The Discover: Hanoi/Sapa/TamCoc/DaNang/HoiAn,
$2400/person or $4500/couple

Highlights: This trip allows travelers to visit the capitol city of Hanoi, the nearby picturesque hill tribe area of Sapa, the natural wonders of hidden gem Tam Coc, and several days in the historic UNESCO Heritage town of Hoi An. Built in to the itinerary are several opportunities to meet the locals and engage with them as they live their daily lives – a specialty offered on all of Dan’s trips.

• Navigate the maze-like streets of Hanoi’s French Quarter.
• Visit Hanoi’s fabulous Women’s Museum.
• Sit at a street stall and eat one of the best soups you'll ever eat.
• Be well supplied with amazing photo opportunities.
• Visit Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum and surrounding complex.
• Meet all sorts of interesting locals & travelers along the way.
• Walk around Hoan Kiem lake and visit it’s Ngoc Son Temple.
• Attend a traditional water puppet show unique to Vietnam.
• Tour Vietnam’s excellent National Fine Arts Museum.
• Stroll around Sapa’s ancient cobbled streets.
• Meet a native tribesperson and visit their village.
• Trek for the day to neighboring villages then get those calves and feet loosened up with a foot massage.
• Visit the ancient town of Hoi An, a hands-down favorite for most travelers.
• Stroll the Hoi An riverbank at sunset, view the fishing boats coming in while the silk lanterns come alive.
• Go with locals to karoake.
• Go for a bicycle ride through the countryside with your camera.
• Bargain like a pro at the many markets and street-stalls.

THE DISCOVERER: ITINERARY - This trip can be booked with as little as 4 travelers. Departure is flexible Oct through Feb, please inquire about upcoming departure dates and/or putting together a small private group trip.

DAY 1 – HANOI
• Airport arrival, greeted by Dan, board transport to hotel.
• Check in at hotel, relax, orient yourself to neighborhood.
• Enjoy a spa visit after your long flight.
• Consider a streetside haircut or shave, highly recommended!
• Circumnavigate Hoan Keim Lake and visit it’s Ngoc Son Temple.
• Gather for happy hour & discuss evening activity options.
• Dinner - Hanoi street food or local restaurant.
• Try the traditional fresh-brewed beer at a local “bia hoi” joint.
• Enjoy the lively nightlife in Hanoi’s French Quarter.

DAY 2 - HANOI
• Rise early and enjoy coffee/soup stall pho with Dan (optional).
• Buffet at the hotel
• Walk to Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum and surrounding complex.
• Walk though Hanoi’s Botanical Garden.
• Visit the fabulous Truc Bach neighborhood and have lunch.
• Sip coffee at a chic café and observe the activity on the street.
• Taxi back to hotel for a siesta
• Take an authentic cyclo ride around town (before they disappear).
• Visit Hanoi’s Women’s Museum and/or Military History Museum.
• Attend Hanoi’s famous Water Puppet Theater for a show!
• Night market BBQ dinner on Dan!
• Enjoy the lively nightlife in Hanoi’s French Quarter.

DAY 3 - HANOI
• Rise early and enjoy coffee/soup stall pho with Dan (optional).
• Buffet at the hotel.
• Sip coffee at a chic café and observe the activity on the street.
• Explore the National Fine Arts Museum
• Lunch on N. Vietnam’s famous dish: bun cha.
• Walk the Old Quarter streets and learn about the history of local trade at the fabulous Guild Streets.
• Consider joining Dan for “adventure food night,” if you dare.
• Enjoy the lively nightlife in Hanoi’s Old Quarter area.

DAY 4 – HANOI > SAPA
• Rise early to eat pho with Dan on the street and sip coffee at the corner café (optional).
• Buffet breakfast at the hotel.
• Board our transport to Sapa (about 5 hours with stops). Lunch en-route.
• Arrive in Sapa, check in and freshen up before heading out to explore the town.
• Meet local tribespeople and chat them up.
• Enjoy the misty atmosphere and scenic amazement that is Sapa.
• Dinner out on the town.
• Sample “hot wine,” a popular local beverage.

DAY 5 – SAPA
• Rise early to join Dan for coffee out on the street (optional).
• Buffet breakfast at the hotel.
• Walk 3 km down hill to neighboring Cat Cat Village.
• Rent a traditional tribal costume and pose for photos.
• Peruse the local indigo-dyed hemp wares, being woven in front of your very eyes. Shake the hand that made it, then take it home.
• Lunch in Cat Cat village.
• Attend a traditional music and dance performance by local tribespeople.
• Grab a taxi back to the hotel.
• Visit the Sapa Museum to gain a better understanding of the local tribal communities and their history.
• Stroll the French-influenced architecture and streets of Old Sapa.

DAY 6 – SAPA > HANOI
• Rise early to join Dan for coffee out on the street (optional).
• Hop on the new sky tram and rise through the local clouds for a stellar view of the surrounding areas.
• Visit Sapa’s famous 100 yr old church dedicated to St. Jean and St. Luc
• Grab a leg massage to sooth those sore trekking muscles.
• Lunch
• Seista at hotel.
• Pack up for our transport back to Hanoi
• Transport back to Hanoi.
• Check in to our hotel.
• Dinner out in the neighborhood. Hot pot anyone? (soup you prepare yourself at your table).

DAY 7 – HANOI > TAM COC
• Rise early to join Dan for coffee out on the street (optional).
• Buffet breakfast at the hotel.
• Visit Hanoi’s Women’s Museum and/or Military History Museum.
• Lunch near hotel, pack up for departure.
• Board transport to Tam Coc (2 hrs).
• Arrive Tam Coc, walk around town, dinner out.

DAY 8 – TAM COC
• Rise early to join Dan for coffee out on the street (optional).
• Breakfast buffet at the hotel.
• Walk with (before 7am) Dan through the lively morning market – bring your camera!
• Board our bicycles and explore super-scenic “cemetery valley.”
• Enjoy a coffee at a serene and remote bamboo café.
• See local goats climbing vertical limestone cliffs, see flocks of ducks in the colorful rice paddies. Then…
• Dine on goat or duck for dinner at a local restaurant!
• Meet some rugged Western backpackers at a funky pub in town.
• Walk 5 minutes to hotel.
• Enjoy the quiet countryside as you slumber the night away.

DAY 9 – TAM COC
• Rise early to join Dan for coffee out on the street (optional).
• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Board our bicycles to head out to Bich Dong Pagoda (5km).
• Lunch in town.
• Board a sampan boat for a paddle through scenic rice paddies flanked by limestone cliffs.
• Siesta at hotel.
• Go with a local guide to Mua cave/3 caves tour (optional).
…or…
• Ride south from town with Dan for a fascinating bicycle ride through the countryside.
• Comfort food night, Indian food or wood-fired pizza!
• Return to hotel for a swim/happy hour/restful sleep.

DAY 10 – TAM COC > HANOI > DANANG > HOI AN
• Rise early to join Dan for coffee out on the street (optional).
• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Board an early transport back to Hanoi (airport)
• Fly to DaNang (1hr).
• Transport from DaNang to HoiAn (30 min).
• Check in to hotel.
• Explore the neighborhood, see craft workshops.
• Happy hour at sunset on the river to see lanterns aglow.
• Cruise the Night Market, eat bbq squid on a stick, procure some lanterns!

DAY 11 – HOI AN
• Rise early to join Dan for coffee out on the street (optional).
• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Allow Dan to show you some active artisan workshops: metalwork, ceramic, silk & needle work.
• See silkworms make silk that’s then woven on a loom and dyed right there before your eyes.
• Visit some tailors and consider their services: made-to-measure clothing in a day (a must-do in Hoi An).
• Eat lunch like the locals – Dan knows all the best spots.
• Utilize your historic old-town-entrance ticket and visit the town’s heritage sights and ancient buildings.
• Enjoy a meal in a local home with a Vietnamese family.
• Meet friends and enjoy the Hoi An nightlife.

DAY 12 – HOI AN
• Buffet breakfast at the hotel, or…rise early and eat street food with Dan.
• Rise early and join Dan at the Morning Fish Market (bring your camera).
• Have coffee with new friends and experience getting to know them.
• Hit the beach, it’s a 10 min taxi ride away. Dan knows the best spots.
• Lunch then siesta.
• Jump on a bicycle and cruise the mangrove trail through the countryside – Dan knows some fabulous routes.
• Happy hour with friends at the river.
• Bale Well banh xeo BBQ family style. Come hungry.
• Enjoy the Hoi An nightlife.

DAY 13 – HOI AN
• Buffet breakfast at the hotel …rise early and eat street food with Dan.
• Self-select: Marble Mountain, My Son Sanctuary, cooking class, cycling tour, photo tour, beach,…
• Cruise around with Dan, get your errands & to-do items handled, acquire those souvenirs.
• Lunch
• Comfort food night/non-Asian food – Pick between Indian/Italian/Mexican, Dan vouches for each.
• Enjoy your evening in Hoi An.

DAY 14 – HOI AN
• Buffet breakfast at the hotel, or… rise early and eat street food with Dan.
• Kick back at your favorite local café for a cup and a ponder your travels.
• Pack those bags.
• Hotel check-out noon.
• Transport to Da Nang airport for departure to home.

TRIP COST: $2400 per person or $4500 per couple (in shared room).

INCLUDED:
• Small group experience with no more than 8 travelers.
• Dan will travel with you as companion, consultant & concierge.
• 13 nights mid > upper range hotel (not including laundry, room service, mini-bar, etc.)
• Group travel insurance with MAJOR MEDICAL and emergency EVACUATION coverage.
• Hanoi Water Puppet Theater tickets
• All group ground transportation.
• 1 inter-Asia flight > includes = 23 kg checked baggage and 7 kg carry-on.
• Hanoi Art Museum admission.
• National Women’s Museum admission.
• Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum admission.
• Hoi An Heritage entrance ticket, good for 5 visits to historical locations around town.
• All full breakfasts provided by the hotels.
• 2 lunches & 2 dinners
• 1 pre-arranged 30-day single-entry visa for a US citizen to enter Vietnam.
• Welcome group dinner in Hanoi.
• Loan of an Android smartphone pre-loaded with a local cell service, your own personal phone number while in Vietnam (make phone calls and send text messages), contacts & handy apps.
• Unlimited pre-trip email & phone support with Dan to help travelers prepare.
• Arrival and departure transport to/from Hanoi/DaNang/Hoi An.

NOT INCLUDED:
• International airfare to Hanoi(HAN) and home from Da Nang City (DAD), or, round trip to Hanoi (HAN) and a domestic flight from Da Nang (DAD back to HAN at the end of the trip to catch your international leg home).
• Drinks
• Meals (except breakfasts and 2 dinners + 2 lunches)
• Laundry services.
• Hotel bar or mini-bar charges.
• Taxi trips outside of main itinerary activities.
• Excursions outside of main itinerary offerings.
• Tips: gratuities for guides & drivers.

ACCOMMODATION:
• Based on Dan’s travel philosophy that emphasizes establishing an “oasis of calm” at the end of each day, we’ll be spending a large portion of the overall trip budget on convenient & comfortable upper-range hotels with all the amenities you’ll need to feel safe & well pampered. Most hotels will have pools & gyms, all have nice lobbies, bars, security, 24/7 attendants. Receptionists speak English. All hotels have been vetted by Dan and come highly recommended.

FLIGHTS:
• Our trip consists of one domestic flight, which is included with your trip cost. Air travel within Vietnam is booked on Vietnam Airlines, a world-recognized and reputable airline with an excellent safety record. You are allowed 7 kilos of carry-on (15 lbs) and 23 kilos of checked baggage (50 lbs). Please let us know in advance if you plan on needing an upgrade on your checked baggage allowance.

DEPOSIT:
• Please contact Dan directly to book this trip via a 1/3 down payment, thank you. Visa/MC/Discover, Google Pay, Venmo, PayPal, checks, money orders accepted. Please contact Dan directly to book your trip using the payment method most convenient to you.

BOOKING TERMS:
• At least 1/3 of the trip cost is required when booking - this deposit will hold your space - please try and pay the rest prior to 45 days before departure, thank you. Once a deposit is received, you then risk 33% of the overall trip cost if you cancel. If you cancel within 30 days before a trip starts, you forfeit 50%, within 15 days 100%.

• Payments may be made on this site or via Paypal (to GSideas@gmail(dot)com), or by check/money order to our mailing address: Sure Flaneur Travel, P.O. Box 777, Port Townsend, WA 98368, USA. Venmo, Google Pay are also available methods, please inquire. You may also phone in a visa/mc/discover number to our secure voicemail number (206-713-567(eight)) and leave your 16 digit number, expiration and 3 digit code. Phoned-in payments will appear as "Groussman Studios LLC," whereas payments through this site will appear as "Sure Flaneur Travel" on your statement.