Vietnam hill tribe trek and homestay
| country: | Vietnam |
| location: | Hill Tribes |
| departures: | This trip can be arranged at a time to suit you, and adapted to your requirements as necessary |
| price: | From US $169 (3 days) excluding flights. Price includes all transport, entrance fees, guide and some meals |
the amazing things you'll be doing
This is a perfect combination of trek and culture while visiting the hill tribes’ villages at a pace and style that compliments you.
Journey away from the crowds and experience a homestay in a traditional Dao home. Learn and participate in village life and truly feel the warmth and hospitality of these incredible people. This is an unforgettable relaxed adventure to Sapa that should be part of everyone’s time in Vietnam.
Sapa is a special place with an energy like no other. Take advantage of the secret spots we take you to, and make this an adventure you will never forget. This is the way travel truly should be. This is one of the Vietnam’s Community Based Tourism projects which is supported by us so we call for your support and suggestions while doing this trip with us.
Journey away from the crowds and experience a homestay in a traditional Dao home. Learn and participate in village life and truly feel the warmth and hospitality of these incredible people. This is an unforgettable relaxed adventure to Sapa that should be part of everyone’s time in Vietnam.
Sapa is a special place with an energy like no other. Take advantage of the secret spots we take you to, and make this an adventure you will never forget. This is the way travel truly should be. This is one of the Vietnam’s Community Based Tourism projects which is supported by us so we call for your support and suggestions while doing this trip with us.
day-by-day itinerary
| Night before | Night train from Hanoi, leave at 9pm |
| Day 1: | Hanoi - Lao Cai - Sapa, trek to Ta Phin. The train arrives in Lao Cai at about 6:30am where your guide will welcome you. Then take a morning drive through the clouds by car/van to Sapa (about 1.5 hours). When you arrive in Sapa you will be taken to a local restaurant for a morning shower & breakfast. Then we will take a short ride from Sapa to our trekking base where we start our trek through terraced rice fields and Hmong villages. Chances to meet and talk with locals working in the fields are plentiful. We will break for a picnic lunch en route then continue trekking to Ta Phin village of the Dao people (4 hours). Your Dao host family will warmly welcome you to their traditional home where we will share in an ethnic style dinner and stay the night. |
| Day 2: | More trekking and back to Sapa. At the first gleam of daylight, you will see and hear the sounds of morning village life. You can join them in some of their activities, like feeding the animals, cleaning the houses, gardening or preparing breakfast. After breakfast, we will complete our trek on a valley route to the main road (4 hours) linking Lao Cai and Sapa. Alternatively to this longer trek, you can choose to take a short morning wander around the village for about 1 hour, resulting in more time spent with the host family and other villagers. For both options, you will be supported by our car/van back to Sapa (30 minutes). When we arrive back in Sapa we will check in to the hotel, shower, and break for lunch. At 2:30pm we will visit the gardens of beautiful Ham Rong mountain & take part in a traditional ethnic music performance. Then return at your own leisure with free time to discover the secrets of this colorful town. Overnight at the hotel in Sapa town. |
| Day 3: | A visit to Sin Chai village, Sapa – Lao Cai & night train to Hanoi. Wake up in Sapa town, breakfast at the hotel then enjoy the morning with some of your new friends that you may have met the afternoon before. You have the entire morning and lunch for free time and visiting the lively markets. At 2pm travel by car/van to visit the Hmong village of Sin Chai to learn more about the Hmong people in an area close to the tourist path but still untouched. You will return to Sapa in late afternoon and finally depart for the Lao Cai train station at 5:30pm. The train leaves Lao Cai at 8:50pm and arrives after a pleasant sleep in your first class, shared AC soft berth to Hanoi by 4:30am. Please find your own way to your hotel, a taxi normally costs you a set of 50,000 VND. |
how this holiday makes a difference
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Small group: We limit our group to a maximum of 10 persons, our members are informed on how behave while trekking and staying there with the locals.
Local guide: They were born in Sapa and have learnt from the development of this town, they speak English, Vietnamese and the tribal languages like Hmong and Dao so as for the bridge of the locals and tourists. We sometimes work with the Hmong and Dao to be our tour guides, especially when we support the work of the locals.  Homestay: We spend one night in the Dao village (Ta Phin) and one night in Sapa, we pay them directly on each trip and our travelers have chance to learn so much more about their culture and customs. Rotation of families for homestay in Ta Phin Sapa is at our priority since this really makes everyone in the village happy and willing to do tourism. Local food: As soon as we come to the homestay, we ask the Dao in Ta Phin to cook dinner for us, they will use their homemade vegetable, fishes, chicken for our delicious meals. So our money stays here. Environment: We train our guides while trekking and visiting Taphin village in Sapa, we pick up trash when possible to make the village clean and to set the example to others, we also put the environmental awareness in our conversation with the locals so that they can do it themselves. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |