​

TUESDAY, APRIL 8th: Sung Village

 

Day 1: Hanoi – Sung Village (L,D)

08h00: The driver will pick you up at the house. After 3,5 hours driving through the
picturesque countryside, you will arrive at Sung Village, Cao Son commune home to the Dzao Tien
minority people. There are around 78 households and about 400 residents in the village and they
live on farming and forest plantations, you will take a leisurely walk around the village.

11h30: Arrive at Sung village. Check-in at homestay. Rest and relax.

12h00: Have lunch at homestay.

14h00: Beeswax painting and indigo dyeing workshop
The beeswax painting and indigo dyeing experience tour will last for approximately 2 hours
You will visit the traditional indigo workshop of the Sung village. Here, you will have the opportunity
to converse with the local community and gain insight into the significance, patterns, and process of
creating traditional Dao Tien attire. You will receive guidance on the principles of beeswax painting
and batik dyeing from the local artisans. Subsequently, you will practice and create your piece of art.
The memorable takeaway from this experience is not only the fun and hands-on activities but also an
indigo product adorned with your beeswax patterns. Visit the brocade group, learn how to print the texture by beeswax, and discover the indigo dyeing process. You also have a chance to create your scarf under the instruction of the craftsman.

17h00: Dao Tien traditional herbal bath
Get your clean clothes to take Dao Tien Herbal bath in another local family. This is home of a
“traditional doctor” in the village. Taking hot bath in different kinds of herbal leaves will bring you
deep relaxation and help with blood circulation.

19h00: Dinner at the homestay.

20h00: Nom Dao writing experience
After diner, You will visit the house of the Elder, affectionately known as 'Bố.' Here, you will have an
intimate conversation with Bố over tea, learning about the life of the Dao Tien people, their customs,
wedding traditions, traditional clothing, and how life has evolved over the years.
Bố is also one of the few individuals who knows and helps preserve the ancient Dao script in Sung
village. Bố will provide you with an experience of writing Dao script on Dó paper, a method of
preserving the indigenous culture from ancient times. Each character written on dó paper is soft,
square, and simple, just like the people here. The takeaway from this experience is a fascinating encounter with the Elder and the ancient Dao script written on dó paper, which brings good fortune.

21h30: Overnight at the homestay.

​​

​

Thursday, December 9th: Da Bai Village

​​

Day 2: Sung (B, L, D)

07h00: Breakfast at the homestay.

08h30: Traditional handcrafted Do paper workshop
You will visit a local household in the village where you will receive guidance on the traditional
handmade dó paper-making process. This will include steps such as selecting the right tree, stripping
the bark, sun drying, soaking, cooking, fermenting, and more. You also can actively engage in some
exciting and challenging steps like 'sewing paper. The memorable takeaway from this experience is not only the fun and hands-on activities but also the Do paper product that you create for yourself."
Sung traditional food and drink tasting. You will visit a local family in the village, sitting around their cozy kitchen and the host will share with you about their speciality food Thịt chua - fermented pork and Rượu Hoẵng - upland rice wine. These food and drink usually served at unique events such as weddings or Naming a child ceremony. Later, the local will share with you the steps to make the dish and then taste it with some rice wine.

11h30: Have lunch at the homestay.

13h30: Trekking from Sung to Da Bia village.
From Sung village, your guide will take you to walk along the terraced fields and on the trail to Da Bia.
We'll hike approx 4km, with diverse and beautiful landscapes interwoven terraced fields, Do
trees, indigo trees, bamboo forests, meeting local people going to the forest... Finally, experience a
short boat trip on the Da River Lake to Da Bia village. In addition, your local guide will share with you interesting stories about the culture and life of the Dao Tien and Muong Au Ta people in everyday life, and about their resilience to adversity over prolonged periods of history.

Prepare a light backpack with your essential things that you need for the trek such as water
bottle, cap, mosquito spray... Your lugguages will be transfered to the next village.

17h00: Arrive Da Bia village. Check in homestay. Rest and relax.

18h30: Dinner at homestay.

19h30: Learn how to make “bánh ốc – shell shaped cake” – a traditional food of local people.

20h00: Da Bia traditional art performance.

21h30: Overnight at the homestay.

​

​​​​

Friday, Tuesday 10th: Sung Village

​​

Day 3: Da Bia – Ha Noi (B,L)

​

07h00: Breakfast at homestay.

08h30: Discover Da Bia village, you will visit some local households and talk with local people to learn
about Muong Au Ta culture and their life, visit fish farm. 

09h30: Muong’s cooking experience
Collect vegetables for cooking from family garden. Then set the fire and prepare for the cooking in a
traditional way of local people here. Your host will guide you how to cook Muong Au Ta dishes with their
special cooking technique of cooking food such as pork, fish, and green tea leaves... in bamboo tubes.

11h00: Enjoy your own cooked lunch and drink some green tea.

12h30: Say goodbye to your host and take the car back to Hanoi.

16h00: Arrive Hanoi to fly to Saigon.