Trekking & meeting at Tay people's villages

Hanoi - Ba Be Lake (L,D)

Morning we drive to Ba Be (three lakes). After crossing 240kms of Hanoi by road surrounded by tea fields, houses on stilts, we arrive in the region Tays (or Tho). This water tank is quaint, charming us by waterfalls, rivers, valleys and caves in the area of 500 ha.

Night at local guesthouse.

Ba Be Lake - Cruise (B,L,D)

Around the lake is a large national reserve where it protects more than 417 species of plants, 299 breeds of mammals, 11 species of birds ... We cruise is a boat in the lake to Dau Dang waterfall. In return, our boat access to a large cave, Puong Grotto, where thousands of bats who greet us with their special sound features.

Lunch is prepared by the people in a small hut Tays. Ba Be is also home to the H'mong and Red Yao. Afternoon, we will meet them in their home, they always lead autarky and keep the traditional ways of life. The night at the Tays in their stilt house, dinner is prepared by the women.

Ba Be Lake - Cao Bang (B,L,D)

After breakfast at the Tays, depart to Cao Bang. The beautiful road moves towards the Bao Lac pass, a stay at the top of the hill gives us some interesting impressions. We meet at the roadside Thos (Tay) and Tien Yao, women go to the market on foot, they are smiling and asking us "Where are you come?" "This is our beautiful country?". Check-in Cao Bang at noon. 

After lunch we continue our trip to Pac Bo, a border region with China very complex terrain covered by karst peaks and vegetation. This was the first refuge of Ho Chi Minh in 1941 after 30 years abroad, and also the first military base Viet Minh during the Indochina war. 

Dinner at local restaurant and overnight at the hotel.

Cao Bang - Tra Linh/2h of walking (B,L,D)

Heading north towards the Chinese border, we cross the pass Ma Phuc (the horse knee)! the grandiose serious neck in our memory the beauty of the North East. Stop in Tra Linh, the small border town where we had lunch. 

Then start our trek with an easy walk to the village of Na Ma, houses face a great green valley surrounded by limestone peaks on the mountainside. We will have the opportunity to meet minority clothes indigo: Tay, Nung and Yao. Overnight at homestay.

Na Ma - Quang Uyen/7h of trek (B,L,D)

Today, we take a walking tour through a beautiful karst area where there are little lakes. The trail passes through forests, beautiful valleys and terraced rice fields and a river. We admire nature at once the grandiose and poetic Nui Thuong and Quang Ngoc. 

Lunch at local resto. In the late afternoon, we arrive at Quang Uyen.

Overnight at homestay.

Quang Uyen - Kong Hau/6h of trek (B,L,D)

Our bus transfers us to the village of Thong Hoe, the trip takes an hour on a beautiful mountain road. 

In Thong Hoe, we start our day walking along the Nam River, the path through the rice fields and crosses the hills where we have superb views of the river and waterfalls. 

Lunch at local resto. Late afternoon, we reach the village of Kong Hau in the district of Halang.

Overnight at homestay.

Kong Hau - Rang Hoai/5-6h of trek (B,L,D)

Departure in the morning from the village of Kong Hau destination in the village Rang Hoai, we wallow in the beauty of nature: the sugar cane plantations of sight, the kastiques peaks surrounded by forests and a series of waterfalls. We reach the village of Rang Hoai after 18km on road.  Overnight at homestay.

Rang Hoai - Ta Lung - Lang Son/3-4h of trek (B,L,D)

Our last day trek through the plantations of sugar cane, the waterwheels and rice paddies. We reach the village of Phuc Hoa at 10:am, this village we reach the border post Sino - Vietnamese (10km from Rang Hoai). Visit the border and then we continue by colonial road No. 4 to Lang Son. 

We go through the bowl Dong Khe, surrounded by karst peaks. Dong Khe and That Khe, were recorded in the books of the Indochina war as the bloodiest fields in 1950. Blockhouses scattered along the road were witnesses of the battles of two troops. In the late afternoon, we arrive at Lang Son, which borders China smuggling flowers and so born prosperity for the city in 1988.

Overnight at hotel in Lang Son.

Lang Son - Hanoi (B,L)

the morning we visit the town of Lang Son: commercial streets, Dong Dang market which is stocked with Chinese goods and historic Tam Thanh and Nhi Thanh caves before taking the N1 highway to return to Hanoi.