South East Asian Trips

Ha Tay is famous for its traditional craft villages producing silk, fabrics, clothing, inlay work, lacquer ware, carvings, bamboo and rattan weaving. The province has a proud cultural heritage with traditional spring festivals held under the ancient roofs of village halls or pagodas.

There are more than 1,300 villages in Ha Tay - many famous for the renowned scholars and brave revolutionaries born there, others for their beautiful scenery, sophisticated crafts or unusual customs.

Tay Phuong Pagoda
Built during the Ly dynasty (8th century), it has unique architectural details and a superb collection of Buddha statues.

Thay Pagoda
The pagoda was built on the slope of Phat Tich Mountain, contains valuable dynastic artifacts.

Mia Pagoda
Built in 1632, this pagoda has the largest number of Buddhist statues with 287 beautifully carved Buddhists, including one of Tantrayyana, the most beautiful of all.

Dau Pagoda
Dates from 300AD and is famous for the mummified bodies of two monks.

Tram Gian Pagoda
Has 100 rooms and 153 Buddhist statues.

Duong Lam Village
Was a small hamlet and homeland of Phung Hung and Ngo Quyen Kings. Nowadays, Duong Lam Village has two temples dedicated to both kings and some priceless historic artifacts.

Huong (Perfume) Pagoda
The area of beautiful landscapes surrounding the Perfume Pagoda. The most attracting elements in the pagoda's landscape are the high mountains, the deep forests and the streams harmoniously intermingled with rice fields. Huong Tich grotto was discovered more than 2,000 years with its many small temple and pagodas, is considered the most beautiful grotto in northern Vietnam.

Ba Vi Mountain
Ao Vua, Suoi Hai and Dong Mo lakes are noted beauty spots in the Ba Vi Mountains. Ba Vi National Park is rich in wildlife, with more than 5,000 species of plants, 44 animal and 404 bird species and 160 medicinal herbs,

The North East and The North West

Hoabinh - Mai Chau

Hoabinh is a mountainous province on the Northeast gateway of Hanoi and only 70km away from Hanoi. Traveling by road or river are both convenient. Hoabinh has a lot of caves and its villages of Thai and Muong minority people have become attractive tourism spots for a long time. Mai Chau valley has become a familiar address for tourists in many years. Departure from Hanoi, you can take a 70km bus trip to Hoabinh and then 60km further to reach Mai Chau.

During this 60 Km ride, visitors will pass the 15km Cun pass (doc Cun). This is a rather high pass so that sometimes visitors may feel as if they are traveling in a sea of cloud. When reaching the peak of the pass, people always stop to enjoy the view of a poetic valley surrounded by the mountains; it is Mai Chau, the village of the Thai people. Visitors should spend a night in Mai Chau to enjoy the music from gongs (Cong Chieng), to watch Thai dances, to enjoy the fragrant steamed glutinous rice, and to drink Ruou Can (wine drunken out of a jar through pipes) with Thai girls who are very good at tilling the fields, weaving fabric and embroidering scarves,

Sonla

Historical site with Sonla museum and prison,

Dien Bien Phu

To visit Dien Bien Phu, a plane from Hanoi can take you there in more than 1 hour or a trip by car will take you through the 500km roadway to enjoy the beautiful nature of the enormous Northwest mountain region.

Dien Bien Phu is a district of Dienbien province with the terrain looks like a hollow. It is the place where the heroic campaign Dien Bien Phu took place. The campaign opened on 15 March 1954 and ended on 7 May 1954 with the victory of Vietnam.
Today the whole former battlefield has become the relics of the past where tourists come to visit and study the life of ethnic minorities,

Laichau - Phong Tho

Hill tribes and ethnic minority villages,

Sapa - Laocai

Located 1,600m above sea level in the far northwest province of the country near the Chinese border, Sapa has remained primitive with hamlets and villages H'mong, Tay, Dao and Xa Pho ethnic minorities, whose markets and festivals add color and character to the town. The area has an average annual temperature of 18 - 28 degrees in the mountains. Several interesting sites can be visited such as Silver Fall, Heaven's Gate, Cloud Bridge, Wind grotto, Dragon's Jaw Mountain..,

Landscape of North West

Lover Market

It is an ancient tradition, where ethnic minority people go to a partner in every Saturday night, Surrounding Villages Home to ethnic minorities who live the same way they have done for centuries.
Faxipan peak: Exactly 3,143m high, it is the highest peak in Indochina. It has its own special ecosystem, with approximately 1,680 plant species divided into 679 families are found on the mountain. A fascinating destination for anyone seeking adventure,

Suoi Hoa relic

A valley with stone fields where relic of an early civilization was found.
Bac Ha Market: 80 Km from Sapa is Bac Ha town where there is the old famous Bac Ha market. Bac Ha market is not only the place for buying and selling, but also a place for cultural and sentiment exchanging. On the market days, right from the early morning, all paths and mountain roads are full of people and horses pouring to the market. People usually sit in groups around a soup pan ("thang co") eating and chatting.