Description
Trek Sapa Vietnam 6 Day Itinerary takes you through such Sapa hill tribe villages as Sin Chai, Y Linh Ho, Seomity, Ta Trung Ho, Ban Sai. You hike through the remote area of Sapa, meeting up with different ethnic groups including H’mong, Dzao, Tay, Xa Pho…Also experience the spectacular landscapes and wild nature of Hoang Lien National Park and Muong Hoa Valley.
Map of trek Sapa Vietnam
Trek Sapa Vietnam itinerary
Day 1: Sapa – Tram Ton – Sin Chai Village.
09.00 am you will be met up with Hiking Vietnam local team at your hotel in Sapa (Please inform your hotel name upon your confirmation). You will be transferred from Sapa to the Tram Ton Pass. Stop at the Silver Waterfall for a quick visit. Then walk around the Heaven Gate and enjoy magnificent scenery of the other side of Hoang Lien Son range. Start trekking from Tram Ton. You will follow a narrow trail sneaking on mountain sides and through the thick rain forest of the Hoang Lien Nature Reserve. You trek downhill for almost 3 hours before you arrive in the Sin Chai Village, inhabited by the Hmong. Walk around this village, visit some local houses. Check into a local house for dinner and overnight.
Day 2: Trekking Sin Chai – Y Linh Ho Village.
After breakfast, you will leave the village at about 09.00 am. You will walk on a good path to the Cat Cat Waterfall. Have a short rest by this nature wonders before you continue your trek. You will trek up and downhill along the Vang Stream for over 4 hours. You trek through part of Hoang Lien National Park covered by thick bamboo and rain forest, and pass by several isolated hamlets of the Black Hmong. Upon your arrival in Y Linh Ho Village in mid afternoon, you may want to have a short walk around to explore the village before checking into a local house for dinner and overnight.
Day 3: Trekking Y Linh Ho – Seo Mi Ty Village.
After breakfast, you will leave Y Linh Ho village at about 09.00 a.m. You start the day trekking on a large path to Lao Hang Chai village, inhabited by the Hmong. You will pass by several hamlets along the way. Enjoy spectacular scenery of the Muong Hoa Valley. After about one hour trek, the trail becomes narrow and tough while you trek uphill through bamboo forest. You continue trekking through the thick rain forest of the Hoang Lien National Park. The trek lasts for about 5 hours in the rich nature. The hiking trail sometimes gets out of the forest and offers stunning panorama of the long and large valley. Around late afternoon, you will arrive Seo Mi Ty village, located in a charming valley at the height 1567 m above sea level. Free time to relax by the stream near the newly built hydraulic power station. Dinner and overnight in a local house (homestay).
Day 4: Trekking Seo Mi Ty – Ta Trung Ho Village.
After breakfast, you will leave Seo Mi Ty village at about 08.30. The first 20-minute walk is easy. You then trek for about 2 hours along a tougher trail winding downhill through thick rain forest. You will arrive Den Thang village, isolately located in a remote valley. Explore this village and then lunch break. After lunch, you will leave this isolated hamlet, continuing trekking along a narrow stream up and downhill. You trek through the wildest land of Sapa. This part of trek last for about 4 hours before you arrive in Ta Trung Ho Village of the Red Zao. You will arrive in Ta Trung Ho village at about 5.00 pm. You may have time for a short walk around this village. Check into a local house for dinner and overnight.
Day 5: Trekking Ta Trung Ho – Ban Sai Village.
Breakfast will be provided at homestay. You will leave the Ta Trung Ho village at about 08.30 am. You trek on a narrow dirt trail sneaking on steep hill sides. The whole morning will be spent trekking through narrow & sharp canyon from the height of 950 m up to 1,500m. Lunch break at the top of the mountain. After lunch, you trek on the same trail downhill for 1,5 hour, going through the forest to Nam Ngan Village of the Red Zao. Walk around to explore this quiet and charming village. Then following larger dirt path 1 hour trekking downhill to Nam Sang Village of the Xa Pho peoples. Visit local homes here for a discovery of their unique way of living. The Xa Pho is a sub group of the Phu La ethnic whose population is just about 4,000 in Vietnam and still live a primary way. Walk through Nam Sai Valley for one more hour. You will arrive in a Tay village around late afternoon. Check into a local house for dinner and breakfast.
Day 6: Ban Sai – Sapa.
After breakfast, you will continue our last portion of trekking at 09.00 am. You will walk on a large rocky path for an hour to My Son village, a newly formed village is inhabited by the Xa Pho peoples. You will have a quick visit of this village before you continue your hike to the other side of the valley, the former location of the Nam Keeng Villages. There are traces of the many landslides along the way which can help you to know more about the very hard life of local peoples. You will arrive in the Nam Toong Village of the Red Zao at noon. Lunch break and then walk around the village to get in touch with the villagers. After lunch, you go descending for about 2 hours to Thanh Phu Bridge where you will be picked up again and transferred back to Sapa town. Trip ends.
Tailor-made trip
Hiking Vietnam specializes in tailor-making trekking and hiking vacations in Vietnam. We offer the widest selection of day walks, jungle trekking, mountain hiking, trekking home-stay, camping and wild life discovery in the northern Vietnam. With a dedicated team of senior travel consultants, hiking tour specialists, experienced English-speaking tour leaders, local H’mong, Thai, Tay guides, cooks, porters we can design any trekking, hiking, walking option for any age and budget. This Trek Sapa Vietnam 6 Day Itinerary is only a sample that can be further customized to better fit your personal requirements. Just follow this itinerary or contact us for designing your own adventure.
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Itinerary disclaimer
Occasionally our tour itineraries are updated during the year to incorporate improvements stemming from past travelers’ comments and our own research. The information given in this itinerary may be slightly different to that in the service proposal. It’s very important that you print and review a final copy of your itinerary a couple of days prior to travel, in case there have been changes that affect your plans. If you have any queries, please contact us. We are here to help you!
Please note that while we operate successful trips in Vietnam throughout the year, some changes may occur in our itineraries due to inclement weather and common seasonal changes to timetables and transport routes. This can happen with little notice so please be prepared for modifications to the route. The order and timing of included activities in each location may also vary from time to time.
Difficulty levels
Our trekking tours can be classified into three levels
Easy
There are about 8 – 10K to walk on flat roads. No previous experience is necessary. Anyone in good health and fit enough to perform an occasional hike can take an easy level trek. Vietnam easy walks are provided in Hanoi, Bac Giang, Mai Chau, Ngoc Son Ngo Luong…
Moderate
There are about 10 – 15K to hike on flat and hilly roads. At this point too, no special background is required. Hikers accustomed to trekking in hilly areas of Mai Chau, Pu Luong or Lai Chau, Yen Bai successfully accomplish our treks “moderate”, provided they are in good health and to have a correct fit. These treks are moderate or easy hikes with an average duration or shorter but more difficult steps.
Difficult
There are about 16 – 23K to trek on uphill/downhill dirty, rocky trails. Physical fitness is very important for these treks and you may have to lead you home before the trek. Most treks in this level are comparable with long rides in the Fansipan mountain or the the mountainous region of Ha Giang, Cao Bang, sometimes higher altitudes. The climate and isolation can also participate in difficulty. Prior trek experience is preferable but not vital if you have confidence in your fitness.
Inclusions
Our trip cost usually includes the following services. Please bear in mind Lotussia Travel is specialized in tailor-made trips. Trip cost vary depending on group size and other details.
- Car transfers
- Local tour guide. The English-Speaking guide is provided by default. Other language may be available upon request (with extra charge).
- Local porter(s)
- Accommodation
- Meals
- Sightseeing entrance fees.
- Bottled water.
Exclusions
Unless required most of the following services are usually not included in our tour price.
- Visa (required)
- Flight/Train tickets.
- Accommodation pre/post trip.
- Travel insurance
- Tips
- Personal expenses
Tour Guide
Our tour guides speak English or French. They hold a university degree in tourism and national license as a guide. If you wish to send a tour leader along with any group, he or she can fully rely on the knowledge and experience of our local guides.
Remote treks are always accompanied by a local representative to deal with permits and authorities and manage the porter team. They speak the local dialects, know the cultural traditions and give tips on suggested behavior in fragile ecological areas and tribal communities. For some itineraries, the role of tour leader and representative is combined.
When to hike
The north Vietnam experiences two distinct seasons; winter and summer. Winter is cool, dry and lasts from November to April. Temperatures range between 15 to 25°C during the day and 0 to 10°C during the night. With little rain, the winter season offers the most pleasant weather conditions for trekking in Vietnam. Read more about Vietnam weather.
Porter
During all trekking tours we may use local porters to carry your luggage as well as our trekking equipment, where required. To generate local income we employ local villagers for this task. Participants will have their own porter, carrying trekking equipment and luggage to a maximum of 15 kg per client. Travelers only have to carry their day packs. Read more how to pack
Vehicle
Depending on the nature of the tour, journeys will be accompanied by an air-conditioned car/minibus cover the larger overland sections.
Accommodation
Campsites and lodges are not common in Vietnam, instead we make use of homestays; staying the night in tribal villages along the way. Facilities are clean, but very basic. Travelers share a bamboo-slat floor, separated by curtains. Animals usually sleep under the house and restrooms and showers are often absent. Water sources are available outside. Mattresses, blankets and mosquito nets are taken care of.
Over the years Lotussia Travel has established a number of projects to upgrade home stay accommodation into a bit more comfort. Basic facilities aside, spending the night in a tribal village and enjoying a meal with the locals brings travellers unforgettable cross-cultural experiences. In the past 15 years of organizing trekking by this way, we never received a complaint.
Food
During all treks meals will be arranged on the spot, in local restaurants and at home in local villages along the way. The meals are prepared by our cooks, the local guide or by the local host. Our cooks are well trained to prepare and serve food hygienically and they cook a variety of local delicacies. Sometimes this may include the slaughter of a chicken, duck or pig. We sometimes have the chance to bring western food, and snacks from Hanoi for breakfast and picnics along the way, and coffee and tea are available in abundance. Our cooks make a special effort to provide as much variety as possible. The porters give necessary assistance on the spot.
Drinking water
There are many shops and villages that have bottled water for sale. On remote trekking tours, we buy a sufficient supply of water for the next couple of days. We recommend bringing some water purifying tablets.
Packing
Comfortable lightweight clothing in natural fabrics such as cotton is most suitable for travelling in Vietnam. The dress code is fairly casual as in most parts of the tropics but it is advisable to cover arms and legs in the evenings against biting insects. A lightweight raincoat is a good idea in the rainy season. During the winter months warm clothing is needed for visiting the north of Vietnam. Visitors should not wear shorts, short skirts or other skimpy clothing when visiting religious buildings such as pagoda, temple, communal house and shoes should be removed before entering a private home.
What you take will naturally depend upon where you are travelling and the style of journey you are undertaking, and it can often be difficult to decide what to pack. Nevertheless, the following should act as a useful checklist of essential items worth thinking about taking.
- 1 medium-sized backpack.
- Comfortable walking shoes with good grip
- 1 long (easy to dry) pants and 1 long sleeved shirt to wear during the trek (easy to dry).
- 1 pair of flip flop (sandals).
- 1 pair of shorts and T-shirt to wear at camp site (2 if you do 4-day trek).
- 1 medium-sized towel.
- 1 medium-sized dry bag.
- Hiking poles/walking sticks
- GPS
Responsible Tourism
We strongly believe that Responsible Tourism can support to local communities: proving incomes,positive cultural exchanges and an incentive to protect natural environment. We recognize that there is always space for improvement. We continually strive to narrow the gap between principle and practice.
Environment
We have been turning environmentally responsible tourism into practices to minimize tourist impact upon the local habitat. From biodegradable soaps to re – usable water containers, we provide clients with the best information and mean to help them identify and implement effective ways to positive protect local nature and communities. It is a vital criteria that can be passed on and abided by all, long after the trip ended.
Community
Prior to our tours, we contact and work with local community leaders to make sure we are welcome and in a manner that minimizes negative social and cultural impacts. We visit local development and community projects specific to the region, encouraging customers to donate and assist such a projects in appropriate and sustainable manner.
Where make sure that where and whenever possible our tours positively benefit the local community. We stayed at locally owned accommodation and visit cottage industries for local handicraft souvenir, generating income for local business. We often employ, hire support team such as local guide, motor-taxi drivers, cook assistants on all trips to ensure that the local community benefit not only short term but with increased employment opportunities for the future.
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