At a time when HCMC is in the grip of a scorching heat wave, Ben Thanh Tourist comes through with a seven day/six night tour to Hanoi, Halong, Mong Cai and Dong Hung, China. Northern Vietnam is getting colder and colder, a welcome change for so many people in the final weeks of autumn.
The first day is a flight to Cao Bang which is well-known for its historic spots: Pac Po Cave, Lenin Stream, Karl Marx Mountain and Ban Gioc Waterfall.
Pac Po Cave is renowned as a working and living place of President Ho Chi Minh. Near the cave, there is a stalactite which looks like a statue of Karl Marx, therefore President Ho Chi Minh named it Karl Marx. Below Karl Marx Mountain is a perfectly clear spring which the President named Lenin. The area, with its mighty natural charm, is attractive to ecology tourists and researchers.
On the third day, the tour continues to Lang Son to visit the famous Tam Thanh Grotto. Its door is about 8m high and opens onto a corridor with 30 stone steps carved into the mountain. Dense groves hide the grotto from the sun, making it mysterious and cool.
The next day visits Halong Bay in Quang Ninh Province. Halong Bay boasts more than one thousand awesome limestone karsts and islands of various sizes and shapes along the 120-km coastline of Bai Chay Beach.
Halong Bay hosts a great diversity of ecosystems including coral reefs, freshwater swamp forests, mangrove forests, small freshwater lakes and sandy beaches.