Vietnam Photographic Experience

Itinerary

Day 1: Hanoi - Loa Cai - Muong Hum

Stop At: Lao Cai, Lao Cai, Lao Cai Province
We will leave Hanoi early in the morning and reach Lao Cai for lunch with plenty photography talk in the minibus. With a full stomach we will zigzac between the rice terraces, more beautiful the ones than the others until the village of Muong Hum nestled at the foot of the mountains with the coarse photo stops almost every bend. We will spend a late afternoon above a splendid mountain.
Duration: 7 hours

Meals included:
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight at out Giay ethnic friend's home

Day 2: Muong Hum - Y Ty - Muong Hum

Stop At: Y Ty, Y Ty, Lao Cai Province
We will start the day by heading to the weekly market of Y Ty, situated just across China, on the other side of the valley. The road to it as well as the encounters with the local population will inspire you. The market offers a multitude of colourful costumes and head coverings from various ethnic groups, such as the Ha Nhi, Phu La, White Hmong...
We will spend the afternoon discovering the mountainous landscapes and small villages surrounding Y Ty, and on the way, back to Muong Hum, Home some of my Favorite rice terrace landscapes from the whole North Vietnam mountains.
Duration: 9 hours

Meals included:
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight at our Giay ethnic friend's home

Day 3: Muong Hum - Ta Van (Sapa Valley)

Stop At: Lao Cai, Lao Cai, Lao Cai Province
We will wake up right next to the multicolour market of Muong Hum, which takes place every Sunday. Muong Hum is home to the Giay people, whose women wear colourful shirts. They are well-tried traders, as they serve a intermediaries between the mountain ethnic groups and the Vietnamese living in the Valley. We will meet with many other minotities such as Black Hmongs, Red Dao women wearing their conical hats, Ha Nhi people or Ehite Hmongs.
After the market and a well-deserved breakfast, we will take the road to Ta Van nestled in the beautiful Sapa Valley.
We will spend our afternoon discovering the amazing Sapa Valley trekking through the rice fields to the Lao Chai village Hmong village.
Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight at our Ecolodge

Day 4: Sapa Valley

Stop At: Sapa, Sapa, Lao Cai Province
A day enjoying the beauties of Sapa Valley embedded by mountains carved with rice terraces and its people at work, this time further way to the Ban Ho village of the Tay Ethnic. We will also be enjoying and doing our first photo review.
Duration: 5 hours

Meals included:
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight at our ecolodge

Day 5: Ta Van - Than Uyen

Stop At: Vietnam, Vietnam
We will head for Than Uyen by going through the plains formed by Nam Na river. The road from Sapa to tram uyen is suberb, meandering through hills covered tea bushes until reaching Tram Uyen passage, dominated by Fansipan Mountain, culminating at 3143m. We will make numerous stops along the way to capture these magnificent landscapes.
In the late afternoon, we will stop in a traditional Thai village overlooking a large rice field and surrounded by enormous bamboos groves
Duration: 10 hours

Meals included:
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight in Than Uyen Guesthouse

Day 6: Than Uyen - Mu Chang Chai

Stop At: Mu Cang Chai, Mu Cang Chai, Yen Bai Province
This morning we will leave Than Uyen very early to catch the first ray of light over the magnificent of one of the spots of which we have the secret. A mountain whose entire flan is carved by literaly dozens of rice terrances, carved over the last century that form a unique cascade of greenery. We will then explore the lao Chai village before continuing our journey to Mu Cang Chai region climbing up to the Man Xoi viewpoint.
Duration: 5 hours

Meals included:
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight at our Ecolodge

Day 7: Mu Chang Chai

Stop At: La Pan Tan, Mu Cang Chai 320000 Vietnam
My Chang Chai holds some of the most impressive rice terraces int the country and is listed as a Vietnam National Heritage site. Throughout the day, we will have plenty of occasions to observe the H'mong people going about their daily lives and working in the fields.
In the morning we will visit Ze Xu Phinh, and in the afternoon the La Pan Tan "rice canyon". If the time permits it, we will also visit the beautiful rice fields of Che Cu Nha.
Duration: 10 hours

Meals included:
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight at our Ecolodge

Day 8: Mu Chang Chai - Duong Lam - Hanoi

Stop At: Duong Lam Ancient Village, Son Tay Commune, Hanoi 100000 Vietnam
This morning we will do our last photo editing session, followed by the final photo story presentations before we depart back to Hanoi. Before reaching Hanoi, we will visit the traditional village of Duong Lam with its two-century old houses, reflecting how the Red River Villages used to look like in the past
Duration: 7 hours

No meals included on this day.
No accommodation included on this day.

Day 9: End of the adventure

Stop At: Long Bien Bridge, Tran Nhat Duat Street, Hanoi Vietnam
We will start our day at Long Bien Bridge designed in 1899-1902 by Dayde & Pille French architects. We will then go walk around Hoan Kien Lake, where Hanoians enjoy doing their physical exercises, and continue our exploration in the bustling 36 old streets and guilds of the old quarter. We will then walk along the railway tracks witnessing the Hanoian's daily life punctuated by the passage of the famous reunification train.
Duration: 10 hours

Meals included:
• Lunch
No accommodation included on this day.