Incense Travel - Travel Diary

I took some of my food tour clients to the “Hanoi Strain Street” yesterday, and it reminded me of a quote by Mark Twain: “I saw a startling sight today, a politician with his hands in his own pockets”. The Hanoi’s railroad has become an Instagram-famous street, where tourists come in hopes of a perfect picture with a unique background. I saw no politician there, but the increasing number of coffee shops with chairs sitting next the tracks are making it a startling sight.

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September is the beginning of the best time to travel Vietnam, as it’s the harvest time in the region. Visitors to northern Vietnam this month will have opportunities to see the golden color of the ready-to-harvest rice fields, spreading from Red River Delta to terraces on the hillsides around Sapa. On my most recent tour, I took my clients from Hanoi to Tam Coc, to Lan Ha Bay, and to Sapa. Following is how we experienced the destinations in our 7 days exploring northern Vietnam.

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A day tip from the capital city to Tam Coc landscape in Ninh Binh, a southern province of Hanoi, is always recommended to every travelers visiting north Vietnam who seek for a serene countryside and stunning natural scenery. Tam Coc features a lovely river running through picturesque limestone mountain ranges, which are surrounded by yellow rice paddy fields dotted with hard working farmers. The destination is one of Vietnam’s UNESCO World Heritage listed-sites.

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I’ve just recently finished my 10-day adventure in North Vietnam with three travelers from the U.S, we got a wonderful time together traveling from Hanoi to Mai Chau, Halong Bay and Hoi An. With their permissions to use some of our group photos for this blog post sharing our experiences, and here is what we did during our journey.

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Margaret’s favorite destination is Southeast Asia, and she has been traveling with Incense Travel to explore Indochina for two seasons. She shares her latest trip and why she keeps going back with us below.

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Located less than four hours by car from the capital Hanoi, Mai Chau sets in an idyllic valley and is hemmed in by limestone mountains. The valley is speckled with villages of the White Thai people, where traditional stilt houses are surrounded with rice paddy fields, fish ponds and green bamboo ranges. It is a world away from Hanoi’s hustle with fascinating tribal culture, an ideal destination for cycling and walking.

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The famous UNESCO World Heritage listed-town of Luang Prabang is Laos’ prime tourist destination, the town is a beautiful mix of gilded wats (temples), saffron-clad monks, faded Indochinese villas and beautiful river scenery. Buffalo Joe, one of our colleagues, has recently discovered this amazing town as a visitor. He is introducing his itinerary for Luang Prabang in two days, hope it helps build up the list of what you can do while touring in Laos.

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We finally hit the road, and arrived in Vietnam after a long flight. Picked us up at the airport that night was our super friendly guide, who quickly became our local friend in this corner of the world. That was our first trip to Southeast Asia, my husband travels to Asia quite often but Vietnam was totally new country to both of us. We ended up having a great trip, so I just want to share this to everyone, hope it helps build up the list of honeymoon ideas

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Just say the word “Vietnam” and my mind immediately conjures up images of rice paddy fields and limestone islands in Halong Bay. A recent four-day tour with Incense Travel, starting at the Noi Bai Airport and traveling through Hanoi and Halong Bay was far beyond any expectations I had. The wonderful nature and culture of Vietnam completely took my breath away.

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