Travel Review: Review of Greetings from Haivenu Tours - Vietnam

Day 1 (November 25): Arrival at Hanoi (D, GP)

Arriving at Noi Bai airport in Hanoi at 12.30PM on Singapore Airlines #SQ176, you’ll be met and driven to your hotel. In the evening, you’ll have tickets for a performance of traditional Water Puppetry, an art form unique to northern Vietnam, and a good, light-hearted introduction to its rural culture.
You’ll have time to relax after your journey before a ‘Welcome’ dinner in a family restaurant situated in a small alley in the Old Quarter of Hanoi. The owner is a talented cook who will be preparing your food. You’ll spend the night in Hanoi.

Day 2 (November 26): Hanoi/Lao Cai (B, L, G)
You’ll have the whole day to explore Vietnam’s capital city. Your guide will take you to the Temple of Literature, the first university in Vietnam dating back to the 11th century, and a popular attraction, as is Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum. You’ll then drive to the excellent Ethnology Museum for an overview of Vietnam’s 54 distinct ethnic groups in anticipation of your trip to Sapa.
After lunch, you’ll call in at the serene Tran Quoc Pagoda, the oldest in Hanoi, on the banks of Hanoi’s Ho Tay (West) Lake. The centre of Hanoi, including Hoan Kiem Lake, the Ngoc Son temple and the bustling Old Quarter, is a magnet for visitors – it’s noisy and hectic, but definitely a ‘must-see’ attraction. The Old Quarter is a maze of shopping streets and restaurants with a hotchpotch of architecture - traditional tube houses, religious buildings, artisans’ workshops and cottages, colonial houses and modern concrete edifices.
We’ll arrange your programme to avoid the busy times at popular destinations, but if there’s anything you particularly want to see, let us know.
A car will arrive to take you to Hanoi railway station in time to board the overnight sleeper to Lao Cai.
Note: Late check out until 0800pm at Quoc Hoa Hotel

Day 3 (November 27): Lao Cai/Ethnic market/Sapa (B, L, G)
After breakfast, your transport and guide will arrive to take you to visit Lung Khau Nhin market frequented by ethnic minority peoples. The first part of your journey will take you through Lao Cai, which is a border crossing point, and alongside the river marking the boundary with China. After a picnic lunch, you’ll be taken to Sapa for overnight accommodation.
Although it’s quite a long drive, the landscape is attractive and the ethnic markets are a fascinating experience. Unlike those in the tourist areas, the markets that we choose are for not only buying and selling, but also meeting places for ethnic minority people to meet and exchange news. There will be plenty of colour and authentic costumes, but very little to buy as souvenirs unless you want to barter for a water buffalo or a sack of fertiliser!
The trips to ethnic minority markets must be on Thursday (Lung Khau Nhin market), Saturday (Can Cau) or Sunday (Bac Ha or Muong Hum markets).

Day 4 (November 28): Sapa (B, L, D, G)
After breakfast and an early start, you’ll hike to visit the Red Dao ethnic minority people of Giang Ta Chai village, where you’ll have lunch. Later in the afternoon, you’ll be picked up by jeep to travel to Ban Ho village where you’ll have dinner and spend the night in a Tay ethnic minority group stilt-house.

Day 5 (November 29): Sapa/Lao Cai/Hanoi (B, L, G)
After walking around Ban Ho village and a refreshing splash-around in a clear mountain spring, your guide will serve a stream-side picnic lunch. In the afternoon, you’ll be picked up to return to Sapa and, later in the evening, to Lao Cai station by jeep to catch the overnight train to Hanoi.

Day 6 (November 30): Hanoi arrival/Cycling and exploring villages around Hanoi (B, L, G)
You’ll arrive in Hanoi early next morning (early check in with breakfast at Quoc Hoa Hotel included). You’ll be taken to the hotel for breakfast and refreshment. After breakfast, you’ll be picked up to drive to Bat Trang. On arrival, you’ll be able to stroll in the small alleys of this old village to watch local people producing their fine products and visit some of the houses used as workshops and showrooms. You’ll then pick up your bicycles and ride along the riverside dike, through some more of the many villages surrounding Hanoi. The total distance on bicycles is about 7km along a small road that runs beside a tributary of the Red River.
You’ll then drive to Dong Ho village - famous for its traditional paintings. After a picnic lunch, your vehicle will take to Tam Tao village to enjoy its traditional Quan Ho music performed by villagers in the commune house. The singers have been officially designated as part of Vietnam’s ‘living heritage’ by UNESCO. In the late afternoon, you’ll return to Hanoi for overnight accommodation.

Day 7 (December 01): Hanoi/Ha Long Bay (B, L, D, DP)
After breakfast, you’ll leave for Ha Long Bay, one of the most spectacular UNESCO World Heritage Areas and the world’s largest marine limestone ‘karst’ landscape. There you’ll board your boat, a wooden junk built from the model of the old Vietnamese court vessels with sails, a wide transom and rectangular superstructure, that will take you first to the busy World Heritage area and then to some of the less well-known grottoes and caves. Weather permitting, you’ll be able to swim, fish, climb a hill (not a mountain!) for an overview of the Bay’s remarkable seascape, or venture into some of the sea level caves in a small sampan. All your meals will be provided on board, usually based on fresh seafood, and you’ll sleep in a twin cabin with an en suite toilet and shower.
For your two-day Ha Long excursion, you'll board one of the best quality boats on the Bay, a wooden junk based on the model of the old Vietnamese court vessels with sails, a wide transom and rectangular superstructure. The boats vary in size, accommodating between ten and eighteen people, so you're likely to be joining other travellers for the cruise. Your cabin will be about six metres square, and furnished with twin bunks, two fans, an air-conditioner, pillows, white cotton sheets, and an en suite toilet and shower. All your meals, usually based on fresh seafood, will be provided on board.

Day 8 (December 02): Ha Long/Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City (B, L, DP in Hanoi, GP in Ho Chi Minh City)
You’ll spend the morning cruising Ha Long Bay, followed by lunch just before docking around noon and leaving for Noi Bai airport in Hanoi for an evening flight to Ho Chi Minh City by VN783 at 1700-1900. On arrival, you’ll be met and driven to your hotel. After checking in you’ll be free, perhaps for a preliminary wander around Ho Chi Minh City’s busy streets and shops. You’ll spend the night in Ho Chi Minh City.

Day 9 (December 03): Ho Chi Minh City orientation (B, L, G)
After breakfast, your guide will arrive to show you around Ho Chi Minh City. You’ll visit the History Museum where there is a special exhibition of the 5th century ‘Oc Eo’ civilisation. The Museum of War Remnants provides a very partial, but riveting, perspective of the ‘American War’: not for the squeamish! The huge Ben Thanh market, one of the liveliest areas of Ho Chi Minh City, is packed with every conceivable commodity.
You’ll also call in at the Jade Emperor Temple. It’s one of the best Taoist temples in Vietnam, with superb effigies, remarkable carved panels of the descent to Hell and somewhat incongruous terrapin and tortoise sanctuaries. You’ll finish your day with a visit to a lacquer workshop to see the complex processes and meticulous workmanship involved in this traditional Vietnamese craft product. You’ll spend the night in Ho Chi Minh City.

Day 10 (December 04): Ho Chi Minh City/Vinh Long/Ho Chi Minh City (B, L, G)
After escaping from Ho Chi Minh City’s urban sprawl, you’ll travel to Vinh Long. There, you’ll cruise on the Mekong River, visit Cai Be floating market, fruit orchards, a traditional family-run brick kiln, and drop in to look at some traditional cottage industries - a workshop making the huge coffins unique to the Mekong is particularly interesting. In the afternoon, you’ll return to Ho Chi Minh City where you’ll spend the night.

Day 11 (December 05): Ho Chi Minh City/Siem Reap (B, G)
Your time will be your own until your car arrives at the hotel to take you to the airport for your flight to Siem Reap by VN827 at 1140-1240. Arriving at Siem Reap airport, you’ll be met and driven to your hotel. The day’s activities will be devoted to the Angkor Temple complex, of which Angkor Wat is a key element. You’ll explore Angkor Wat itself, the largest, and for most people, the most impressive temple in the complex. As dusk nears, a walk to the summit of Phnom Bakheng Hill will afford a panorama of the whole complex lit by the rays of the setting sun, weather permitting of course. Your overnight accommodation will be in Siem Reap.

Day 12 (December 06): Siem Reap (B, L, G)
After breakfast, you’ll begin with a visit to Angkor Thom, starting with the Bayon, a bizarre structure of several architectural changes reflecting a switch from Hinduism (the foundations) to Buddhism (the superstructure). Your next visit will be to the Elephant and Leper Emperor Terraces, followed by the Baphoun Temple, which is now nearing the end of an eight-year multi-million dollar restoration programme. You’ll then visit Ta Prohm, strangled by massive tree roots and typical of the condition of the whole complex when it was discovered in 1860 by French naturalist Henri Mouhot, and Neak Pean, a Himalayan-style lake and sanctuary.

Day 13 (December 07): Siem Reap/Tonle Sap Lake/Siem Reap (B, L, G)
After breakfast, you’ll be driven to Siem Reap River and Wat Athovea. There, you’ll embark for a boat trip on Tonle Sap Lake, a natural reservoir that partly controls the level of floods in the Mekong Delta, and visit a floating fishing village en-route. You’ll return to your Siem Reap downtown for lunch. In the afternoon, your time will be your own.
If you wish, an ox-cart ride can be arranged for you in the village of Aranh, about 6km away from Siem Reap on the way to Tonle Sap Lake. The village is a poorer community where ox-cart rides for tourists have just been arranged by local tourism authority with the aim to contribute some income to the villagers. The ride lasts for about 30 minutes along the bank of the Siem Reap River passing by local houses where you will learn about local people and their daily life. You'll cross a small bridge to the other side of the river and end up with a nice rural scenery and paddy-field.

Day 14 (December 08): Siem Reap departure (B, G)
After breakfast, you’ll be free until your driver arrives at your hotel to take you to Siem Reap airport for your flight to departure flight at 0620PM on the flight VN828.