Active Adventure in North Vietnam (motorbike, hike, and cycle)

Day 1 - Meet each other in Hanoi in the morning. We will explore the old quarter on foot, tasting several local must-try's, exploring the vibrant shops, as well as hitting some of the top sights in the city. We'll finish the day with a local beer in hand, watching the sun set over the city from a rooftop bar. Stay overnight in 3-4* hotel. Day 2 - Explore some lesser known parts of Hanoi (the places tourists don't get to) throughout the day. These will be kept secret until the day of, but you can be guaranteed to experience Hanoi in the most authentic of ways...on the back of a motorbike! In the evening, we will take a VIP sleeper bus to Ha Giang ...

Arriving in the early hours of the morning. We will have several hours to sleep in a dorm setting (at the bike rental location) until the morning when we start our motorbike journey! The bike journey will follow the Ha Giang Loop, but the specific route will be determined by our expert local guides when we are there based on weather and road conditions, as well as having the best homestays available to accommodate us. The main option here is to ride pillion on the back of a motorbike with one of the local guides, unless you are a confident and experienced rider and want to ride a motorbike for yourself (the standard choice would be a semi-automatic 125cc). We will be staying with local families in guest house style/dorm facilities for the next 3 nights. These are clean and comfortable, but often basic, as we are staying with real families in their real homes and living conditions. A local dinner is always provided, with breakfasts normally being a simple Banh mí sandwich. We will return to Hanoi on the last day via VIP day bus and overnight in Hanoi in a 3-4* hotel.

Having arrived back to Hanoi the previous night, today will primarily be a travel day to get to our next exciting location! We will fly from Hanoi to a town closer to Phong Nha, from where we will take a mini van/bus transfer to Phong Nha (a small rural town at the foothills of the Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park). We will have one evening in a lovely farmstay in Phong Nha to rest and recover from our epic motorbike journey, and gather our energy for an exciting 4 day, 3 night trekking and caving adventure!

The Phong Nha National Park area is often overlooked by tourists coming to Vietnam as it's 'a bit out of the way', but, it is fully worth the journey, making it that much more special. For the next 4 days we will be in the hands of a very experienced and highly rated local adventure tour company. We will be on a 3 out of 6 challenge level trek, meaning you need to have a good level of fitness. While the distances covered aren't immense and we will have porters and chefs to give us a bit of luxury, we will be crossing some rugged terrain and spending a good amount of time exploring caves (this means it will be dark and wet!). The physical challenges are outlined by the company as below: Moderate trekking - 14km of trekking including 4km of caving 435m elevation gain 1km swimming (50-200m) There will be some rocky terrain, long and steep hills, underground swims and river crossings and a 15m ladder climb with a safety rope, operated by the safety team. During this trip we will be in some of the most beautiful natural areas in Vietnam. We will be trekking through primeval forest and exploring the full Tu Lan cave system, experiencing both wet and dry caves with the most amazing calcite formations. For a detailed description of the trek read the highlights listed by adventure company below: Swimming in an underground river inside the cave: The valleys are connected by a system of underground caves. Visitors can experience the magical feeling of swimming in the total darkness of the cave. This is one of the most unique experiences of Tu Lan tours. If you don't want to swim, you can sit on the raft. Explore many beautiful caves: This is a trekking tour in Vietnam where guests will visit: Rat Cave, Ken Cave, Tu Lan Cave, Kim Cave, Hung Ton Cave, and particularly Song Oxalis Cave. Song Oxalis Cave is a dry cave located near the top of the mountain and is packed with numerous amazing calcite formations. Camping at the gorgeous Tu Lan campsites: Visitors will have 2 nights camping at different locations in the jungle. The camps are in the most beautiful spots, with waterfalls, and natural swimming pools surrounded by forest covered limestone mountains. Enjoy some great food: During the trek, guests will enjoy delicious meals prepared by local chefs. Local experience: After three days of the best hiking, visitors will have the opportunity to enjoy dinner at the home of a local porter. Visitors can learn about the life of the porter, and understand more about how tourism has changed the life of a porter from being an illegal woodsman to serving tourists. Visitors also have the opportunity to cycle to explore the beautiful and tranquil Tan Hoa Village. Unique stay at the end of the tour: You will spend one night at Tu Lan Lodge in Tan Hoa. Constructed on a hillside on a high platform, these rooms offer stunning views of the Tan Hoa landscape.

At the end of our last day on our trekking and caving adventure in Phong Nha, we will do the reverse journey back to Hanoi with mini-van/bus transfer back to the nearest airport and then a flight back to Hanoi. We will arrive late afternoon / early evening and the rest of the evening will be yours to do as you wish. Stay overnight in 3-4* hotel.

It's time for our third and final leg of our big adventure! We've been on the back of motorbikes, traversing majestic mountain passes, we've walked through primeval forests and swum through untouched cave systems, this time, we're going to cycle through local villages and rice fields and experience true countryside living! We are pairing up with another great local provider who will transport us and guide us to the beautiful natural areas of Mai Chau and Pu Luong and will ensure our authentic adventure with unparalleled views. Detailed Overview: Day 1: On the morning drive to Mai Chau, we'll leave the city behind and pass through craggy, mountainous landscape. We drive up a massive pass and end in the mountainous area of Mai Chau. On arrival in the small, remote village of Mai Hich, we'll check in to the traditional guesthouse of a Thai ethnic minority family. In the afternoon, we'll take a warm-up cycle around the green hills, letting our guide point out and explain the wonders along the way. If the weather is good, we can also go check out the nice cascades hidden behind the village. Afterwards, we return for dinner and overnight in the stilt house with our friendly Thai hosts. Day 2: After breakfast, we say goodbye to our hosts and take a short transfer to the entrance of Pu Luong Nature Reserve. We start cycling on an easy sealed road and cross the nature reserve from West to East on a small road to end on easy trails. The total ride is about 50km and offers beautiful views of the valleys and terraced rice fields. We will go ride through small, remote villages and share some time with locals. Lunch will be served at a local restaurant en-route. We arrive in the afternoon at our Pu Luong lodge accommodation in a very nice spot nestled between two streams at the foot of a limestone mountain. Spend the rest of the day at leisure, enjoying the cascades and natural pools surrounding us. Day 3: The program today is flexible. Your ride can range from 10 to 40 kilometres. So you can take it easy and tell our guide if you’d rather spend an easy morning at the eco-lodge, take a short trek to a waterfall nearby or more cycling. We have an early lunch at our lodging, and we make our way to Pho Doan, where we get back in the car and drive to Hanoi (The arrival time will depend on how much cycling we did in the morning, but on average we will arrive back to Hanoi around 18:30.

Arriving back to Hanoi in the early evening, we will check into our last hotel for our journey together (once again 3-4* in the centre of Hanoi). To celebrate making it through a truly adventurous journey through Northern Vietnam, we will go big at a top local BBQ spot and make a few cheeky visits to a some unique cocktail bars!