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Topas Ecolodge 3 days & 2 nights – Relaxing & market visiting

The ethnic minority markets of Northern Vietnam are the colorful meeting places for the hill tribes of Vietnam. Minorities come down from the mountains to sell their produce.

From: $395 USD

Overview

The ethnic minority markets of Northern Vietnam are the colorful meeting places for the hill tribes of Vietnam. Minorities come down from the mountains to sell their produce; sometimes it is a long hike for the tribes to come to sell or exchange their goods. Others may simply come in order to catch up on the latest news or gossips. With the various tribes in their colorful traditional dress, the smell of exotic herbs and spices, abundant rice wine and food stalls – you can be assured that market day in Vietnam is truly an unforgettable experience.
Your journey from Hanoi to Sapa is by the Topas Mountain Express. The 8 seats limousine has luxurious modern interior design with wood and leather, spacious and soft chairs, offers you a comfortable journey for the 5 hours transfer.
You will stay the 2 nights at Topas Ecolodge, set deep in the Hoang Lien Mountains. The 25 bungalows overlook the entire valley with magnificent views to the ethnic minority villages, valleys covered by rice terraces and towering mountains.

Itinerary 2 days & 1 night

Day 1 (Friday): Comfortable drive directly to Topas Ecolodge (-,-,-)

From 6:30 – 7:00 AM, you will commence from your hotel with Topas Mountain Express for a 5 hours transfer to the remote hilltop of Topas Ecolodge. After checking in your bungalow, you will enjoy the beautiful and peaceful view of the surrounding mountains and valleys from your private balcony.

Day 2 (Saturday): Topas Ecolodge (B,-,-)

The day is at your leisure at Topas Ecolodge. You can either relax or borrow free of charge high quality mountain bikes from the lodge for an exploration to the neighboring villages. You can also book one or more of the available activities at the lodge:

– Join a half day or full day walking/biking excursion, the best way to experience nature and the local cultures of the ethnic minority people.
– Book a half day tour to explore the highest peak of Indochina, Mt. Fansipan (3.143m), with the newly launched cable car, as well as visiting Sapa town
– Try a traditional Red Dao herbal bath at the lodge’s newly opened spa

Day 3 (Sunday): Visit Bac Ha minority market. Back to Hanoi (B,L,-)

At 8:00, you will commence the market tour from Topas Ecolodge by an 80km transfer to Bac Ha. The market is the largest of the area, situated inside the small town of Bac Ha. On every Sunday mornings, it is literally a riot of color as many different ethnic groups such as the Flower H’mong, Phu La, Black Dao, Tay and Nung minorities gather to trade. Most of the goods are simply farming products such as rice, corn, vegetable, herb… While the local women are more interested in foods and clothing, the unique cattle area draws a lot of attention from the local men. After spending the rest of the morning to explore the market, you will enjoy lunch in a local house at a nearby village.
In the afternoon, you will enjoy a drive downhill to Trung Do village for visiting the Tay ethnic who live in the pretty tradition house on stilts. The Tay People are very friendly and open minded, they are doing very well agriculture farming, organize their village in nice and clean.

Combined with visiting the village you can take a buffalo cart trip.
You then will continue with car driving to Xuan Giao, here you continue the drive with Topas Mountain Express back to Hanoi.

Please note:
– Topas Mountain Express can only pick up and return passengers at hotels/ residence in Hanoi’s Old Quarter and Tay Ho District.