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Ha Giang, the Roof of Vietnam (Harvest)

A fabulous escape to meet with a unique population and some of the world's top geological wonders
North Vietnamese family rice harvest activity on mountain plateau

HA GIANG, THE ROOF OF VIETNAM (HARVEST)

  • Price: US$2890 / person
  • Tour Dates:
    – 29 May to 5 June 2020 & 3 to 10 September 2020
    – 28 May to 4 June 2021 & 2 to 9 September 2021
  • Duration: 8 days / 7 nights
  • Group Size: 6 persons max.
  • Level: Beginners to Advanced
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Tour Highlights

  • The incredible karst plateau of Dong Van, listed in UNESCO Global Geoparks Network
  • The visit of H’mong villages and encounters with the local population
  • The sunday markets of Dong Van and Meo Vac
  • The spectacular road from Dong Van to Meo Vac, and the Ma Pi Leng passage.
  • The magnificent rice terraces of Hoang Su Phi, listed as a Vietnam National Heritage site

Closed to foreigners for a long time, the faraway province of Ha Giang remains on the sideline of traditional tourist trails. It offers a diversified palette of landscapes and a pretty mosaic of ethnic groups, barely influenced by the turmoil and development of modern life. From the spectacular rice terraces of Hoang Su Phi and its various local tribes, to the breathtaking karst landscape of Dong Van and its White Hmong populated villages, we invite you to a fabulous photographic adventure to the limits of the northern mountainous region of Vietnam.

We organize this tour twice a year, during the rice transplantation season and the harvest season, a period during which the ethnic groups spend most of their days in the fields, to the photographer’s great delight.

North Vietnam Quan Ba panoramic landscape at dusk
Day 1

● Hanoi ▸ Quan Ba
● 7 hours travelling / 1 hour photography

We will leave Hanoi early in the morning to reach Quan Ba in the late afternoon. As we’ll move towards our destination, the sceneries will become increasingly spectacular: stunning hilly landscapes, corn and manioc fields, traditional tea plantations, until reaching Ha Giang town, where we’ll come upon our first rice terraces.

Just before Quan Ba, we will pass the “Heaven’s Gate”, a high point with mountains stretching to the horizon, marking the entrance to Dong Ba Karst Plateau, listed in UNESCO Global Geoparks Network. We’ll attempt to make the most of this magnificent point of view, and use it as a premium training ground for landscape photography, hopefully helped by a nice weather.

Dinner and night in our Red Dao eco-lodge.

North Vietnamese rice workers portrait in Quan Ba
Day 2

● Quan Ba ▸ Pho Cao ▸ Dong Van
● 3.5 hours travelling / 4 hours of photography

We’ll spend the early morning in the rice fields around Quan Ba, capturing the farmer’s field activities. We will then go exploring Dong Van Plateau, an extremely wild region made of limestone pitons and black granite needles, making for a truly unique and breathtaking panorama.

After lunch in Yen Minh, we will head to Pho Cao, a superb H’mong village spotted with 200 years old houses, my favorite village in the area! We’ll seek inspiration in composing with this charming location and the villagers going about daily occupations remnants of another age, before setting off for Dong Van to arrive there in the late afternoon.

Dinner and night in Dong Van.

Vietnam Quan Ba minority man pulling buffalo on rice terrace backdrop
North Vietnam panoramic view of Dong Van village hidden in the valley
Day 3

● Dong Van
● 1/2 hour travelling / 6 hours of photography

We will start the day capturing the sunrise over the rice fields of the Dong Van valley. In May, Dong Van’s rice fields are not cultivated yet, and thanks to the play of light and morning shadows, the veins of the terraces form a remarkable textured landscape.

We will then dive right into the rice fields, capturing the rice harvest activities of local minorities in their traditional clothes and the diverse rocky formations in the background.

In the afternoon, we will head to another picturesque valley and capture more harvest scenes, where we’ll be able to enjoy the sunset from a unique vantage point, allowing for interesting compositions against the light of the setting sun.

Dinner and night in Dong Van.

North Vietnam panorama landscape with dried up rice terraces and mountains
North Vietnamese family harvesting rice field on mountain plateau
Day 4

● Dong Van ▸ Meo Vac
● 2 hour travelling / 7 hours of photography

In the morning we’ll go visit two dominical markets, linked together by one of the most iconic road in Vietnam: better get your gear ready! Every Sunday, ethnic minorities of many different groups leave their home villages very early in the morning to reach Dong Van market, a place to trade merchandises but also a gathering site to socialize and meet with others.

We will then head to Meo Vac, home to the Black H’mong Eagle’s Nest. Upon arrival we’ll explore the livestock market, a one of its kind location in the Ha Giang province, where between 400 and 1000 cattle are traded during the course of the morning, along with many horses, pigs and dogs. We will then visit the main market.

After lunch, we will wander around Meo Vac, before heading to Ma Pi Leng passage. We’ll be following a sinuous road meandering through the mountain sides, offering a great variety of landscapes, point of views and opportunities for photography stops. Finally, after getting through the passage, we’ll be greeted by a majestic view, overlooking a vertiginous canyon and the No Que River gorges further down.

If time permits, we’ll spend the rest of the day along one of the most scenic road of the North Vietnam mountains, chasing clouds playing hide and seek with the rocky formations. We’ll explore various locations on foot doing light treks (3-4 km), walking through beautiful landscapes and H’mong hamlets, as we work hard our cameras seeking great shots blending people daily life and landscape photography.

Dinner and night at the Auberge de Meo Vac eco-resort.

Day 5

● Meo Vac ▸ Ha Giang
● 6 hours travelling / many landscape photography stops

After making the most of the early morning lights and a healthy breakfast, we will head back to Ha Giang town following a different road, this time surrounded by awe-inspiring karstic landscapes. We will take our time and make many photography stops along the way. We will arrive in Ha Giang town in the early evening for dinner.

Dinner and night in a comfortable homestay.

Vietnam minority girl on mountain passage watching the setting sun
Day 6

● Ha Giang ▸ Hoang Su Phi
● 3 hours travelling / 4 hours photography

We will spend the morning capturing the lovely Tay ethnic villages near Ha Giang town. As it is situated at a lower altitude, if we are lucky, we may be able to capture post-harvest activities such as traditional burning of rice paddy stubbles. After lunch we will hit the road and head to our Ecolodge in the heart of Hoang Su Phi.

Dinner and night in our Ecolodge.

Vietnam ethnic minority over viewing rice terraces
Day 7

● Hoang Su Phi Rice Terraces
● 2 hours travelling / 6 hours photography

The rice terraces of Hoang Su Phi have been cultivated for more than three centuries. Many generations of farmers from La Chi, Dao or Nung ethnic groups have shaped those hill curves, dug up the irrigation canals and terraced the mountainsides in stairs to cultivate rice. These rice fields have a total surface area of 630 km2 and are listed since 2012 as a Vietnam National Heritage site.

We will spend the day exploring Hoang Su Phi surroundings, dotted with visually stunning gold-colored rice terraces and forested area, and meet up with the Dap ethnic people in Ban Peo and Ban Nhung villages.

Dinner and night in our Ecolodge.

Hoang Su Phi panoramic landscape of houses in rice terraces
Vietnamese Minority with colorful umbrella and outfit on a rock over viewing the rice fields
Day 8

● Hoang Su Phi ▸ End of the adventure in Hanoi
● Final Photo Review / 7 hours travelling

We will spend the morning doing a final photo review, checking everyone’s photo series. After lunch we will take the road back to Hanoi and arrive in the early evening.

End of the tour.

Ha Giang, The Roof of Vietnam (Harvest)

Testimonials

Tour Details

  • Price: US$2890 / person
  • Tour Dates:
    – 29 May to 5 June 2020 & 3 to 10 September 2020
    – 28 May to 4 June 2021 & 2 to 9 September 2021
  • Duration: 8 days / 7 nights
  • Group Size: 6 persons max.
  • Level: Beginners to Advanced

Includes

  • Ecolodges in Quan Ba and Hoang Su Phi
  • A comfortable 3* hotel in Dong Van
  • Auberge de Meo Vac eco-resort
  • Homestay with private room near Ha Giang
  • Private air-conditioned transportation
  • Meals and non-alcoholic beverages throughout the tour
  • Snacks and water during excursions
  • Sites entry fees (if applicable)

Excludes

  • International/domestic flight to arrive and depart from Hanoi
  • Airport transfers on arrival and departure
  • Entry Visa to Vietnam
  • Travel insurance (please make sure you are insured)
  • Alcoholic beverages
  • Personal expenses
  • Tips

Optional

  • Single room accommodation (when possible): +US$280
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General Information

Who are our tours designed for?

Anyone who loves travel and photography is welcomed, whatever your level of experience – the most important thing is enthusiasm. Our tours can be summed up in three words – sharing, friendship and smiles. Your non-photographer friends & family are also welcomed to join – as long as they don’t mind hanging around while the photographers do their thing!

Improve your photography!

With Arnaud’s advice and guidance, you’ll quickly become more familiar with your equipment and refine your eye for a good image without being swamped by technical details. You’ll learn how to read light, how to compose a shot, and how to tell a visual story – in short, you’ll release more of your creative potential.
Mastering photography is a long and enjoyable journey, and one without end. The main objective of our tours is for you to become a better photographer by the end of each day.

What equipment?

The best camera is the one you already have! Travel light – a DSLR with wide angle and zoom lenses is more than sufficient for our tours. Hybrids, compacts and even smartphones are equally welcome! Other than that, all you’ll need is a fully-charged battery and enough memory cards. If you can, bring along your laptop so we can critique your photos and also show you a few tips for using Lightroom.

Meet the Locals

You’ll get to meet the local population, find out about their way of life, and experience their friendly company – all while taking some fantastic photos! We’ll show you how to break the ice with the Vietnamese and how to make your camera a valuable ally in making connections with them.

Encounter the Unexpected

We don’t impose strict itineraries on our travelers; every one of our journeys in Vietnam is unique – no two tours are ever the same! Spontaneous encounters and varying light conditions create different photography opportunities every time. One moment you’ll be standing on the edge of a rice field photographing a farmer at work; the next you’ll be invited into a local house for tea; or maybe you’ll be navigating your way along a narrow canal by sampan or a country lane on the back of a motorbike – most of the time we’ll just go with the flow!

Small Groups

Our maximum group size is six. This enables us to give every photographer plenty of individual attention, and also makes it easier for us to blend into the environment and not be overly intrusive when we’re meeting the locals.

Your Host - Arnaud Foucard

A keen photographer of landscapes and people, Arnaud leads photography tours in the Mekong Delta and other beautiful places in Vietnam. Before becoming a photographer he spent ten years in Vietnam as a tour operator and knows the country intimately. Photography has always been his passion, and so one day he decided to turn that passion into a living – now he devotes his time to helping fellow photography enthusiasts discover little-known and picturesque parts of Vietnam, while improving their photographic skills.