Upon arrival in Hanoi airport by, your guide will hold the welcome signboard meet you at the international arrival hall and transfer by private coach to our hotel in the center of Hanoi.

OPTIONAL (Included): For those who wish to explore the old quarter on foot can join our guide

Enjoy a 90 minutes guided walking tour through the bustling Old Quarter and sprawling Dong Xuan Market. The Old Quarter, home to more than 1000 traditional houses, dates from 1010 when King Ly Thai To moved his capital from Hoa Lu in northern Ninh Binh Province to Hanoi. The Old Quarter became the trading center of the metropolis and its 36 streets are named after the merchants' crafts and trades. For example Hang Gai Street is full of silk shops, Hang Giay overflowing with shoes and Hang Bac with small silversmiths. It is fascinating to walk around the labyrinthine streets.

18.00: Trip briefing to meet the guides that will be with us during our time in Vietnam.

After breakfast, drive an interesting four hours to beautiful Hoa Binh Province, located in the mountainous area southeast of Hanoi. It is region dominated by limestone karst scenery and is populated by Thai, Hmong, Muong and Dao ethnic people. Descend the last 14km along a steep mountain road into the stunning valley of Mai Chau.

Drive 30 minutes to the H'mong village of Xa Linh and take a three hour hike along jungle paths to Hang Kia village.

Arrive in Hang Kia, where you will stay overnight with a local family. Take a guided stroll walk (around 1 hour) to the nearby village if you wish.

Overnight in local homestay.

Following breakfast, you'll then turn to small dirt trails through the jungle. Most of this morning's route is going downhill to land of Thai ethnic minority. Nearly reaching Cun Pheo you can see rice fields and typical local house-on-stilts.

Arrive in Cun Pheo village. Take some rest and walk around the village.

Rest in Cun Pheo.

Continue trekking on the village route past rice paddies to Van village then onto Buoc Village - a small and beautiful hidden village of White Thai ethnic.

Arrive at Buoc village and spend the night in a traditional house. 

Overnight in local homestay.

Trek this morning to Xam Khoe village for a quick chat then following the village trails and rice paddies to Van Mai.

Arrive in Van Mai. Take some walk. 

Get on bus and transfer 5km to Co Luong. Here we board the small raft boat (4-5 people/boat) to the other bank of Ma River.

Disembark the boat and continue trekking to Sai village then onto to Hang Village, an oasis in the middle of Pu Luong Nature reserve. Our route was once used as part of the Ho Chi Minh trail during the Vietnam war to supply the resistance.

Arrive in Hang Village. Tonight we stay in the stilt houses at Hang Village. Part of the Ho Chi Minh trail during the Vietnam war to supply the resistance.

Overnight in local home-stay.

This is a wonderful day of hiking as we trek through the valley with some steep climbs on a more remote route. We are however never far from a villager tending fields or walking back from early morning market.

Arrive in Dong Dien. We relax from the midday heat.

Continuing on to Kho Muong village nestled between steep karst limestone mountains. This is really one of the most amazing settings that we come across in our challenge. For those with enough energy, there will be a trek to an incredible cave that has only recently been discovered, before collapsing finally at our home-stay.

Overnight in local home-stay.

Note: This is the remotest village out of all.

This morning we set out from Kha and trek for roughly three hours on a downhill gradient through a picturesque bamboo forest passing several villages and rice paddies along the way.

Continue our afternoon 2,5 trek through the bamboo forest. This part of the trek is uphill terrain to Don Village.

Arrive in Don village. Check-in hotel. You can relax or join with our guide for a leisure walk to the surrounding villages.

Following breakfast, our morning 10km trek will take us through the beautiful countryside and bamboo forest. We take a loop trek to Pho Doan via Nua village.

You can also admire the dramatic terraced rice paddies and traditional hamlets. The off road trek is relatively easy involved with some gentle descents.

Our trek finishes in Tom Village.

Transfer to Canh Nang via Ban Cong village, where we will stop for a quick visit to the famous bamboo waterwheels which is part of Pu Luong's charm that dot the landscape. The rice grown in these parts needs to be submerged to thrive (unlike mountain rice, which can be grown in dry paddies)-which requires a large volume of water. Built by people from the Thai and Muong ethnic groups, the wheels harvest water from low-lying streams to feed the vast rice crops. They especially come in handy during the dry season and periods of drought when the water level is low. You can find the waterwheels sitting all along the rocky streams.

Depart to Hanoi and enjoy the scenic transfer along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. 

Arrive in Hanoi. Check into the hotel and free time.

Overnight in Hanoi.

Free day at leisure.

Today is a free day to discover the delights of Hanoi. For those that wish to take part, there will be the option of a guided tour of the sites of Hanoi, and a chance to shop in the great markets and old quarters.

Overnight in Hanoi.

Note: A 2 days 1 night or 3 days 2 nights extension to Halong Bay is available. Please contact us for more information.