soon became a captivating destination. Anyhow, the difficult road helps maintain the colours (literal and figurative sense) of the area. The Sunday market in Bac Ha is often held… well, on Sunday, and a lot of the market sellers are women from the tribe of Flower H’Mong, who are famous for their wonderful craft and hand-made flowering clothes and textile fabrics. The market is most exciting just for a half day. By 14.00, you may see people leaving (after eating) back to their villages. After lunchtime, you can hike around to follow them to their villages too, or take your car heading to further hamlets in Ban Pho, Trieu Cai, or Na Hoi, or trek there and be picked-up by car to return to Bac Ha, all the villages are within 2-4km from the marketplace. Dinner and O/N in Bac Ha.

Day 6: BAC HA - HANOI (B/L/-)

Back to Hanoi (350km) via Yen Bai. Lunch en route. Arrive at your accommodation in Hanoi late evening. We hope you’ve got a memorable trip of a real Vietnam and look forward to seeing you back!

Useful information

Fitness Requirements: You should be moderately fit and have some experience riding bicycles longer distances.

Weather: The weather in Vietnam is usually warm and humid. From June to September July and August, it is rain and hot (25-30oC) , humid conditions with afternoon monsoon rains  During the months of November to March the weather will tend to be drier but with colder temperatures (25-30oC).  In the hills, mornings and evenings may be cool. Rain is always a possibility. You need to be prepared for several types of conditions.  Humidity can also play a role, and it's important to stay hydrated and use sun protection.

Optional Gears: Besides the outdoors and travel gears provided within the tour, we would like to recommend you some items for this trip. All are available at Outdoors and Travel gears:

See also: other adventure tours