Journey to mark 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi
Update: Jul 28, 2009
To mark the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi, Ben Thanh Tourist introduces a five-day-and four-night tour to Hanoi, Halong and Sapa.
 Joining this tour, travelers have a chance to visit Thang Long Citadel which was built under the Ly Dynasty when Emperor Ly Cong Uan moved the country’s capital to Thang Long. Like other ancient citadels, Thang Long was divided into three parts. Part one was the citadel where people worked and lived. The second part was the imperial citadel used for state affairs. The last was the forbidden citadel reserved for the king which is now called Hanoi Citadel.
The first day of the trip will take tourists to well-known relics of Hanoi ancient citadel such as the Temple of Literature, Hoan Kiem Lake, Ngoc Son Temple, Tortoise Tower, Quan Thanh Temple, Tran Quoc Pagoda, Truc Bach Lake and Ho Tay Lake. After visiting the above places, tourists will depart for Lao Cai Province on the overnight train.
Rolling on to Sapa, travelers can see the spectacular Bac (Silver) Waterfall and Cong Troi (Heaven Gate), the boundary of Lao Cai and Lai Chau provinces. Sapa Town looks more beautiful than a painting with its red-tiled houses looming mysteriously under the mist. Sapa has a slightly cold yet romantic mist covering the scenery.
Here, tourists can trek through Cat Cat Valley and discover the weaving and dyeing trades of the ethnic H’mong and ethnic Day villagers. Spend one night in Sapa to feel the atmosphere or walk to visit the stone church. On weekends, tourists will have a chance to witness the love market in Sapa.
Next morning, tourists will visit ancient villas, conquer the peak of Ham Rong and visit Heaven Gate and Phu Tu (Father and Son) Mountain. Check out of the hotel and hit Sapa market for specialties made by ethnic minorities of the northwest of Vietnam.
Back to Lao Cai, travelers visit Ta Phin Village on the way to meet some of the ethnic Daos and then come to Coc Leu Market for souvenirs at amazingly cheap prices.
 Next is Halong, the most beautiful landscape of the North as well as the final destination of the tour. Recently, Halong Bay was voted to the final round of the seven world wonders contest chosen by people from all over the world on the website of the Newopenworld organization.
Halong Bay has about 1,900 large and small islands with many caves and mountains such as Thien Cung Grotto, Dau Go Grotto, Lu Huong Islet, Cho Da Islet and Ga Choi Islet, a beautiful community. A boat out to Thien Cung Grotto with its many stalactites in different colors and shapes includes a good sightseeing trip around the bay. In the cavern, colored lamps create diversified light and colors in lotus shapes or animal shapes.
In the evening tourists will come back to Hanoi to tour some of the craft villages specializing in pottery, green peas cake, grilled rice and other specialties of the North of Vietnam.
The last day of the tour, before flying back to HCMC, travelers will have free time to go shopping at Dong Xuan Market.
Ben Thanh Tourist
Add: 86 Ly Tu Trong St, Dist 1, HCMC
Tel: (84-8) 3520 2020
SGT
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