FANTASTIC NORTHERN VIETNAM
  • SKU: Northern Vietnam, Cultural and Community Based Imm

FANTASTIC NORTHERN VIETNAM

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Discover the northwest of Hanoi with a 7 day itinerary which combines cultural and community-based experiences. Interact with local people and understand the process of micro-credit for locals, an educational activity with the NGO Bloom Microventures . Stay in a traditional stilt house in Mai Chau and go biking on the charming paths of this lovely province. Enjoy 2 full days at Ky Son Lodge, a comfortable base from which guests have a variety of activities on offer though which they can learn more about local traditions in its surrounding villages. The tour concludes with a stay at LaViVulinh, an eco and community-based tourism project.





DAY 1 - HANOI- HOA BINH - MAI CHAU (L,D)

Breakfast the 08:00am depart from your hotel to Hoa Binh province ( or sooner at 07:00 due to the hot weather in summer). Your journey takes around 2 hour driving through a scenic route for a unique day-tour to an ethnic minority community in the rural mountains in Hoa Binh province (70km West of Hanoi) that gives you the chance to explore a side of Vietnam very few tourists will ever experience while making a major difference to the lives of Vietnamese farmers. Bloom Microventures is a non-profit social enterprise (registered UK charity) providing microcredit to women living below the poverty line in developing countries using a unique model that harnesses the power of responsible tourism and microfinance to alleviate poverty. Be noted that your tour fees will touch lives by directly funding a low-interest microcredit loan for a marginalized woman you will meet during the tour. The Bloom Microventures business model uses the tour fees to directly fund a micro-credit for pre-screened applicants to fund their approved business ideas.
The tour includes a short walk around a beautiful lake nestled in between mountains , forestsand rice paddies. You will have visit the broom cooperative where you can learn all the procedures of making a broom by hand. You can also try your hand at some agricultural activities with our borrowers such as making shrimp baskets with bamboo bands, harvesting rice and fishing using local traditional methods. Visit the head of the Women’s Union house in the village who have been working for over 10 years and she will be sharing with us some of the challenges and opportunities faced by rural women in Vietnam then have an authentic Vietnamese lunch at her house. After Lunch, o to the house of the Head of the Commune People’s Committee where you can learn more about the community. We will take a walk to the nearby schools, kindergarten and clinic and learn about the health and education system in the commune.
During the tour, you will have more knowledge which may inspire you in some angles. Enjoy an educational and meaningful exchange with some whose life touch you for the better. As part of the day, an amount of your tour fee will fund directly towards a micro-credit loan of a borrower you visit. End of the tour in Hoa Binh around 3:00pm, then drive to Mai Chau. The 2-hour driving route through the mountains, lush valleys and traditional villages. Arrive in Mai chau around 5pm. Check-in Mai Chau Lodge and enjoy a traditional Thai music and dance performance.
Around lunch time, you will visit the village head of the Women’s Union who will share some of the challenges and opportunities faced by women in rural Vietnam. You will share an authentic Vietnamese lunch with her. After lunch, you will go to the Head of the Community People’s Committee where you will learn more about the community structure, life, and challenges. Opportunities exist to visit a local clinic, kindergarten, and / or schools. You will have gained a deeper knowledge of the cultural traditions and social structures that support Vietnamese villages on a day-to-day basis learning from the villagers who’ve welcomed you into their world. Have lunch at the Mai Chau Lodge restaurant. Overnight in Mai Chau.


DAY 2 - MAI CHAU (B,L,D)

In the morning , take a light trek within 2 -4 hours through Xa Linh, Paco village which is home of the Green Hmong people. Pinic Lunch will be served on road. In the afternoon, explore the hill tribe community at Van Mai,Mai Hich ,Cum and Xam Khoe villages then be transferred back to your accommodation. Overnight in Mai Chau.


DAY 3 - MAI CHAU - KY SON (B,L,D)

In the morning, experience a short biking trip around the Mai Chau Valley and discover the beautiful landscape andthe rural daily life then return to your hotel for lunch.
After lunch, have an 3.5 hour driving to Ky Son Village then check-in a unique lodge which reconstructed from an old building with the traditional structures . Enjoy the amazing landscape here and check-in then at leisure. Overnight in Ky Son village.


DAY 4 - KY SON (B,L,D)

This morning you will wake up early to join the local excercises and experience the morning ritual of local people in honoring ancestors . Have breakfast then bike (or drive, as your car is at your disposal ) 6 km to Duong Lam Anvient village to discover one of the country’s few remaining ancient villages where several hundred-year-old houses preserved . Wander the village narrow alley, visit houses over 400 years old, local temples,meet friendly local people and explore the very traditional life style. Come to Mong Phu hamlet whose original village entrance remains intact, visit Mong Phu temple then have lunch in a local house of 100 years old then back to Ky son.
This afternoon is at your leisure to relax in the captivating nature surroundings. Unwind in a garden hammock, or take the life- time picture in traditional Vietnamese clothes or fishing until diner. Overnight in Ky Son.


DAY 5 - KY SON - YEN BINH (B,L,D)

This morning wake up early to experience traditional Vietnamese workship morning ritual dedicated to ancestors then have breakfast then enjoy your nice morning in the stuning natural beauty surrounding you.
stroll around the village or take a leisurely cycling on the village lanes , see local people working on the rice field. Stop and Chat with local people about their daily life activities. Depend on your travel period, you may join them with harvesting rice, corn, sweet potatoes ...or Plowing ricefields with a Water Buffalo learning an ancient tradition of working with the animal.Collect tea and medecinal herbs i a garden for a steambath in your Lodge before check-out for a 3 hour drive to Yen Binh.
After breakfast enjoy free time to luxuriate in stunning natural surroundings. Walk around the village, stop at any home for a cup of tea. Chat with local people about their daily life and farming. Help with plowing, transplanting seedlings or harvesting rice, tea, cassava, corn, or sweet potatoes depending on the harvest season. Collect tea and medicinal herbs in the garden to use back at the lodge. Alternatively, take your time to relax in a garden hammock or take pictures in traditional Vietnamese garb.
After lunch, leave Ky Son for a 3-hour drive to Yen Binh and arrive at LaViVuLinh Eco-Lodge around 5pm. This property constructed in Dao hill tribe community.
Built with the spirit between homestay and lodge, LaviVuLinh is a project of sustainable development in 3 main fields , education, envirement, eco-tourism. LaVivulinh team assembled by the younger of the families from the villages around. There was a school was built to train the team in english ,computer using, accounting... The lodge is built mostly with natural material such as bammboo and wood.
In the afternoon, you are at leisure and stroll around the village and the lodge.
Overnight at LaViVuLinh Eco-Lodge.


DAY 6 - YEN BINH (B,L,D)

Depart from your lodeg at 08:00 am for a tour to Thac Ba Lake and Ngoi Tu Village.
Take a 1.5 hour cruise on a traditional boat , visit a Dao family and have a cup of tea with the local people, then walk on the island and go up to a hill to admire the picturesque view of the lake. Return to LaviVuLinh by boat and have lunch in lodge. I the afternoon,visit NGoi Tu village where you will discover its colorful life in the stilt-house among the green paddie fields. Collect some medicinal herbs for your steam bath at your lodge. Return to LavieVulinh around 5pm. Overnight in Yen Binh


DAY 7 - YEN BINH - HANOI (B,L)

Enjoy a leisure morning by some more walking in the village or swimming in Thac Ba Lake or catch fish with traditional nets .... After lunch, drive back to Hanoi ( 4 hour) and arrive Hanoi around 6:00pm


TOUR DURATION: 7 Days / 6 Nights

TOUR OPERATES: Year Round / On Demand

TOUR PRICE: Available upon Request

Rates vary frequently. Please contact us to get the best possible price based upon your travel period and specific touring needs.

Our services include:

  • Accommodation in a traditional stilt house (private sleeping area per group) or shared twin or shared double room (private room in shared house)
  • Meals as mentioned (B= Breakfast, L= Lunch, D= Dinner)
  • English or French speaking guide (for other languages supplements apply)
  • Tours and transfers as mentioned by private air conditioned vehicle
  • Boat trips as mentioned in the itinerary
  • Entrance fees for mentioned visits

Our services do not include:

  • Other meals than mentioned
  • Other services than mentioned
  • International and domestic Flights
  • Laundry, telephone calls and expenditure of a personal nature
  • Tips, Travel insurance

Creating Unique Touring Experiences

  • All the touring itineraries on this website have been carefully crafted by our in-country management teams and represent a series of experiences we can certainly recommend. However, we understand that every travel experience should be as unique and individual as each traveler. Our consultants are waiting to hear from you so that we can tailor or custom design a Vietnam tour to your individual specifications

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