KATTY'S PLAN: HA NOI ITINERARY IN 3 DAYS

08:00 – 08:30: Our Tour guide and our Bus pick up at your hotel and start to discover Hanoi City

08:45: Arrive at Tran Quoc Pagoda located on Golden Fish Island in West Lake. It is the oldest pagoda in Hanoi built in the 6th century.

09:30: Visit Ho Chi Minh Complex, the final resting place of Vietnamese great father or Uncle Ho. You have a chance to see the embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh then walk around the garden to see 2 houses where he lived & worked from 1954 to 1969.

Then visit One Pillar Pagoda where worships the Goddess of Mercy – It is the most unique pagoda in the world

– Should dress modestly by covering from shoulders to knees when visiting Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, temples, pagodas…

– Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum is closed on Mondays and Fridays. But still can take picture of the Mausoleum and visit around that area

– Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum is closed at least 2 months (15^th June -15^th August) for the annual maintaining.

11:15: Visit Vietnam Ethnology Museum to learn about the culture of 54 ethnic groups living in the whole country of Vietnam.

Special Note: We will visit Vietnamese Women’s Museum instead of Vietnam Ethnology Museum closed on Mondays

12:45: Have lunch at our restaurant. You have an opportunity to enjoy Vietnamese cuisine. Vegetarian foods are available

14:00 – 14:15: Continue to visit Temple of Literature – the first university of Vietnam, The Temple of Literature (Van Mieu Quoc Tu Giam) is one of the most attractive tourist spots in Northern Vietnam. The Temple of Literature was founded in 1070.

15:15: Keep going to visit Hoa Lo Prison, the prison was built by the French, from 1886 to 1901, when Vietnam was still a part of French Indochina. The French called the prison Maison Centrale. The prison was called “A Hell on Earth” and now the prison is like a war museum for those who want to understand more about the war against France of Vietnamese people.

16:30: Our Bus take you back to the hotel.

Overnight in Ha Noi

Having breakfast. Spend the last morning in Hanoi to visit Quang Phu Cau incense village

08:30: Driver picks you up at your hotel and head out of Hanoi by car

09:30: Arriving in Quang Phu Cau. By the time we arrive, the villagers have already set out incense to dry in various formations and we’ll get pictures of people working among this sea of red. We will have time to capture a variety of shots of the workers in action.

We also venture further into the village workshops, shooting images of the incense-making process, including bamboo chopping, dipping the sticks in dye, and the creation of incense paste. We’ll take more images of the friendly locals who have worked on producing incense in this village for generations. We leave the village at noon, as the workers are preparing for lunch and head back to Hanoi for lunch.

Overnight in Ha Noi

07:30 – 08:00: Our guide will meet you at your hotel/stay and start 110km modern Bus-journey through verdant landscape of countryside. Short break enroute.

10:00: Arrive Bai Dinh pagoda complexes, the largest pagoda, not only in Vietnam but also in Southeast of Asia. Scenically set on the foot hill of Dinh Mountain surrounded by amazing views of the exquisite river valley below and dotted and the limestone karsts dotted around which will take your breath away.

This pagoda complexes stunningly boast an array of the most massive and magnificent architecture of Vietnamese tradition refined ever built that it takes a full day to explore all. So, you will visit some of the highlights that owned the national:500 stone statues of “La Han” (Arhats),2 huge bronze bells, one weighs 27 tons, other weighs 36 tones. Visit The Quan Yin statue with thousands of arms and eyes, visit Gautama Buddha statue.

12:00: Enjoy the lunch at our restaurant with the great local cuisines.

13:30: Leave for the Trang An Grottoes, an out-standing natural beauty of majestic limestone massif at 20 square kilometer rise dramatically out from rice paddy fields. Deep into the linked chains of towering mountain are pristine places of mystical valleys, numerous freshwater ponds, and jungle.

Embark on a traditional sampan gently row down the exquisite river through numerous caves: Lam Cave, Vang Cave, Dai Cave, Thanh Truot Cave and Cao Sơn Temple, Suoi Tien Temple, Vu Lam Temple…

15:30: Visit Mua Cave and start an amazing trek up to the top of Ngoa long mountain for watching the spectacular rice valley with precious view of the nature.

16:30: Return to our bus and then come back to Ha noi

18:30: Drop you off at your hotel/stay.

Trip ends. See you next time

Thank you for travelling with Jenny from The Blog!!!