6 Days Trekking Through the Majestic Mountains of Sapa

Flight: International flight on your own arrangement or on request.

Upon your arrival at the airport in Hanoi, you will be welcomed by your tour guide and transferred to your hotel in the city center. You will have the rest of the day to relax and explore the city on your own.

Overnight in Hanoi.

Meals: B / L

After breakfast, you will begin your day tour of Hanoi by visiting the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, where the preserved body of Vietnam's former president Ho Chi Minh is displayed. You will then head to the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where you will learn about the history of Vietnam's feudal dynasties.

Next, you will visit the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology to discover the cultural diversity of Vietnam's ethnic groups. After the tour, you will be transferred to the train station for your overnight train to Lao Cai.

Overnight on the train.

Meals: B / L

Trekking distance: 1km

Upon arriving in Lao Cai in the early morning, your guide will meet you and transfer you to your hotel in Sapa. After breakfast, a 30-minute drive takes you to Silver Waterfall, take a short trek to the waterfall, where great views are offered of the surrounding mountains and lush forests of the Hoang Lien National Park.

Along the way, your guide will explain this special part of Sapa, where many tree species, such as plum and peach trees, are grown. Continue by car 10 minutes up to Heaven’s Gate, from where you can see Fansipan Mountain, ‘the roof of Indochina’ at the height of 3143 meters above sea level. In the afternoon, you will have free time to explore Sapa town on your own.

Overnight in Sapa.

Meals: B / L

Trekking distance: 12km

You will be greeted by the local tour guide, who will give a brief introduction about the whole tour.

After that, the trekking expedition starts. You will go off the main road onto hilly mountainous trails.

Your surrounding is filled with lush vegetation, pine forest, and fresh air. You will experience the untouched beauty of the area. Matra is the newly added location in a series of Sapa villages visitors can visit.

The village is about 5km from the town of Sapa. This has around 50 households, resided by only H’Mong people. Ma Tra village has restored the traditional flax weaving loom, forging tools, and carved silver production as part of tourism. After 3h walks from Matra, you will reach Taphin village, where the red Dao and H’mong reside. This mix of ethnicity makes this village’s culture exciting and colorful. Lunch will be served on the way by a local family.

You will also have a chance to visit the unique caves in the Taphin area. This cave system is small and meandering, leading in all different directions but it will eventually lead you to one point. The village also has an old monastery built during the French colonial period. There is also an arts and crafts house displaying and selling authentic jewelry made by the locals. You will take your car back to the town in the late afternoon.

Overnight in Sapa.

Meals: B / L

You will be met by a local guide and drive to Bac Ha town. The road is relatively flat from Lao Cai to Bao Nhai Bridge. After crossing the bridge, we begin our journey up to Bac Ha.

Bac Ha market, located in the heart of Bac Ha small town, is the largest one in the area. Every Sunday, the different and colorful ethnic minorities come all here to sell their homemade products or buy something for the family. They are Hmong, Phu La, Back Dzao, Tay, or Nung minorities. Some of these ethnic minorities can’t be met in any other areas. Your lunch will be provided in a local restaurant.

In the afternoon, we drive downhill towards Lao Cai for about half an hour. We stop on the way (before reaching Lao Cai) to take a short trek to Trung Do village, inhabited by the Tay people. Tay villages are always set up at the foot of a mountain or along a stream and are named after a mountain, a field, or a river. Each village contains about 15-20 households.

A large village is divided into many small hamlets. The houses are built on stilts or level with the ground. Stop by a traditional Tay house for a short visit before taking a boat cruise upstream of the Chay River. The scenery is very beautiful on both sides of the river. The boat trip will end at Bao Nhai Bridge, where your vehicle will be waiting for you for the journey back to Lao Cai. At night, you will head back to Lao Cai for your night train to Hanoi.

Overnight on the train.

Flight: International flight on your own arrangement or on request.

Meals: B

You will arrive in Hanoi in the early morning and be transferred to the airport for your departure flight. If time allows, you can do some last-minute shopping for souvenirs or sightseeing in Hanoi before your departure.

Service End.