Destinations Vietnam
Hanoi/ Yen The Vietnam
We fly to Hanoi (1hr 40mins) and take a mini van to Yen The (aka Luc Yen). The trip takes 4 hours and we make a comfort stop half way.
Yen The is the centre for gemstones in Northern Vietnam. There is a daily morning market of about 80 dealers selling Ruby, Sapphire, Tourmaline, Spinel and Tektites. There are also many shops to buy gems from. We take a trip out into the surrounding countryside to meet the miners and you can buy direct from them!
We also get to watch the famous ‘gemstone’ paintings being made. You can even have a portrait done in gemstones!!
The whole town of Yen The is surrounded by marble mountains. The marble is exported to India and Italy. We sometimes visit the marble mines, depending on weather conditions.
The daily gem market in Yen The.
Although we do have time for relaxing, sightseeing and shopping, these tours are very heavily focused on gemstones and jewellery. We visit many dealers and shops and also have dealers visit us at the hotel. You are meeting the same dealers that we do and you are buying gemstones at the same price we do. I can arrange different activities on most days if you would prefer to do something else, however my time is spent mostly with dealers.
We return to Hanoi in time for our evening meal.
In Yen we may meet a ‘local’ named Gier. He is a Norwegian who moved to Yen The in 2017. He and his Vietnamese wife Mai, will show us around and then take us to the best ‘restaurants’ for dinner, if they are in town. If they are not in town, I have them pre arrange everything for us. We spend two nights here as it is one of the highlights of the trip.
We then take our minivan back to Hanoi. We stay in the centre of Hanoi, close to the main gem dealer’s street and home to many bars and restaurants. This allows us to eat and walk back to our hotel quite easily. Despite being a very large city, with over 5 million people, it is a safe city.
We spend two nights in Hanoi, where we do meet some dealers, but it’s more about a bit of shopping and food. You’ll also need a rest after Yen The!
Thanh Hoa
On one of the days, we take an 8am minivan again and drive the 3.5 hours to Thanh Hoa (with a comfort stop along the way).
Thanh Hoa is the centre for Aquamarine and Heliodor in Vietnam. We meet many dealers, and you can buy rough or cut stones. I usually end up buying a couple of kilos, so bring plenty of money! We also meet in a coffee shop, so that we can have lunch whilst looking at gemstones.
Pleiku
We fly from Hanoi to Pleiku in the late afternoon, arriving in time for dinner. The next day we take an hour long drive to visit the Peridot mines. The mines are all dug by hand and surround a caldera lake. You can collect your own samples as a souvenir or buy better samples from the miners themselves.
The Peridot crystals here can be quite large and it is not uncommon to be able to buy facetted stones that are 20cts. We also have a few dealers visit us at our hotel and there is a great coffee shop a couple of hundred metres from the hotel.
We often visit a very interesting mineral collector who has specimens from around the world.
We have a range of dealers who come and visit us at the hotel coffee shop.
There is also a really nice Jade Shop nearby that we visit. They have a great selection of carvings and jewellery at very reasonable prices.
Again Saigon is all about the food, however there is also sightseeing and shopping and we spend two nights here.
The next day we fly to Saigon.
Hoi An/ Da Nang
We fly from Saigon to Da Nang and take a 40min transfer to Hoi An.
You’ll have time to get clothes tailored and plenty of shopping. Hoi An is about relaxing and recovering from all the gem buying. We have two days here. We also take a trip back to Da Nang to a dealer who has the most wonderful Malachite and Azurite specimens. You can buy them already polished or in their natural state.
We then return to Bangkok flying from Da Nang where we spend last two nights of the tour. In Bangkok we arrange to post most of your purchases back home, do one last shop at the Jewellery Trade Centre and relax before the flight home, or before your next tour!
Join us on our wholesale gem tour!
Our other Website Gemsandmore gemsandmore.com
0448190538