SE Asia Tour Packages
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.. Indochina
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'Mix & Match' Tours
§ City of Hanoi
§ Pagodas & History
§ Ha Long Bay & Yen Tu
§ Ancient Capitals
§ Northern Highlands
§ Cao Bang & Lang Son
§ Central Highlands
§ Hue Monuments
§ Cham Discovery
§ Mekong & the South
§ Cu Chi & Tay Ninh
§ Ho Chi Minh City

Tell us about your particular interests, and we'll take you to places only the local guides know. Whether it's active travel, sun worship, study tours, Vietnam War sites, or satisfying your culinary curiosity, Mikeland welcomes a challenge!

Home > "Mix & Match Tours > Northern Highlands

Day 1 : HA NOI – HOA BINH – LAO CAI
Leave for Hoa Binh (75km), a quiet town surrounded by lakes and mountains. Take a boat ride on the Da River to visit villages of the Yao and Muong tribes in natural lakeside surroundings. Enjoy a tribal folk show performed at a traditional house-on-stilts. Return to Hanoi. Spend time shopping or at leisure before transferring to the Hanoi Railway Station. Board a night train for Lao Cai (370km). Berths in airconditioned compartments are provided. O/N on board.

Day 2 : LAO CAI – BAC HA
After a 10 hours’ ride, arrive in Lao Cai, a small border town by the Red River. Pick up and ascend to Bac Ha (70km) via a winding road with breath-taking mountain views. Visit Bac Ha Fair (on Sunday only), considered the most lively and crowded in the region. It attracts a large number of Flower H’mong and other hill-tribe groups (Nung, Phu La, Tay). In the afternoon, a soft trek begins at Lung Phinh, 12km from Bac Ha. Stroll around Flower H’mong and Phu La villages (6km) to get to know the tribesmen. Transfer to a hotel. O/N in Bac Ha. Ngay

Day 3 : BAC HA – NAM MON
Take an amazing trek (12km) to Nam Mon Village. Discover the unspoilt beauty of the Bac Ha Plateau with scenic terraced fields, majestic limestone peaks and smiling faces of Flower H’mong people. Picnic lunch en route and dinner at the village are included. O/N at the home of a Black Yao household at Nam Mon.

Day 4 : NAM MON – COC LY - SAPA
Follow a crowd of female villagers attired in colourful skirts and horses laden with local products on a walking path (2km) to Coc Ly Fair (on Tuesday only). Dominated by the Flower H’mong, the fair sells various goods from vegetables, brocade to buffaloes, horses, pigs, etc. and offers a view of a nearby suspension bridge with splendid surroundings. Have a picnic lunch. Then take a boat ride (1 hour) down the Chay River to Bao Nhai Bridge and marvel at the wild grandeur of precipitous mountain cliffs. Travel up to Sapa (80km), a small mountainous town frequently shrouded in mist and famous for hill-tribe villages nearby. O/N in Sapa.

Day 5 : SA PA – THANH PHU
Leave for Ban Den (20km) by car via a scenic road along the Muong Hoa Valley with a panoramic view of villages with thatch-roofed cottages and terraced fields. Enjoy an exciting descent (3km) to Ban Ho Hamlet, where torrential branches of the Ngoi Bo River converge. Lunch is arranged at Ban Ho. Following quiet hilly roads to Thanh Phu (8km) provides an ideal opportunity to savour the charm of pristine nature and hospitable villagers. Stay and have dinner at a Tay tribe house-on-stilts at Thanh Phu.

Day 6 : EXCURSION TO NAM SAI
Spend the whole day exploring the Nam Sai area, home to the Sapho tribe with legends and customs still unknown. Numbering about 2,000 and dwelling on remote high mountains, Sapho tribesmen are rarely seen in Sapa. Trek to secluded My Son Hamlet (8km) and wonder at the elaborate dress of Sapho girls. Return to Thanh Phu via another trail (6km). Pinic lunch and dinner are included. O/N at the home at Thanh Phu.

Day 7 : THANH PHU – SIN CHAI – BAN HO
Make a thrilling ascent to Sin Chai (5km) and explore a rarely-visited hamlet of the Red Yao tribe. The Red Yao lady is easily identified by her long locks of hair folded in a large red turban. Enjoy the hospitality of the villagers and the sight of terraced fields. Onwards to Ban Ho, a Tay tribe hamlet (10km). Pinic lunch and dinner are included. O/N at a local home at Ban Ho.

Day 8 : BAN HO - SAPA
Take a short trek to Ban Den (3km). Transfer to Sapa (20km) by car with a stop-over at ancient rocks with hieroglyphs carved thousands of years ago. The rest of the day is leisure or shopping for delicate embroideries and batik at Sapa Fair. Climbing the steps to Mount Ham Rong with a panoramic view of Sapa is recommended. The evening entertainment is a tribal folk show at a bar. O/N in Sapa.

Day 9 : SAPA – LAO CAI – HA NOI
In the morning, wander around Sapa Fair (on Sunday only) with hundreds of Black H’mong and Red Yao gathering. Socialize with the tribesmen and enjoy bargaining for unique souvenirs. Transfer to Lao Cai (40km). Board the night train to Lao Cai (370km). Berths in air-conditioned compartments are provided. O/N on board.

• You can extend your highland experience by flying to Danang and taking our 4-day tour of the Central Highlands.
• Add our 2-day city tour of Hanoi at the beginning or end of your Highland adventure. The Hanoi tour will include a visit to the world-famous Ethnographic Museum, with its many exhibits explaining the history and customs of the hill tribes.
• Combine this with our 3-day Ha Long Bay tour to the mountains and coast to the east of Ha Noi, which includes a trip to Yen Tu Mountain in addition to the World Heritage site of Ha Long.