3D2N Sapa Trekking Standard Tour from Hanoi

Contacted via WhatsApp the day before w time of pick up. Picked up at 630, drove to somewhere near a bus station to change to the sleeper bus, shared bus between people on different tours (3d2n 2d1n) Bus ride was about 6-7h in total, 2x rest stop every 2h, 20min break each. Required to take off your shoes before getting on the bus so they provided a plastic bag for your shoes and 1x 500ml water. At rest stops, they have shared sandals to wear out to walk about. Rest stop has toilets at 3k per entry and sells food and drinks. Bus stopped at Sheraton Sapa Hotel for lunch. Was told that my itinerary was honestay first then hotel. After lunch, place luggage in hotel storage room and bring only a small daypack that you will carry with you and trek with on the 3D2N trek. Trekking starts right from the door of the hotel until the homestay, about 4h. Very muddy trails, had the help of the local village elderly ladies who would hold your hands but afterwards would ask you to buy items from them. Homestay #1 @ Mountain Light Homestay was fantastic, great wifi and food and drinks. I got a room to myself, had a great view. Homestay had a huge living room and a front porch to sit around and talk. Got to meet a bunch of other people who were also staying there and would trek with us on day 2. On Day 1 evening, with the help of my guide I changed from the Klook itinerary (Y Linh Ho - Ta Van - homestay - Giang Ta Chai - hotel - Cat Cat Village - Sapa) to a 3D2N full trekking (Y Linh Ho - Ta Van - homestay - Giang Ta Chai - Ban Ho Valley - homestay - Sapa). Day 2 trek was Giang Tai - lunch - Ban Ho Valley - homestay. Journey was much longer (because I continued to Ban Ho Valley instead of the initial klook itinerary), started from 0930 and reach Ban Ho Valley at 1630, total of 7h. Trek after lunch at Giang Tai was just the guide and us, no local village ladies. Beautiful valley! Homestay #2 is more basic and a local Tai family's actual house. We had dinner with the family's grandmother, father, mother, daughters and cousin. Day 3 trek was a short 2h one to the top of the valley to see the neighbouring valley as we had to have lunch and reach Sapa in the afternoon. Would be good if Klook could provide the name of the hotel and name/address of the homestay in the klook activity page for traceability. Also there were some miscommunication regarding bus timings but guides were very adaptable.

The Good: - The scenery is amazing. The mountain view and view from homestay is so good. You have to see it in real life to fully experience it. - The hospitality is great! People are nice. I had a one on one hike with the tour guide for my first day and it was amazing. I forgot to grab my luggage before I boarded the sleeper bus back to Hanoi, they sent me back to hotel to grab it. - Got to meet interesting and nice people during the homestay on day 2. Getting to know people is always the fun part during a trip. So if you get to choose homestay or hotel, I definitely would recommend homestay. Not to mention the view is great too. Nitpick/The not-so-good: (This has nothing to do with this tour particular, it’s just Sapa in general) - There are a lot of people following you around to ask you to buy stuff, ranging from kids to old people. You just have to learn to say no. - The last day is a bit underwhelming, we went to visit Cat Cat Village and the like. To be fair it is hard to beat the view and experience I have for the first 2 days during the hike and homestay. Don’t let my nitpick stops you from booking, as it’s just nitpick from my end. The view will make the whole trip worthwhile

Enjoyed the beautiful moutain sceneries throughout the trek. Guide brought us through trails where we need to hike up and hike down. Throughout there some minorities tribal locals following us to lend a hand. At the end of trek they would try to sell you their goods at very marked up prices. Because of the help rendered, I bought from a few of them but bargained the prices to half or less. Sapa Town has night market during the weekends, Love market in front of the church is interesting with local produce, food and handicrafts, 10mins walk from Viet Fliwer Hotel. Took 1 night at Viet Flower hotel and 1 night homestay at village. Homestay exceeded my expectation, very clean room and shared baths and has electric heating mat in the bed to keep warm. Great view outside homestay. Food is so so and basic throughout the 3D2N trip.

your was seamless from start to end. travellers should note that you will need to pack an overnight bag for the homestay (separate from your main luggage/backpack) that is stored at the hotel. local guide is helpful, be prepared for local villagers to swarm you and force you to buy local goods.

The tour was pretty good especially our tour guide was lovely, Cha was a great guide. Sa pa is somewhere that should be seen for sure. Maybe the only thing I might complain would be the Homestay. It was pretty cold in the home and even if I needed to take a shower after the trekking, I couldn’t because of the cold weather. But the good side was the House owners were good people and as it is a homestay you should bear with it I guess 😅

Wonderful trekking trip with locals and amazing opportunity to learn more about their daily lives. Guides, food, accommodations and transportation were arranged flexibly and sometimes even exceeded my expectations. Some might feel a little bit cold when staying in local homes in winter as hot water and heating devices are limited, but the hosts would do their best to take care of you.

The drive; food as well as the hotels/homestay I stayed as was amazing. Our tour guide for the village trekking was so knowledgeable and she not only told us about the villages but about her personal experiences living there. she was amazing!!!!

it was a great trekking experience. the views were great, the homestay was ok but the power went out for about 1h. but the food provided in the homestay was amazing

Amazing experience and hiking tour! Went in June and it was super scenic and my guide was very friendly as well. Was put up in a hotel - Sheraton Sapa Hotel for the first night and had a lovely homestay (more like a hostel with shared toilets) for the second night which overlooks the rice field. Both did not have hot water when I went in the summer. Food provided was good and there is actually enough free time in Sapa itself to try the local food. Docking points for the local village people - bear in mind that they follow you during the hike and help you on the more challenging parts of the trail. But after that they will try to sell you stuff at three times the price as what they would sell you in Sapa - so remember to bargain if you are interested or you can just buy from them as a gesture of goodwill. Kids will also come up to you to sell you armbands and once you buy one the other kids will repeatedly come to you. I recommend bringing some candy to give the kids - they may or may not be there because of their school break. Bus to and from was comfortable. But on the way back, the bus driver did not communicate how long we had at each stop, though they will probably wait for you regardless. The tour started by picking up from hotel but coming back, the sleeper bus will drop you at the bus station area near Old Quarter and you have to make your own way back

A good itinerary, the arrangement process is very cultural experience. Although we were handed over to different service staff along the way, they were all handled and arranged patiently. The service staff also explained all the processes in detail, and there was no problem communicating in English. A very recommended itinerary.