After you are met at your hotel, you will transfer to Ha Long Bay. Board the cruise and enjoy a seafood lunch as it begins its 2 day/ 1 night journey through Ha Long Bay. Enjoy the beauty of the limestone islands of Bai Tu Long Bay, and head to Vung Vieng fishing village, one of the largest fishing villages in Halong Bay, to see the life of local fishermen. Visit Vung Vieng Fishing Village by kayak or circular boats.
As the sun begins to set, return to Oriental Sails and take a refreshing bath. Then, unwind and enjoy the tranquility of the evening. Partake in the Happy Hour at the bar and on the sun deck, while a cooking demonstration is organized for your entertainment. Savor a delightful dinner on board, and start socializing with other guests. Engage in night squid fishing, or simply laze around. Singing and dancing activities are available till 22h00, ensuring a relaxed and enjoyable evening.
Do a Tai Chi demonstration on the sun deck at sunrise. Enjoy Vietnamese tea and coffee and breakfast. Admire fantastic landscapes and the breathtaking beauty of limestone islands. Explore the amazing cave, swim, and relax until lunch. Check out and transfer to Ha Noi in the afternoon. Spend your own time exploring Ha Noi in the afternoon. Have dinner before get on night train to Hue.
The Vietnam Backroads team is awaiting as the train arrives in Hue in the morning with its private vehicles. Have a transfer to the hotel for breakfast, enjoy tea, coffee, and be ready for your first day of adventures. Visit the Imperial Forbidden City was the feudalism center of the Nguyen Emperor with its 13 generations from 1804 until 1945. The Imperial Citadel was badly damaged during the Vietnam War. Afterward, have a short transfer to another side of the Perfume River to explore the rural villages of Hue.
Ride along the Perfume River, explore the daily life of villagers, ride past the ancient pagoda, and stop at Tiger Arena and the beautiful ancient Long Chau Temple. Then we'll continue the ride through the lively villages and stop at some families still earning mainly on traditional works, such as making conical hats, handicrafts, incense sticks, etc. The routes are well-maintained and through many traditional houses, temples, and lush rice paddy fields. Next, visit the colorful tomb of Khai Dinh, which took 11 years to complete the burial with a beautiful mixture of Western and Eastern architectural styles.
We commence today's ride with a 10-minute drive out of the city for a fabulous day ride. Pick up the bikes, cycle on smooth snack concrete paths, cross rice fields to Thanh Toan tile roof bridge. It is considered the most beautiful ancient wooden bridge in Hue. The bridge itself is traditionally detailed designed and located in beautiful rural with rustic landscapes. It's your great time to learn the culture of locals about the villages directly from English spoken villagers. Capture some photos of the beautiful bridge, and we continue to explore lush agricultural lands and small nostalgic villages to the lagoons.
The lagoons are where local fishermen catch natural fish and raise many kinds of fish under shallow water. We can admire and look over many small fishing sampans in long, circular shapes and fish shelters alongside roads. There will be many stops at small villages so that your guide will tell you about the daily life of villagers. Followed as the itinerary planned, we ride down to coastal trails past colorful ancient cemeteries. We turn on a small path and ride flat terrain along ocean Vinh Hien before challenging some slight hills to Phuoc Tuong Pass, and we enjoy lunch at a seafood restaurant by Lang Co beach. Have a transfer to Hoi An in the late afternoon.
My Son Hindu Sanctuary, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a great sample of the ancient Champa civilization located in the southern part of Vietnam. It was an independent state from around the 2nd to the 17th century, when Vietnam took over. The impressive Hindu-themed ruins feature many beautiful stone sculptures, temples, and towers in tropical jungle surroundings.
We start cycling from the hotel, cross Thu Bon River on Cam Kim on Cam Kim Bridge, and ride across the island to agricultural lands, experience rural life, enjoy rural scenery, ride through paddies with ancient agriculture system canals. Then we escape the island on another bridge to the mainland and continue cycling along the country road, seeing buffalos help farmers working on farms. Ride past sugar canes plantation along foothills before we spend an hour and a half exploring the ruined My Son Sanctuary. Lunch en route before we return to Hoi An by support vehicle.
After breakfast, check out, and we start cycling from the hotel on the small Cam Kim bridge, which is for mopeds and bicycles only. Admire amazing scenery on Thu Bon River and look over Hoi An's charming town before we explore Cam Kim island- one of the most natural rural beauty islands on the central coast of Vietnam.
Cam Kim village is surrounded by lush vegetation, rice paddy fields with nostalgic hamlets. Famers still use water buffalos to help them cultivate the crops and as bullock carts in the harvest season. The villagers are perfect in the carpentry and sampan wooden boat industry. You will immerse yourself in local culture and natural scenery in the rural.
Then we continue to explore the backwaters of Thu Bon River, with small bridges, bike on shaded roads, enjoy the scenery of rice paddies, bamboo bridges, and country villages surrounded by bamboo trees before we reach Truong Giang River. Great opportunity to see the daily lives of locals living in the area for generations; two to three generations live together in the same house along the river. The paths are mostly flat with smooth concrete surfaces. Enjoy most lovely rural landscape with experience culture. There is plenty of coffee breaks, stops along rural villages to find your ways like a local. We then cycle along the countryside paths, view the small fishing boats, see buffaloes help farmers working on farmland. Break for lunch at local restautant then, continue cycling to Island where we have some ferry crossings in and out of the island. We end up today's cycling and take transfer to Son My village. Visit the Memorial village- The My Lai massacre was one of the most incredible histories during Vietnam War. There were more than 500 people died here in 1968. Have a short transfer to Quang Ngai city to check in the hotel.
Depart at 7:00 am for a scenic transfer to a rural village in Tam Quan- a small seaside town. Arrives in town at 8:30 am, and it is a great time to explore rustic countryside bikes. In the morning, your ride at leisure to relax through farm villages to the coastal trails, enjoy lush coconut farmlands to Tam Quan township. Then we cross through the small town and ride through the small country farms and villages with coconut trees. Admire fantastic views on various terrains of roads to the stunning coasts. The coasts are undulate through gentle mountainous passes, blue sandy beaches, and seafood farms alongside fishing villages—lunch en route.
After lunch, we have vehicle transfers southwards to De Ghi- a small fishing village where most of the country roads are easily accessible to explore the vast country farmlands, past local markets, schools on coastal routes to Cat Tien. We turn left and keep on an undulating road along Thi Mai Lagoon. Finally, take a short transfer over the Thi Nai Bridge to Quy Nhon City.
We commence the day with a 1.5-hour transfer along the beautiful coast road to Ganh Do fishing village, where we pick up our bikes and cross Phu Ngan River on the small wooden bridge connecting to tiny villages. Enjoy ocean views, see colorful circular bamboo boats at small fishing villages, and explore rustic farms at Da Dia Reefs. The seashore area is about 100 meters wide and 250 meters long, with an estimated 35,000 columns of basalt rocks. The rocks are dark lava columns with roughly flat surfaces of different shapes - round, pentagon, hexagon, polygon, etc. Stopp to take a walk down the areas for a short break and have a photo taken.
Our adventure continues as we cycle along narrow pathways, passing local beaches and vibrant markets, and reaching the lively lagoon. Here, you'll have the unique opportunity to admire hundreds of floating fish farms. Our journey then takes us across rivers and undulating paths, where we'll explore idyllic villages and pass by colorful ancient temples and pagodas, offering a glimpse into the rich cultural heritage of the region.
Our day tour concludes with a scenic view of the natural landscapes of Tuy Hoa City, including sweet potato fields, tapioca fields, and rice paddies. After a delicious lunch in Tuy Hoa City, we embark on a 2.5-hour transfer to Nha Trang.
After breakfast, we'll transfer to Dien Khanh. We'll take a leisurely bike ride for 30 km, explore villages by the river, passing sugar cane farms and rice paddy fields on paths through beautiful countryside amongst the mountains to Khanh Vinh. We'll end up the day here and hop on our support vehicle transfers to Suoi Loi where we have lunch by the cozy restaurant by the river.
After a big lunch, we'll relax in our vehicle and transfer to Dalat. There will be many stops along the way for photos and to admire the breathtaking views of the mountain, which stands at an impressive 1500m above sea level. Break for coffee at the peak of Khanh Le Pass before we continue a transfer to Dalat.
Hong Kong and Thailand were the vacation locations that Indochina French Army officers often travelled to, but they needed to be farther to go after the French found Dalat city. French started to build a resort city with plenty of wooden houses, following the infrastructure of roads, railway stations, power stations, etc. The pretty Crémaillère Railway Station was designed by French architects and opened in 1938.
Da Lat is a famous tourist destination and one of Vietnam central highland's agricultural growth. Every local Vietnam market is filled with local specialties such as strawberries, cauliflowers, and artichokes. In the morning, visit Crazy House, Bao Dai Summer Palace, then the Valley of Love before we stop at XQ Headquarters - Dalat Historical Village. Visit XQ Hand Embroidery workshop. Next, enjoy lunch at a famous restaurant.
In the afternoon, you will take the old train trip through farmland and greenhouse to Trai Mat village, stroll into the villages, experience the lives of locals, and visit the beautiful Linh Phuoc pagoda. Finally, we returned to the hotel and explored Dalat City on foot in the evening.
After your breakfast, check out and have a private transfer to Lien Khuong Airport to catch an internal flight to Ho Chi Minh. Meet our guide at Tan Son Nhat Airport, and you'll transfer to Saigon downtown. Check in the hotel, and spend the rest of the day exploring the Saigon dynamic city on yourself-guided.
After breakfast at the hotel, relax on your time shopping until the Vietnam Backroads Team picks you up to take you to International Tan Son Nhat Airport, boarding on an International flight to depart home. Tour Ends!