8 Days Hanoi, Halong Bay & Sapa Tour - D6 (Tribes Village)

We left the hotel at 7.15am to visit tribes villages. Our guide noticed that we had interest in bird viewing yesterday; he arranged a short stop over on the way at Hoang Lien National Park.

8 Days Hanoi, Halong Bay & Sapa Tour - D5 (Pha Long Market)

We joined the Pha Long Market package organized by the hotel (for their guest only) today. We were told that Bac Ha Market is already much commercialized, sometimes tourists there are more than the locals. The Pha Long Market they recommended is far at the border between Vietnam and China, and takes about three hours drive to reach there. The Market is actually not open to tourist yet; therefore the fare to there is higher than to the other markets as it is inclusive of some “coffee money”.

8 Days Hanoi, Halong Bay & Sapa Tour - D4 (Sapa)

We reached Lao Cai at 6.15am, took another hour’s drive to reach Mountain View Hotel at Sapa. By the time we finished checking-in, taking breakfast and booking the tour packages for the following two days, it was about 10am. I stick to my original plan, not joining them for the Ham Rong Botanical Garden.

8 Days Hanoi, Halong Bay & Sapa Tour - D3 (Cat Ba Island)

Today we trekked for about five hours, up and down, slipping, sliding and falling, at Cat Bat National Park. We were told that there are many wildlife in the park, but we only saw a green snake on a big leaf, perhaps it is a good thing that we did not have the chance to meet the rest.

8 Days Hanoi, Halong Bay & Sapa Tour - D2 (Halong Bay)

AH had booked on line a Halong Bay & Cat Ba Island package before we left Singapore, it save us from the hassle of asking around about the transportation and accommodation. The guide and the driver picked us up at 8am at Golden Sun Hotel, four of us were the only passengers in this tour group.