Depart from Hanoi at 8:00 am (or 7:00 am during summer due to the hot weather) for a picturesque, 2-hour drive to Hoa Binh Province (70 km West of Hanoi), an area which is home to the Muong ethnic people.  This rural area is also where Bloom Micro ventures have been working with the local community, and guests will get an opportunity to explore this area and see first-hand the difference they are making to the lives of the local people.

Bloom Micro ventures is a non-profit social enterprise (registered UK charity) providing microcredit to women living below the poverty line in developing countries using a unique model that harnesses the power of responsible tourism and microfinance to alleviate poverty. This unique award-winning tour gives you the opportunity to explore, learn and truly experience the rural life in Vietnam. Most importantly, your tour fees will touch lives by directly funding a low-interest microcredit loan for a marginalized woman you will meet during the tour. The Bloom Micro ventures business model uses the tour fees to directly fund a micro-credit for pre-screened applicants to fund their approved business ideas.

Guests will arrive at 10am and take a short walk through the villages. Here, they will meet the woman who will directly benefit from the visit by receiving the low-interest microcredit loan, and learn about her livelihood and her plan for the use of the loan. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions about her aspirations, and for guests to share their own experiences - an educational and meaningful exchange with someone whose life has been touched for the better. There will then be an opportunity to enjoy refreshing fruits from the local orchards.

This is a beautiful, action-filled, heart-warming day during which guests will learn a great deal about the realities that disadvantaged women face here in Vietnam, as well as local traditions, livelihoods, history, religious customs and culture.

(Please note, this tour is not a solicitation nor will it require any further “out-of-pocket” donation. The Bloom Microventures business model will use part of the tour fees to directly fund a micro-credit for pre-screened applicants to fund their approved business ideas.  From a guest experience, this tour is a unique opportunity to learn about Vietnamese life and the hopes of the Vietnamese people who work so hard and diligently to improve their quality of life.)

Following this, guests will have an opportunity to try their hand at traditional rural activities such as tending to livestock and crops, harvesting rice, corn, etc, before having lunch in a stilted house.

In the afternoon, the tour continues with a walk to a beautiful lake, where guests will take a local boat and check the shrimp traps for the day’s catch.

The rest of the afternoon can be spent enjoying a variety of activities, including cycling, trekking, traditional fishing, or a visit to the Bloom factory where women earn extra income. Families with children may like to spend some time with the farm animals, including goats, trying to find duck and chicken eggs, egg painting, or taking a tractor ride through the villages and rice fields. There may even be the chance to join the local host family in preparing the evening meal.

After dinner, guests will head toward the lake one more time to see the locals fishing during the night time. There is then a traditional show of ethnic dance with bamboo sticks, in which guests can participate.

Overnight in a local ethnic stilted house in Hoa Binh

Hanoi – Hoa Binh = 70 km, 2 hours transfer

9:00 am: After breakfast, guests will bid their hosts farewell and transfer to the wonderful Mai Chau valley, surrounded by mountain chain which is the area of the Thai ethnic people. 

Arriving in Mai Chau at around 11am, guests will be able to visit the typical village of the Thai people, Discover the daily life of locals and see traditional handicrafts. Lunch is served in a local stilted house belonged to Ms Chung.

In the afternoon, take a bike ride through the villages and rice paddies of the picturesque rural Mai Chau valley, which is surrounded by a wonderful jungle-clad mountain range. Enjoy the beautiful vistas and discover the local people in their daily lives working in rice fields, fishing, building houses, making fishing nets, shrimp traps, etc.

Guests are free for the remainder of the afternoon to enjoy the facilities at their comfortable resort.

Overnight in Mai Chau

Hoa Binh – Mai Chau = 65 km, 1h30 transfer

Biking: 1 – 2 hours

This morning after breakfast you will picked up and transferred to Mai Ha Village. Your hike starts at 9am with a walk through Kha local village and along the dirt trail through forest with tropical trees which covers Pu Poc sacred mountain of Thai ethnic minority in Mai Chau. The spectacular scenery gradually unfolds before you. Continue your visit to Te – a small charming local village located near a forest and is rarely visited by tourists.

Enjoy a delicious lunch at a local home with your friendly host.

After your lunch, explore the Thai ethnic minority villages of Pu and Khoe on foot. Meet the locals and learn about their culture and traditions.

From Khoe village, you will take a transfer back to Mai Chau.

The rest of the afternoon is your free time at leisure.

Overnight in Mai Chau

Routes can change subject to client’s interest.

After breakfast, we visit the Soldier Cave which stretches 500 meters under Mt. Pu Kha and is rich in local myths and legends. The cave itself contains four caverns. Climbing to the top, guests will enjoy beautiful views of the valley. Guests start in the main chamber which can hold up to 500 people. Here, the legend related to the cave will be told and a part of the country’s history explained. The second part of the visit requires some skills and fitness as guests venture through a tunnel.

Note - For those who do not wish to visit the cave, there is the possibility to walk in remote rural villages at Na Meo, Na Mo and Xam Pa instead.

Then, visit the Mai Chau market and see all the different products, including fresh fruit, fish, crabs, rice fields and other products appreciated by the Thai people.

After lunch, depart Mai Chau for a 3.5-hour transfer to Duong Lam. You will stay in a unique lodge reconstructed from authentic Thai Binh and Mai Chau province buildings and set in the fertile Tonkinese valley next to the village of Ky Son. 

Free at leisure end of the afternoon to relax and unwind with a traditional foot bath with fragrant herbs collected by the local villagers.

Before dinner, you will observe a praying ritual to worship Buddha.

The rest of the evening is your free time at leisure.

Overnight in Ky Son village

Routes can change subject to client’s interest.

This early morning before breakfast you could choose to practice an ancient martial art in the garden, Yijinjing is a manual containing a series of exercises, coordinated with breathing, said to enhance physical health dramatically when practiced consistently.

After breakfast, explore the traditional structures and bucolic landscape that comprise this lovely property before rolling up your sleeves in the spacious, bright kitchen for a cooking class, learning from the owner how to make delicious Vietnamese dishes served as lunch!

Time to leisure after lunch at you Vietnamese traditional house. Then, hop on a bicycle for a six-km leisure ride along charming back roads, rice paddy fields and through picturesque villages such as the ancient village of Duong Lam. Visit Mia Pagoda, built in the 15th century and sheltering  287 statues of all sizes, among which are statues of Buddha and statues of the ‘Eight Vajra Deities’. Then, discover Mong Phu temple in Mong Phu commune – one of the few hamlets where the original village entrance remains. Continue riding through the narrow alleys to see the old laterite houses. Finish at Ngo Quyen temple and Phung Hung temple, places dedicated to two national heroes - Ngo Quyen and Phung Hung.

Return to the lodge and try a local tisane and a traditional herbal steam bath before dinner.

Overnight in Ky Son Village

Routes can change subject to client’s interest.

Wake up early to join in Yijinjing exercises and traditional Vietnamese worship customs honoring ancestors with morning rituals.

After breakfast enjoy free time to luxuriate in stunning natural surroundings. Walk around the village, stop at any home for a cup of tea.  Chat with local people about their daily life and farming. Help with plowing, transplanting seedlings or harvesting rice, tea, cassava, corn, or sweet potatoes depending on the harvest season. Collect tea and medicinal herbs in the garden to use back at the lodge. Alternatively, take your time to relax in a garden hammock or take pictures in traditional Vietnamese garb.

Notes: the bicycle tour can be arranged on the 2nd morning, and is especially advised during June-August period as weather will be hotter in the afternoon.

After lunch, depart for Hanoi to arrive mid-late afternoon.

Ky Son to Hanoi (70km): 2hrs