Tours - Skypath + River cruise + Local culture

The tour includes bus tickets from Hanoi location to Ha Giang. If you can’t make this bus there is another at 10am. Just let us know which one you prefer as it affects what we can do when we get to Ha Giang and meal arrangements. The bus company provides a small bottle of water, alas not food but we have that waiting for you when you get to Ha Giang.

We collect you from the Ha Giang bus drop off location and take a private car to the near by homestay in Thon Tha.

We arrive at the homestay of Mr Thien in Thon Tha just outside of the main Ha Giang city. We check in, do all the formal greetings and then unpack our trekking gear. If not had already we can have a late lunch with Mr Thien at the homestay.

We trek to the waterfall number 6. This beautiful trek takes us up the hill and out of the village, though the forest, along the corn fields, down to the waterfall. You can read more about it on its own page. After the waterfall, we carry on down, across the stream from the waterfall and passing the Tay village of Ha Thanh. We now see rice terraces and people farming against a mountain backdrop as we make our way back to the homestay, having completed one giant loop trek of 6km in total.

The homestay prepares for us a delicious spread of food - Tay style as Mr Thien is Tay. The family is very welcoming and the homestay very comfortable.

Breakfast is served! Usually crepes (French style pancakes) are on offer along with some fresh tea / coffee as well as some local options. All done in around 3/4 hour as we want to get the day started as there is so much to do and see.

We have a private driver for the day to take us to all the sights along our way to Dong Van.

To get to the recently discovered Khau Ian Waterfall, we must first do a little trekking. The falls were recently discovered so the access path is small and easy to miss if you don’t know about it! We trek though the dense forest, first descending then later ascending. As we approach the waterfall, we can hear the thunder of the water and also the trail starts to get a little muddy from the overflow from the waterfall. Later we will trek back on the same route.

Khau Ian Waterfall waterfalls are some 30m+ high in total. The flow of water is fantastic though & makes a thunderous noise. Swimming is possible in the warmer months.

Heavens Gate is our first catch of the day. And what a show it is. We stop for photos and the beautiful views.

The Fairy Breast Hills are next, just a few minutes away where we can admire the view and hear of local legends.

Lunchtime! An amazing spread of local food is on offer. We don’t just stop at any place though - we stop off in Yen Minh at a restaurant with incredible views of the mountains in front of us and the valley below. Food is a local selection of pork / chicken dishes with steamed vegetables, rice and more. Lunch is an hour, maybe a little longer if you want to walk around a bit.

Tham Ma Pass, the winding snake pass that descends down the valley where there are young girls with large baskets with flowers for photo opportunities. The ethnic people here also have a few stalls selling handicrafts. We spend usually around 1/2 hour here for photos and to chat. Then we drive to our next stop near the Chinese border.

Lao Xa village is famous for making jewelry and accessories from silver. We chat with some of the locals while walking in the local area. Then we head to the Sa Phin Valley located in the Dong Van Geopark.

The Hmong King Palace, was built between 1898 and 1903 with 64 rooms set in 3 hectares of land. We spend an hour here learning about the history of the palace while exploring the grounds.

We arrive at our homestay in Dong Van. We have a chance to freshen up, have a rest or explore the town a little.

Eating at the local homestay. They have lots of lovely local food for us. Smoked pork belly is a favourite as are the steamed vegetables.

Breakfast is a choice of French pancakes (crepes) or a local food breakfast with tea and coffee of course.

Skypath / Skywalk - this is the trek everyone talks about because of the amazing views. We get dropped by a large statue to the builders of the peace road (loop road). As we travel along the path, we have incredible views of the the new que river and the canyon. We pass along the finger pointing rock. A popular tourist photo opportunity to climb it, however it is rather un-recommended, so we pass. We are now descending into the valley into the Hmong village of Pai Lung who farm the area somehow, despite the number of black rocks. The path carries on descending, till ultimately we see the Ma Pi Lang pass in front of us where we will stop for photos & a rest.

Lunchtime! - this time in the town of Meo Vac. Food is in a local restaurant with the usual selection of food.

Nho Que River Cruise - To get to the boat, we must first trek 2km to the boat terminal. However there is the option of an electric minibus taxi that can get us there a lot faster. The river cruise will take us along the emerald green river and though the Tu San Canyon where they stop the boat for a short time so people can take photos and admire the views. The boat takes us right up to the Chinese border before turning around and coming back to the boat terminal. The views on this boat trip make it one of the highlights of the tour.

Back at our homestay in Dong Van. We have a little time for ourselves to relax or freshen up before supper.

Eating at the local homestay. They have lots of lovely local food for us. Smoked pork belly is a favourite as are the steamed vegetables.

Breakfast is served! Usually crepes (French style pancakes) are on offer along with some fresh tea / coffee. All done in around 3/4 hour as we want to get the day started as there is so much to do and see.

Dau Chau to Dong Van trek - it is best to do this one in the morning as the sunrise looks especially nice here. We get dropped off by our driver out of town and pick up a mountain path. We find ourselves winding around the giant limestone karts and seeing remote communities. We pass by a school who’s young students are interested in any strangers passing by so we stop to say hello. Continuing on we pass rice terraces as well as finding the village of Ma U - a village seemingly in a time capsule. We will stop here and engage with the locals of course and see how they do things the the really really old way. It’s interesting to watch for sure. Trekking more we suddenly find ourselves back in Dong Van almost as if without warning. Not a moment too soon though as we have lined up a lovely lunch.

Lunch is in the Old French Quarter in a lovely restaurant we have picked especially. We take an hour for lunch. The crispy pork + duck and hotpot are especially recommended.

This morning we take the Dong Van to Thien Huong trek. We start by walking though the town square where we find access to the French Quarter. We pass all the lovely old buildings as well as the new ones. We quickly find the only path that will take us to Thien Huong. We find the 500 year old tree and the temple nearby. As ever there is a local legend. Continuing along we find fantastic views of deep in to China. This is the only road and the only destination is to the village so there is little traffic. We find the people of the village warm and friendly. Their houses are made of mud and quite old as no one makes new mud houses. The driver picks us up and takes us back to Dong Van town.

Back in Dong Van we travel though the old French Quarter and take the path to the top of the hill to see the the French Fort just in time for a sunset over Dong Van.

We arrive at our homestay in Dong Van - time to have a short rest or freshen up before supper at 7pm.

Eating at the local homestay. They have lots of lovely local food for us. Smoked pork belly is a favourite as are the steamed vegetables.

We get breakfast in the local market square which is close by. The breakfast favourites here are Banh Cuon and a multi-coloured sticky rice. Banh Mi is also available if you prefer.

Lung Cu Flag Tower - the northern most part of Vietnam. You can see China from here. The historic flag tower has been rebuilt many times over the last 150 years. The tower sits atop a hill (Dragon Mountain) that has 400 steps. There is an electric shuttle service that can take us part of the way up - handy to save time as well as some stairs.

We visit the Chai village of the Lo Lo people. It’s only 1km walking from the flag tower. Walking to the village is quite picturesque. There are many preserved classic style buildings to see here as well as new developments of course. We can get food and drinks here but usually in we have that in Dong Van. We get a chance to talk with some of the locals about their lives here - the Lo Lo people only number 4800 in the whole of Vietnam so seeing this ethnic tribe is quite rare. Our next stop is for lunch - 20km away in Dong Van.

Lunchtime! We eat at a local restaurant. The food is traditional vietnamese with the usual selection of food. We have an hour to catch up on the things we have seen so far and the people we met along the way. Next stop is a rather famous trek.

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We arrive at our homestay in Dong Van - time to have a short rest or freshen up before supper at 7pm.

Eating at the local homestay. They have lots of lovely local food for us. Smoked pork belly is a favourite as are the steamed vegetables.

Homestay breakfast is a choice of French pancakes (crepes) or a local food breakfast with tea and coffee.

There is one bus a day only to Hanoi. So it is essential we make it in time. We will take you to the bus pickup point. The bus is direct to Hanoi. On the way to Hanoi there are restroom stops as well as food (not included). The bus company supplies a small bottle of water for the journey.

Arriving in Hanoi, we hope you had an amazing tour with memories to last a lifetime :)