Spend the morning in the comfortable Topas Mountain Express, a lounge chair shuttle bus service that covers the five-hour journey from Hanoi to Topas Riverside Lodge. Depart at around 7am and arrive by midday. Enjoy a local lunch prepared by the resident family and explore the attached village of the Dao, famous for their exquisite embroidery and botanical knowledge. Peer in on rice paper making families and jewellery makers and take a refreshing swim in the river. Back at the lodge you can sample a traditional bath made with herbs picked by a local Dao specialist at an additional cost.