DESTINATIONS — ASIA
Ha Giang
Sapa
package, including an overnight cruise on a junk boat, from £239 a person. For those who want to experience Ha Long Bay in real style, Insider Journeys has a two-day Paradise Peak Cruise. Prices start at £590, including private touring, an overnight sailing on a luxury vessel, a cooking demonstration and a morning tai chi session. Another popular trip from Hanoi
is to the highland town of Sapa, a one-time French hill station famed for its glorious spread of rice terraces, hiking trails and colourful minority tribes. The town is about six hours from Hanoi by road, and many tourists opt to catch an overnight train to nearby Lao Cai. The best time to catch Sapa’s rice terraces at their most verdant is between July and September. The town itself is well set up
for tourists, particularly since the opening of the swish 57-room U Sapa, partly run by the local Hmong people, last August (rooms from £41.50). For those interested in exploring further, Intrepid Travel offers a five-day Sapa Adventure, beginning and ending in Hanoi, which gives customers the chance to trek the hills and stay with a local family. Prices start at £370.
Another spot easily reached
from Hanoi is the scenic area of Mai Chau. It’s about four hours from the capital, and is characterised by traditional stilt-houses, farming villages and rice paddies. Various countryside treks and homestay options, some
of them very comfortable, are available.
All the above are well
frequented by tourists, but those looking to get slightly more off the beaten track should consider Ha Giang. About 180 miles north of Hanoi, it has an impressive mountainous setting and a market popular with local minority groups.
Insider Journeys
offers a four-night private Ha Giang &
Beyond tour from £565 a person. And if clients are
really keen to get under the skin of the region, Inside Vietnam has a 16-night Northern Vietnam Adventure, taking in Ha Giang, Mai Chau, Dien Bien Phu, Sapa and a range of lesser-visited areas, priced at £2,350 excluding international flights. TW
66 •
travelweekly.co.uk — 21 May 2015
66 •
travelweekly.co.uk — 21 May 2015
FAST FACT
Insider Journeys now offers the
three-star Church Boutique 58 Hang Gai in Hanoi’s Old Quarter
PICTURES: INSIDER JOURNEYS; INSIDE ASIA
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84