SAPA HILL TRIBE TREK & HOMESTAY TOUR
Tour Code : SHT 04
4 Days/5nights - Daily Departure from Hanoi or Sapa
Itinerary:
Please, be ready at your hotel lobby at 19h.30 for a short transfer to Hanoi railways station for taking the overnight train (first class 4 beds cabin with air-condition) which arrive in Lao Cai city, near the Chinese border next morning.
Day 1: Sapa - Tram Ton – Sin Chai (-, L, D)
Pick up from Lao Cai station and transfer to Sapa for breakfast ,after breakfast local guide and driver then transferred to Su Pan. The trek starts by walking through the incredibly scenic “Ban Ho” valley. Here you will have the opportunity to visit and explore the wooden houses, which traditionally belong to the Tay ethnic minority. You will then continue to walk to Thanh Phu village where you stop for lunch in a local house. After lunchtime, you head to Sin Chai village of Red Dzao minority where the night will be spent in the Red Dzao Village.
Approx: 40 minutes driving/ 4 hours walking/ 1-hour lunch.
Day 2: Sin Chai – Cat Cat – Y Linh Ho (B, L, D)
After having breakfast, you start heading up the mountain. Once you get to the top, you will trek on a small trail with spectacular view and then gradually descend to Cat Cat village, where you will have lunch nearby a waterfall. In the afternoon, you take a trail sneaking through mountain. You also will enjoy spectacular scenery while walking along a narrow river. Eventually you will arrive in Y Linh Ho village of Black Hmong minority, where you can take a rest in a nice spot nearby the beautiful river. You will spend the night in Y Linh Ho.
Approx: 5 hours walking/ 1-hour lunch
Day 3: Y Linh Ho - Lao Chai – Tavan (B, L, D)
Today’s trek will continue along Hoang Lien mountain range, which offers you many opportunities to enjoy view over huge rice paddy terraces in Muong Hoa valley, the [Lao Chai village4219.jpg] largest one in the area. After lunch at a nice spot, you descend into the bottom of the valley. You will pass through Lao Chai village of Black Hmong minority and then Tavan village of Giay minority by following a very popular trekking route. You spend the night in a traditional house of Giay minority. You will be able to take a walk to enjoy the valley view as well as swim in the river nearby.
Approx: 4 hours walking/ 1-hour lunch
Day 4: Tavan - Giang Ta Chai - Su Pan (B, L, -)
Today’s trek is short, but still the landscape is beautiful. Once you get energy for your last day trek after having breakfast, you leave for Giang Ta Chai village where you can take a rest nearby a waterfall for lunch. You will enjoy the walk in bamboo forests. After passing trough the bamboo forest we will find a nice place to enjoy lunch. After lunch we continue towards Giang Ta Chai, a Red Dao ethnic minority village. After taking a rest nearby a waterfall to refresh, you start climbing uphill to a road where the car is ready for your journey back to Sapa. 16h30 Transfer to station for overnight train back Hanoi .Arrive around 5h30 AM .The end of great trip !
Approx: 0,5 hour driving/ 3 hours walking/ 1 hour lunch.
Price :
| Group Size | 01pax | 02pax | 03pax | 04pax | 05pax |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost in US$ | 650 | 450 | 430 | 395 | 380 |
What's Included in the Tour Cost :
- English or French speaking guide (Surchage for French speaking guide $.10/day)
- Round Trip Train Tickets from Hanoi ( Deluxe Soft Sleeper 4Berth Cabin - 2berth Cabin requested and pay extra )
- Black Hmong porters (to carry food and luggage)
- Cook (from group sizes of 6 pax)
- All needed transport
- All indicated meals, plus snacks (B as breakfast; L as lunch; D as dinner)
- Water on the whole trip
- Sleeping bag and mattresses
- Waterproof bluebag for luggage
- Tents if needed
- Mosquito net
- All entrance fees and permit
- Overnight in local house or tent
What's Not Included in the Tour Cost :
- Personal Pocket Money
- Soft drink (beer, coca cola…)
- Insurance
- All other services not indicated above
What to bring :
- Sun Block
- Wide brim hat
- Camera + Film
- Comfortable shoes
- Rain gear
- Warm clothes
- Insect Repellent
- Original Passport
Sapa Vietnam
-- Located in North-West Vietnam , Sapa is the most attractive mountain place must be visited on any northern Vietnam itinerary. On a clear day you will treated to views of steeply terraced rice fields, towering verdant ridgelines, primitive mud-thatched villages, raging rivers and astounding waterfalls. Nestled high in the Tonkinese Alps near the Chinese border, Sape was built as a hill station during French colonial days, to serve as a respite from stifling Hanoi summers. These days, weekends are still the biggest draw in this crumbling hill-tribe center. Visitors from the capital flock to Sapa for a glimpse of the famed "Love Market," a trek to local hill tribe villages, or an ascent of Vietnam's highest peak, Fan Si Pan. Some eight ethnic groups inhabit Lao Cai province: Hmong, Dao, White Thai, Giay, Tay, Muong, Hao and Xa Pho. The most prominent in town are the Red Dao, easily identified by the coin-dangling red headdresses and intricately embroidered waistcoats worn by the women, and the Hmong, distinguished by their somewhat less elaborately embroidered royal blue attire.
Groups of ethnic Hmong youngsters and women can be seen hauling impossibly heavy, awkward baskets of wood, stakes, bamboo, bricks, mud and produce. Deep in the valleys surrounding Sapa, the Muong Hoa River sluices a wild, jagged course among Giay, Red Dao and White Thai settlements, their tiny dwellings poking out of the neon rice fields like diamonds on a putting green. One- to four-day treks are offered by a handful of outfitters. Guests sleep in tents or in the homes of villagers, their gear hauled by Hmong porters. Be warned: Despite what the local innkeepers will tell you, both the Hmong and the Dao really do not enjoy having their photographs taken unless they're paid for it. It's a certainty that any brochure you see of smiling, care-free ethnic hill people was shot under a Screen Actors Guild contract.
Sprawling near the banks of a river, Can Cau Market is a clearly defined shantytown, packed with crude stalls covered with thatched roofs. The start of a few simple settlements can be seen high above, many of whose residents now make their weekly pilgrimage to the market. We are only 9kms from the Chinese border and some traders make the journey across from China on horseback. Unfortunately foreigners are not allowed to reciprocate this set-up, however tempting it may seem. By 9 am, the market is crammed to capacity. It's lively and surprisingly fun. The locals are mostly of the Flower Hmong minority group. You can't miss them -their traditional costume of green checked headdress and multi-colored, meticiculosly stitched and layered garments are simply stunning. Few foreigners make it to Can Cau; those that do brave the journey come either with a small tour group in four-wheel drives, or - if half-mad and on a tight budget like me -on the back of a motorbike.
The handful of Westerners here this morning are the object of intense - though friendly- scrutiny. There is much laughter as we try to make basic conversation. Although the majority are painfully shy and not accustomed to seeing foreigners, some cheerfully allow photographs to be taken.
