Discover the rustic Vietnam, enjoy the dramatic landscape where colorful hill tribes inhabited for many generations. Vietnam Northwest region is the place for your off-road trip to loop around. You will definitely fall in love with attractive Vietnam after the tour. Source: http://www.customvietnamtravel.com/vietnam-tours/off-the-beaten-track/loop-vietnam-northwest.html

1. Vietnam Off the Beaten Track – Loop Vietnam
Northwest
Discover the rustic Vietnam, enjoy the dramatic landscape where colorful hill tribes inhabited
for many generations. Vietnam Northwest region is the place for your off-road trip to loop
around. You will definitely fall in love with attractive Vietnam after the tour.
• Trip's length: 7 days
• Trip Themes: Local life & Culture, Local food, Community, Explorer
• Transport: car/mini bus
• Places visited: Mai Chau - Son La - Dien Bien - Lai Chau - Sapa
• Tour operates: all year around
• Start / End cities: Hanoi / Hanoi
• Accommodation: home-stay: 2nts; hotel: 4nts
• Price from: Available on request
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1 Hanoi – Mai Chau [L, D]
Early morning, the guide and driver
come to pick you up for a overland
drive to Hoa Binh province. Out of
the bustling streets of Hanoi and
wind your way through villages, rice
paddies with stops on the way for
taking photographs. Arrive at a
village of White Thai people in Mai
Chau Valley around noon. Have
lunch with local food at the village.
In the afternoon, together with your
guide, take a gentle trek to explore the surroundings with thatch roof villages, fruit and vegetable
gardens and rice fields. This is a great chance for you to learn the daily life of the locals. Back to the
family for dinner and enjoy the traditional music and dance. The show is performed by the local
boys and girls. Overnight on stilt house.
Approximately 135 km from Hanoi, Mai Chau is the heart of a beautiful valley that is a world away
from the hustle of Hanoi. The modern village is an unappealing sprawl, but as you emerge on the
rice fields and rural living is transformed into a real paradise. It’s a stunning area, and the most
people here are ethnic White Thai, distantly related to tribes in Thailand, Laos and China.
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2. Day 2 Mai Chau – Son La [B, L, D]
After breakfast at the village,
morning drive ups the mountains,
heading for Son La. Have a stop at
Xa Linh for a short walk to visit
Pacon village and Xa Linh colorful
market (market only on Sunday)
where the H’mong people live.
You will have a great view through
the windows of the car with plenty
of green tea plantations at the side
hills at Moc Chau, you can have a
short break at a local shop for a
green tea and milk cakes as these are the specialties of the area. Lunch at Yen Chau town. In the
afternoon, you can have another stop for visiting the Black Thai people who live in some hamlets
with turtle shell roof house-on-stilts. Arrive at Son La city, visit Son La Former Prison built by the
French and Museum of ethnology preserves revolutionary remains and exhibits precious objects
introducing the historical and cultural traditions of the 12 ethnic groups living in Son La. Check in a
hotel and overnight at Son La.
Day 3 Son La – Dien Bien Phu [B, L, D]
The road trip goes on after your breakfast; today drive is also very stunning with high passes cutting
through steep mountains. Along the way, you can witness homes of many hill tribes authentic in
lifestyle and colorful in costumes. A daily market at Thuan Chau town is also worth visiting. After
passing Pha Din Pass, you will have lunch at Tuan Giao. In the afternoon, the drive continues along
a small river where you can learn how the Black Thai people use the traditional water wheel to
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3. transfer water into their rice fields. Arrive in Dien Bien Phu City. Check in your hotel. Dinner and
overnight in Dien Bien Phu.
Day 4 Dien Bien Phu – Lai Chau [B, L, D]
After breakfast, you will visit the last bastion of French power in Indochina. Monuments, museum
and preserved bunkers tell the story of the final and victorious liberating battle of 1954. Then drive
to Lai Chau (Former Tam Duong). En route, you meet numerous hill tribe minorities of Red
H'mong, Dao, Mang, and watching the picturesque terrace fields drifting away beside the car
windows in Sin Ho township. The way up to Sin Ho is beautiful. Beside Sapa, it is one of the highest
towns in Vietnam, very cold in winter. Lunch at a local restaurant in Sin Ho. Arrive at Lai Chau
town (former Phong Tho). Overnight at Lai Chau.
Day 5 Lai Chau – Sapa [B, L]
This morning drive offer you a spectacular landscape when you are climbing one of the highest
passes in Vietnam, Tram Ton Pass with the top reaches to 1800 meters above the sea level, it is at
the side of Hoang Lien Son National Park where the roof of Vietnam located. There is time for photo
opportunities on the way and a visit to Silver Water Fall before arrive at Sapa Town. Lunch in Sapa.
Check in your hotel. In the afternoon, climb to the summit of Ham Rong Mt. to admire the panorama
over the township of Sapa and Muong Hoa valley. Free time for the evening and dinner at your own
account. Overnight in Sapa.
Day 6 Sapa Trek [B, D]
A full day exploring Sapa and the surroundings with rice terraces and hill tribes’ villages, the car
will be available any time to pick you up from some trekking points. Tonight, you will experience
another night at a local home-stay in a village of Dzay people.
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4. Day 7 Sapa – Hanoi [B, L]
After breakfast at the home-stay, you have 400 km to go so you are advised to start driving at 7:30
o’clock down hill to Hanoi. Lunch at midway. Arrive in Hanoi late in the afternoon. End of service.
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