Vietnam Rural Villages Trek
5 Good Reasons To Do This Trip!
Ever wondered what it’s like to visit a place so untouched by tourism that you’re the main attraction? As you hike through hidden villages, locals wave and smile – not because they’re selling anything, but because they’re just as curious about you as you are about them.
The resorts can wait. This trip is about highland eco lodges, the hearty welcome of the Vietnamese mountain people, and lengthening that list of happy places.
It’s all about the crew! By the end of this adventure, you’ll feel like you’ve known your fellow trekkers forever – complete with inside jokes, shared meals and memories you’ll be laughing about for years.
Crack of dawn, boots on and you’ll set off to watch the golden sun pour over Pu Luong’s stairway-like rice terraces. It’s one of those moments where you just stand still and think, “Yep, I’m really here”.
Chopsticks in hand, you’re about to dive into the best bowl of pho you’ve ever had – made by a grandma who’s been perfecting it for decades. One slurp, and you’ll understand why breakfast in Vietnam hits different.
Uncover more info by clicking the tabs below!
Trip Details
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$1,137 AUD
Private Supplement: +$249
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$1,137 AUD
Private Supplement: +$249
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$1,137 AUD
Private Supplement: +$249
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Details
- 2 week cooling off period applies.
- Lifetime Deposit. If you need to cancel, your deposit is transferable to other trips.
- Twin Share: we’ll match you with a roomie if you’re travelling solo.
- Private supplement available: 2025 departures max 2 spots, 2026 departures max 4 spots
Please refer to our payment terms in the FAQs.
Trip length
12 days, 11 nights
Meeting point
Foreign Relations Hotel, Hanoi
Departure point
Foreign Relations Hotel, Hanoi
Group size
Maximum 12 for 2025 departures
Maximum 14 for 2026 departures
Participation requirements
- You’re open-minded and open-hearted.
- You try to embrace the little things.
- You don’t mind basic washing facilities in your homestays.
- You love adventure and the surprises that come with it.
- You are gracious to others and a team player.
Fitness
Level 2 – Moderate
If you’re comfortable trekking for 3 to 4 hours and over 7 to 10 kilometres continuously at a time, Level 2 is for you! Expect the terrain to be relatively flat, although it can be undulating in some areas. If you walk at a distance in varying terrain on a regular basis, you should be well prepared. Aside from trekking for a few hours each day, ‘moderate’ trips may include activities like a short cycle tour through beautiful countryside or around quaint towns.
Included
- Meals: 11 breakfasts, 10 lunches and 11 dinners
- Private vehicle transportation
- 11 nights accommodation
- Traditional Bamboo raft ride
- A top-rated and English-speaking Tour Leader
- All listed activities and more!
Not included
- International flights
- Travel insurance (compulsory)
- Personal trekking equipment
- Late check-out at hotels
- Meals and drinks not mentioned in the itinerary
- Drinks with included lunches and dinners
- Tip kitty
- Personal expenditure
Accommodation Preview
Pu Luong Valley Home
Mai Chau Ecolodge
Mu Cang Chai Ecolodge
Overview
Trip Summary By Days
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Driving (hr) |
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Welcome to Vietnam and Hanoi! | ||||||
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Cyclo ride in Old Quarter, Dong Xuan Market, Thom Culinary cooking class | ||||||
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Drive to Pu Luong Nature Reserve and an afternoon hike; bamboo rafting | 5 | 2 | 4 | |||
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Sunrise hike at Pu Luong Nature Reserve and picnic lunch | 11.5 | 5 | ||||
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Head to Pu Luong and work beside the locals in their rice fields | 6.5 | 3 | 1.5 | |||
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Hike from Na Cut Village to Cha Long Village | 10 | 3 | 20 min | |||
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Morning village loop in Mai Chau (Pom Coong and Chieng Chau), afternoon drive to Moc Chau | 2 | 1 | 5.5 | |||
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Tea plantations and Na Ka Plum Valley hike | 6 | 3 | 2 | |||
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Long drive to Mu Cang Chai, optional walk to Ngoc Chien village | 6 | 2,5 | 4 | |||
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La Pan Tan terraces and Mam Xoi Hill hike | 8 | 4 | ||||
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Morning hike to My Hang; long drive back to Hanoi; farewell dinner | 5 | |||||
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Goodbye Vietnam! | ||||||
| Total: | 50,5 | 23 | 11 | 10 | 11 |
What our Camino Women say
Trip Map
Get to Know Your Vietnam Rural Villages Trek Itinerary
What You'll See & Do
Day 1 – Welcome to Hanoi!
The adventure begins as soon as your plane touches down in Hanoi, a city with a thousand years of history and your home for the next couple of nights – so let’s not waste a second! Our crew will be there at the airport, whisking you off to your hotel with the kind of welcome that says “you’re one of us now”. This evening, get ready to meet your 13 new best friends over a welcome dinner. There’s nothing like chowing down on huge bowls of noodles to bring a group together, so it’s time to do just that.
As the evening winds down, you’ll find yourself marvelling at how quickly strangers can transform into friends, and you’ll feel like you’ve known your new travel buddies for years, not hours. Tonight is just the beginning, and trust us, the adventure only picks up from here!
Accommodation: Foreign Relations Hotel (or similar)
Included: Dinner
Day 2 – Hanoi
Bangkok has tuk-tuks, Hanoi has cyclos – vintage trikes powered by local cyclists. Clamber in and start the day with a whiz through the streets of old Hanoi. Smell the ginger, the boiling egg coffees (yep – that’s a thing!), and the motor oil as you weave through the lanes and alleyways on the way to Dong Xuan Market.
You’ll do a bit of preliminary grocery shopping there, because your next stop is the Thom Culinary, a cooking school with a difference. It’s the perfect stage to dive headlong into Vietnam’s kitchen, so take a stroll through the herb garden, pick your mint and lemongrass, and get a-cooking. Under the guiding hand of a local master, you’ll craft noodle soups so good you’ll be trying to sneak them out in your pockets.
No need for that, though. Let’s just say that the foodie theme continues later in the day in the Hanoi Old Quarter. Camino crew – chopsticks at the ready!
Accommodation: Foreign Relations Hotel (or similar)
Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 3 – Pu Luong Nature Reserve
Wave goodbye to Hanoi’s buzz – you’re off to the quiet paradise of Pu Luong Nature Reserve. After a stunning four-hour drive, you’ll fill your bellies and hit the ground walking in Cham village.
This afternoon’s hike is an easy, breezy two-hour long trek where you’ll learn about the inner workings of a water wheel. With your head spinning in the direction of the hypnotising wheels, you’ll be all ears. Your guide will share stories of the village that you just left to dive even deeper into the fields.
Before the road takes you back to Pu Luong, take a seat in the fields and listen to the sounds of the place that’s starting to feel like home. You’ll not remember a time you felt this relaxed.
Accommodation: Pu Luong Valley Home (or similar)
Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 4 – Pu Luong Nature Reserve
Crack of dawn, and you’re off to catch the valley in its morning best – soaked in a golden haze and decked out in every shade of green you can imagine. As soon as your feet hit the trail, you’re stepping into a world where rice terraces unfold like a living, breathing postcard, so you’ll want to make sure your camera is fully-charged for today.
After exploring the rice terraces, it’s all downhill (in a good way) to the valley’s base, zigzagging through roads and villages that haven’t seen a traffic jam ever.
Seeing the locals working in the fields, you’ll begin to wonder about their lives. So, swap your rice-terrace-views for a face-to-face conversation with a local family in their home in Lan Village. If you want to see their faces light up with pride, ask them about their traditional home weaving techniques!
While your thoughts are still with the villagers, continue your trek deeper into the wilderness. Views of forests, jungles and fields take turns in front of you, until you catch a glimpse of your destination: the Hieu Waterfall.
After lunch, your vehicle will be waiting to take you back to Pu Luong Valley, so you can save your energy for the upcoming hikes.
Accommodation: Pu Luong Valley Home (or similar)
Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 5 – Mai Chau
Another day, another rice fields adventure. By now, trekking past peaceful fields and waving to locals is part of your daily routine, so it’s time to sprinkle it up.
This time, you’ll head to the Bat Cave. It’s easy to guess that you’ll be counting the bats flying over your heads as you wander around this cave. A bit over one hundred bats call it home. It’s the real deal, no superheroes here!
Post-lunch, it’s a swift one-and-a-half-hour drive to your next adventure hub. Mai Chau, your time is now!
Accommodation: Mai Chau Ecolodge (or similar)
Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 6 – Nà Cụt and Cha Long villages
Buckle up for a quick 20-minute drive to Nà Cụt village – so short you’ll barely have time to ask, “Are we there yet?” Once you ditch the wheels, it’s hiking time. Today’s 10 kilometres of trails will take you into the heart of a thick bamboo forest, passing hidden villages, towering limestone cliffs and houses on stilts peeking out of terraced fields. It’s a view so pristine it feels too good to be true!
Obviously, it’d be a crime not to make plenty of stops to account for those “wait, let me take a photo” moments, and chats with locals that’ll likely turn into impromptu language lessons, so the hike will be pretty easygoing.
The trail comes to an end in Cha Long Village, where cassava and corn fields reign supreme. Hiking complete, the afternoon is yours to rest your achy feet, or, oh go on then, head back out to hike around the hotel’s glorious surroundings.
Accommodation: Mai Chau Ecolodge (or similar)
Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 7 – Mai Chau
Whew! That’s seven whole days in Vietnam done and dusted. It’s been a pho-filled adventure through more rice fields than you can shake bánh mì baguette at, hasn’t it? And what better way to celebrate with, well…with even more trekking, of course!
Don’t worry, today’s route is more about chin-wagging with the locals than hardcore ascents. We’ve plotted a 5-kilometre loop through the ethnic villages of Mai Chau with plenty of heartwarming encounters. You’ll stop by the stilted houses of Pom Coong, meet the weavers of Chieng Chau, and gawp at mountains that glow with 10,000 shades of green.
Be back at the lodge for lunch, because it’s time to bid farewell to this monsoon-kissed land. Your route heads deeper inland, where Moc Chau awaits.
Accommodation: Moc Chau Eco Garden Resort or similar, Moc Chau
Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 8 – Moc Chau
Moc Chau’s landscapes are greener than a great big green thing. The reason? Tea. Pull on the boots and hit the trails. It won’t be long before you’re gazing across a vast plantation of beautifully manicured tea bushes. It would be rude not to stop for a cuppa, and your guide knows just the spot!
Soothed with some of the best tea you’ve ever tasted, you continue the trek along the base of the Na Ka Plum Valley. It lives up to its name – just wait until you sample one of the sweet, sweet fruits straight from the tree. By this point, you’ll be walking through a lively farming community, where smiling locals tempt you to their tea stalls and children play between the plum orchards.
After 12 to15 kilometres, you’ll finish up and head back to the hotel for a hard-earned cold beer or chill session. Or both.
Accommodation: Moc Chau Eco Garden Resort or similar, Moc Chau
Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 9 – Mu Cang Chai
Give the legs a rest by settling in for a drive through the depths of inland Vietnam. The crew bids goodbye to the tea-covered reaches of Moc Chau and heads northwards. It’s big mileage (like, five-plus hours), but also big views, especially as the mist-haloed peaks of the Hoang Lien Son – the highest mountains in Vietnam – begin to emerge at the end.
Consult the calf muscles after you check in at the lodge, for there’s a choice to be made. You can kick back in a hammock to catch up with your holiday reading while gazing out at the mountains. Or you can trek out to Ngoc Chien Village to get an eyeful of stilt homes and meet their inhabitants. Which one is it going to be?
Accommodation: Ecolodge Mu Cang Chai or similar
Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 10 – La Pan Tan
There’s a buzz at breakfast. People will be glugging coffee too fast and chattering away over their eggs. It’s all because your route leads up to the paradise rice terraces of La Pan Tan. Make sure the camera is charged – today’s a showstopper.
After a quick transfer, lace up and get hiking. It’s a full four hours of the most ridiculously scenic backcountry. You’ll move through rustic rice-growing communities and pinch yourself before seas of undulating golden and green rice fields. Then comes the grand finale: Mam Xoi Hill. Forget OTT descriptions. They won’t do justice. Just go see it for yourself!
Accommodation: Ecolodge Mu Cang Chai or similar, Mu Cang Chai
Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 11 – Back to Hanoi
Hear that? It’s the tooting scooters of Hanoi calling you back! But not before one last leg-streching walk. There’s still time to hike up to the little village of My Hang. It’s a journey through jungles, but
most of all, it’s a chance to feel the warm welcome of the Hmong people, who carve out a living here from the mountainsides. The language is a big barrier in these parts, but the Hmong’s smiles are universally understood.
The way back to the big city is long, so fuel up with a last bout of sticky bamboo rice and get on the road. Your Camino crew will spend this evening in a special spot in Hanoi for a final meal, with a side of hearty belly laughs.
Accommodation: Foreign Relations Hotel (or similar)
Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 12 – Farewell Friends
Time flies when you’re having fun, and just like that, departure day has dawned. Over breakfast, share those last laughs and maybe a tear or two as you reminisce about the journey with your new hiking pals.
As you board the plane, remember: the adventure doesn’t end here. The only question that remains is, where will you explore next?
Included: Breakfast
FAQs
Prior to the payment of your full balance, the final price may change if there is significant variation in the AUD:USD exchange rate. Our trip pricing is determined by what the exchange rates are at the time of publishing the trip.
The pricing on this trip is based on an exchange rate of 1 AUD : 0.65 USD.
A deposit of 25% of the total trip price is required to hold your spot. Payment can be made by credit card (fees apply) or bank deposit.
There is a cooling-off period of 2 weeks. (Applicable to all bookings made at least 120 days before trip departure.)
We have implemented a ‘lifetime deposit’ guarantee. Deposits are not refundable, but they are transferable at any time, right up until the first day of the trip.
The final balance of the trip is required 120 days in advance of the departure date. Our suppliers require upfront payment well in advance to guarantee availability.
Please refer to the full terms and conditions for further information
Australians and New Zealanders require a tourist e-Visa to enter Vietnam, which will cost around $50 USD. When the time comes to apply, we’ll assist with all the info you need.
Level 2 – Moderate
If you’re comfortable trekking for 3 to 4 hours and over 7 to 10 kilometres continuously at a time, Level 2 is for you! Expect the terrain to be relatively flat, although it can be undulating in some areas. If you walk at a distance in varying terrain on a regular basis, you should be well prepared. Aside from trekking for a few hours each day, ‘moderate’ trips may include activities like a short cycle tour through beautiful countryside or around quaint towns.
Most of our trips have a tip kitty because many cultures have interesting and diverse rules when it comes to tips. We’ve found it to be the easiest way to combat over-tipping, under-tipping or having the tip fall into the wrong hands. Our goal is for guests to relax and know that the complexities of tipping are taken care of, on their behalf.
For your Vietnam adventure, we ask your contribution be:
- 2,200,000 VND (equivalent to $130 AUD) to your guide on Day 1. The kitty will be managed by your guide and distributed along the way at restaurants for included meals, hotel staff, drivers, train station porterage and services.
What is not covered is a customary tip at the end of the trip for your guide. If they’ve ensured that your trip is memorable, we recommend the following guidelines:
- 1,500,000 VND to 2,000,000 VND per person at the end of the trip ($89 – $118 AUD equivalent).
November marks a delightful transition in Vietnam from the rainy season to the dry season. While weather conditions vary across regions, it’s generally pleasant for travelers. In the north, cities like Hanoi and Sapa experience cooler temperatures, averaging around 22°C, accompanied by clear skies and minimal rainfall.
During February and March, Vietnam experiences a varied climate, offering an appealing time for travel. The northern areas are cooler, with average temperatures around 18°C and occasional light rain as they move from winter to spring. Central Vietnam enjoys warming temperatures and decreasing rainfall, creating excellent conditions for beach-going. In the south, the weather remains warm and dry, with temperatures typically around 28°C, ideal for urban exploration and outdoor activities.
You will be accommodated in lodges, primarily bungalow-style accommodations that are twin share with ensuite facilities. On Day 7, you will stay in a local home with dormitory-style accommodation.
Yes, we offer an optional Accommodation Concierge Service for guests who would like us to organise pre-trip arrival and or post-trip departure accommodation.
The concierge fee is AU$40 per guest for arrival arrangements and AU$40 per guest for departure arrangements, regardless of how many nights are booked. The fee is charged per guest, including when sharing a room (for example, AU$40 for person A and AU$40 for person B). This fee is in addition to the cost of the accommodation.
This service allows our team to take care of all the research, bookings and coordination for your extra nights, so you can arrive feeling relaxed and focus on enjoying your trip.
You are also very welcome to book your own accommodation if you prefer. Some guests choose this option for greater flexibility or access to different cancellation terms.
If you are unsure which option is best for you, our team is always happy to help.
To make your journey more comfortable, consider bringing either a suitcase or a backpack—your main luggage will be transported by bus between overnight stays. During treks, you’ll need to carry your daily essentials yourself, so having a comfortable day pack will really come in handy.
For travelers departing from Australia to Vietnam, there are several 1-stop flights available, typically transiting through major hubs such as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), or Bangkok (Thailand). These routes are the most direct and convenient options for reaching Hanoi.
For those traveling from New Zealand, 1-stop flights are less common. However, 2-stop routes via Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, or Bangkok are the most direct and practical choices. These routes often involve a stopover in Australia or a major Southeast Asian hub before continuing on to Hanoi.
The official currency in Vietnam is the Vietnamese dong, but the US dollar is also widely accepted. Many goods and services can be paid for in either dong or dollars, so it’s a good idea to carry a combination of both. Be sure that any dollar bills you bring are in good condition, as worn notes may be refused by some businesses.
You can exchange money in advance or upon arrival, or you can withdraw cash from an ATM, which is often the more cost-effective option.
While cash remains the preferred payment method in Vietnam, credit cards are becoming more widely accepted in major cities. In places like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, most restaurants, shops, and hotels will accept credit cards. However, smaller establishments, such as street food stalls, typically only accept cash. For the rural areas you’ll visit on this trip, it’s essential to have cash on hand, as ATMs and card payments are usually not available.
In the unlikely event of a health or security related incident during a trip, we’ve engaged a local partner to assist. From our experience, there is not one framework that fits all, and every incident is unique and requires a different approach. With all trips, your guides are your day-to-day support. While behind the scenes, there is an active line of communication – between your guide, the on-ground support team, and Australian Ops.
