The forest announces itself quietly. A ferry crosses the Dong Nai River, traffic noise falls away, and the path ahead disappears beneath tall trees. This two-day journey is for travellers who want to experience Nam Cat Tien on foot. Following roots and leaf-covered trails to ancient trees, then walking deep into the forest to reach Bau Sau, or Crocodile Lake.
Among Ho Chi Minh City Tours, this trip offers a change of pace. You will spend the night inside Cat Tien National Park, where an evening wildlife drive and an early start give you more time in the forest. The trekking is rewarding without requiring technical climbing experience, though the longer walk to Bau Sau calls for comfortable shoes and a reasonable level of fitness.
Day 1: Ho Chi Minh City – Ancient Trees – Night Wildlife Drive
Meals: Lunch, Dinner | Overnight: Nam Cat Tien National Park
07:00 – Leave Ho Chi Minh City. You will meet our tour guide and travel towards Cat Tien. It may take you around four hours for the drive, depending on traffic. In addition, you will have a short stop along the way.
Late morning – Cross into the park. At the entrance, you will take the short ferry ride across the Dong Nai River. Afterward, you will settle into your room in the park’s central area and have lunch at a local restaurant. A Vietnamese set meal is a good choice before the afternoon walk. Note, please tell our tour guide in advance about any dietary needs.
14:00 – Trek the ancient-tree route. You will follow our tour guide through the forest towards the Giant Tung Tree, Go Bac Dong Tree and Ben Cu Rapids. Besides, the pleasure here is in the details. From huge buttress roots, changing birdsong to patches of sunlight that move across the trail. From here, you can walk at an easy pace, and watch your footing where roots cross the path. The park lists these sites together on one of its established forest routes.
Early evening – Dinner and wildlife watching. After enjoying dinner, you will board the park’s guided vehicle for a night drive. Besides, our tour guide may spot movement at the forest edge. But sightings depend on wild animals and cannot be guaranteed. Note, please keep your voice low and avoid using a camera flash. Later, you will return to your room for the night.
Day 2: Bau Sau Crocodile Lake Trek – Ho Chi Minh City
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
06:30 – Breakfast in the park. You will have breakfast and refill your water bottle before setting out. Moreover, the morning is a lovely time to listen for birds around the central area.
07:30 – Travel to the Bau Sau trailhead. Then, you will take the park vehicle along the forest road, then continue approximately 5 km on foot to Crocodile Lake. This is the day’s main trek. In addition, our tour guide will set a steady pace through the trees, with time for water breaks and wildlife observation.
Late morning – Explore Bau Sau. At the wetland, you will stop at the designated viewing area and look across the water for birds and, with luck, crocodiles. Note, stay with our tour guide and keep well back from the water’s edge. After a rest, you will walk the same approximately 5 km trail back to the vehicle. Besides, the park describes the final approach to Bau Sau as a walking-only forest section.
Early afternoon – Lunch and return journey. You will enjoy lunch near the park’s central area, collect your luggage and cross the river. Afterward, you will arrive back in Ho Chi Minh City in the late afternoon or early evening, subject to road conditions.
Local guide’s tip: Wear closed walking shoes with good grip, long socks and light long trousers. After rain, the trail can be slippery and leeches may be present. Carry drinking water, insect repellent and a compact raincoat. At the same time, you should keep a dry change of clothes in the vehicle.
Planning note: The guide may adjust trail timing or the night drive if rain, river conditions or park operations affect access. Wildlife remains wild, so the tour promises the experience of looking and listening in its habitat, rather than a particular sighting.
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Item |
Details |
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Duration: |
2 days, 1 night |
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Route: |
Ho Chi Minh City – Nam Cat Tien National Park – Ho Chi Minh City |
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Transport: |
Private road transfer, river ferry and park vehicle |
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Accommodation: |
1 night in a room at the park’s central accommodation area |
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Trekking level: |
Moderate; uneven ground and a longer walk on Day 2 |
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Meals: |
1 breakfast, 2 lunches and 1 dinner |
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Best conditions for walking: |
Generally the drier months; trails can be muddy after rain |
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Suitable for: |
First-time rainforest visitors who are comfortable walking several hours |
The park offers accommodation in its central area, as well as an established two-day visitor programme and evening wildlife excursions. The Bau Sau route includes a forest section that must be completed on foot.
I first traveled with Impress a few years ago when i visited Sapa and naturally it had to be Impress when i decide to visit Vietnam again.
They are very professional and have good English speaking guides which makes our tour so much convenient and comfortable.
Their local guides are very knowledgeable and gives excellent service.
I will gladly recommend to Impress Travel to my family and friends if they are visiting Vietnam.
Impress travel were amazing. Did my bookings with Daniel for our tour of Vietnam and I must say Daniel was very professional and prompt with his services. All the arrangement, plans, pick-up & drop-off services, hotels, vehicles, sightseeing tours and guides were spot on and excellent. Did 4 nights Hanoi, 1 night Hà Long Bay cruise, 3 nights Hoian, 4 nights Saigon and 1 night in Can Tho. It was totally awesome. Every part of the journey was superbly arranged and planned. I will highly recommend Impress Travel for anyone interested in visiting Vietnam. Very organized and reliable!
I first traveled with Impress a few years ago when i visited Sapa and naturally it had to be Impress when i decide to visit Vietnam again.
They are very professional and have good English speaking guides which makes our tour so much convenient and comfortable.
Their local guides are very knowledgeable and gives excellent service.
I will gladly recommend to Impress Travel to my family and friends if they are visiting Vietnam.
This was my 2nd visit to Vietnam in the last 3 years and i decided to come back again with Impress Travel with my friends beacause you have been very professional in order to organizer my first trip with my Family.
My sincere thanks to you Mr Tommy and extended the same to Mr Truong , our guide in SA PA.
My Friends and me are very happy withs this trip to Vietnam and we find very satisfactory your services all.
Spanish Guide in SAPA, Hotel, Meals , Organization and all was perfect.
Marcos
Great value for money with 4 stars hotel accommodation for 4 couples. The tour guide has been very helpful and brought us to amazing places in Sapa. We want to thanks Thuy the tour guide and especially Mark from Impress Travel for his great service and assurance throughout our trip. We’ll definitely use his service for other tour packages in other parts of Vietnam.
I booked with Impress Travel in July. My contact person was Tommy Thang. He is an amazing person. He was very helpful. He changed my program twice for me. Very accommodating!
We started our holiday in the north (Sapa)of Vietnam and travelled down to HCMC.
The tour was fantastic, Tommy's arrangements were to the"T".
I will always use them if I have to visit the area again and recommend them to one and all.
Thank you once again Mr.Tommy and the Impress Team.
Sulaiman Pochee
South Africa
Impress travel were amazing. Did my bookings with Daniel for our tour of Vietnam and I must say Daniel was very professional and prompt with his services. All the arrangement, plans, pick-up & drop-off services, hotels, vehicles, sightseeing tours and guides were spot on and excellent. Did 4 nights Hanoi, 1 night Hà Long Bay cruise, 3 nights Hoian, 4 nights Saigon and 1 night in Can Tho. It was totally awesome. Every part of the journey was superbly arranged and planned. I will highly recommend Impress Travel for anyone interested in visiting Vietnam. Very organized and reliable!
At first, I was just planning a trip to Hanoi, Halong Bay, and Ninh Binh for my small family.
Some close friends heard about our plans and wanted to join the trip. Eventually the group grew to be 7 families, with 25 adults and children of varying interests and expectations.
While I was excited at the prospect of touring Vietnam with good friends, I felt anxiously responsible to ascertain that everything must be well organized and everyone satisfied. This is why I am so very, very glad to have found Impress Travel. Mr. Mark responded quickly to all my inquiries, customized a wonderful trip according to the group's preferences, tirelessly worked out every detail for our 7-day trip, all at a reasonable price. Our guide, Trung, is knowledgeable, helpful, quick to respond to any need, and well-loved by everyone in the group. All my friends found this a marvelous trip, filled with beautiful memories, very much to my delight and relief!
Mr Tommy, on behalf of our group, we thank you for your efforts in putting together such a memorable vacation and experience of Sapa, overnight train, Halong Bay, Hanoi + Bai Dinh, your tour guides are so knowledgeable, passionate + helpful. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and we will certainly recommend your tour agency to our friends and share our experiences in social media.
Thumbs up, best regards,
David
It was amazing place to visit in the north of vietnam , we really enjoy all the trip especially their foods , culture, beautiful view and so on.
Accommodations were good especially Thang Long Espana Hotel (the Hotel Management automated upgraded us to VIP rooms.Is really unexpected). Overalled tours n places visited very well but only local guides r not good organizing the itineraries. Especially at Sapa Lao Cai and Cat Cat Villages walking tours push to the same day about 8hours for 7km (which is on 1st&2nd days arrival) so tiring. Lunch not good enough 4 so many hours of walking. In Danang Bana Hill the local guide shd arrange 2 visit Bana Hill 1st n not last coz' spend a short time n not nice photos taken due to rain (went in morning time no rain).
Overall tours, hotels, transportation, prices are strongly recommended. Especially Daniel Dang Impress Travel for welcoming and bye-bye wishes.
Daniel Dang tks from 8 of us having a wonderful time n memorable trip for 8D7N Sapa, Hanoi, Danang with Impress Travel. Meet u all again.
We are family of 6 from Singapore and Malaysia joining Hanoi Impress Travel on 30 October-04 November 2019. We are really impressed with the company and tour guides with their professionalism and well organised arrangement. Lily is our guide for Hanoi, Tam Coc and Ninh Binh. She is excellent and very informative. She even taking care of us until late night. We walk us from Old Quarters to the hotel and brought us to try the famous road side foods. She even helped us to pay for our order to avoid overcharge by the stall. Another guide, David BK (Swan Cruise) brought us to Halong Bay cruise. He is excellent and humorous. He handles everything throughout the trip. He served meals for guests on the cruise, organised happy hour, guiding us for Kayaking, teaching Taiji and cooking class on cruise. The cruise ship is ok and the hotel in Hanoi-Adamas Hotel is small but new and clean with reasonable ok breakfast. Anyway thank you for the wonderful arrangement.
We booked a 8 day private tour package for 9 persons for Northern and Central Vietnam . We experienced great and very professional service from the Impress travel team. Tommy was very easy to contact and accommodated our requests.
All the tour guides were very good, spoke good English, friendly and patient. All the vehicles were very clean , spacious enough for our group of 6 adults and 3 children. The drivers were extremely safe and ontime.
Meals were served in clean restaurants.
Overall we had a good holiday .Thank you Tommy and Impress travel for a great experience.
We booked package for 9 persons in Hanoi and i was experienced great service during my stay! the PIC (Mr. Mark) was very pleasant and so easily to contact, i was communicated so easily for trip preparation..the tour guide for Trang An was good, Mr Hiep was helped us very well, and he was so patient on witing us shopping! Thank you Hiep!!
during in Hanoi we were stayed in great hotel with nice service also, and during in Halong Bay, they also choosen the best cruise for us! Swan cruise and also the Mr Cong was great!! thank you!!
for transporation, the car was good and driver are pleasant, but only a little bit communication since the driver less good in english. but overall great!!
all the choosen food for lunch and dinner was delicious
Thank you so much Impress travel
Impress Travels has been very helpful in making our vietnam travel amazing. We were a bunch of 7 friends wanting to go on a budget trip covering most locations. Hence, this subjected to a lot of changes during our discussion with the tour guide Daniel.
However, he has been patient enough in hearing out our needs - be it itienary , hotel bookings or even the mode of payment.
They really understand your needs. And needless to say our experience was amazing. All of this support and help has really made our vietnam trip the most memorable as far ❤️
I was searching for a reliable travel agent and come across Impress Travel and the many reviews of them. I booked 5D/4N, Hanoi-Trang An-Halong Bay private trip for a party of 6. I communicated with Mr Daniel Dang throughout the time until the day we arrived. Mr Daniel is very patient, helpful, and accommodating to our requirements despite many changes made to the itinerary. The price is very reasonable unlike other travel agents.
Our tour guide, Lily was very friendly and efficientknowledgeable and speak good English.
Highly recommend “Trang An Boat Tour”. The caves was spectacular and beautifully.
2D/1N Halong Bay – Swan Cruise was awesome with amazing view of the cave. Our guide Mr David was hilarious, helpful, accommodating, and everything was well organized. Beside the normal
activities of kayaking, swimming, Tai Chi, culinary lesson, we are indeed very very fortunate to have
the chance to celebrate the “Mooncake Festival” while cruising and admiring the full moon.
Spread of mooncake, dessert, sweet snack, fruits, cocktail, beer and mini dragon dance complete the celebration. Tourists from all over the world party all night long.
Although we paid for a 3-star package, the hotel (Thang Long Espana Hotel), meals and transport provided were also above average. Our gang have a very enjoyable and memorable trip in Hanoi.
Impress Travel really impressed us with their service and will engage their service in future.
P/S:- Don’t worry, Impress Travel CAN be trusted.
Hanoi – Duong Lam - Halong Bay – Hue – Danang – Hoi An – Ho Chi Minh city – Mekong Delta – Cai Be – Vinh Long – Can Tho – Phu Quoc Island - Ho Chi Minh city.
It is worth talking about details, say what you want to see, watch the hotels, indicate which rooms you want, the office will organize everything for you. I highly recommend!
The whole trip was arranged with the active help of Mr. Daniel Dang.
Thanks to Mr Tommy and staff for putting together an active and interesting tour in all 3 countries. In every city or town we had we met by very nice, friendly and knowledgeable guides. We went in June which was HOT HOT HOT and were always so happy to have an air conditioned vehicle with cold water waiting for us. We traveled by planes, trains, automobiles and boats and all were fabulously coordinated by Mr Tommy without fail. The selection of sites helped us enjoy so many aspects of all 3 countries!
