August 9 - 11, 2015 

I booked a 3 night Sapa tour with Miss Ly for 3,255,000 VND ($150 USD). It included an overnight train from and to Hanoi and a night in a 3-star hotel by myself, meals, and two days of guided hiking.

The itinerary:

First night: Pick up in Old Quarter or meet at Le Duan train station (20 Le Duan) at 8:30 pm. Overnight on the train.

Day 1: Sapa - Lao Chai - Ta Van village

5:30 - 6:30: Pick up at Lao Cai train station then drive to Sapa by bus.

7:00 - 8:00: Have breakfast and relax at the hotel. I stayed at the Sapa Panorama Hotel, which was great!

9:00 - 9:30: Guide takes you to visit two villages of the H’mong and Dzay People, called the Lao Chai and Ta Van Villages. Have lunch on the way.

15:30: When you finish the trekking trip, our bus will pick up you back to Sapa town. Dinner and overnight in hotel. I walked around town and had a drink at the dive bar, The H’mong Sisters.

Day 2: Sapa - Cat Cat village  - Ha Noi

7:00: Have breakfast.

9:00 - 9:30: Guide takes you to visit a village of Black H’mong people. It is named Cat Cat Village. You’ll also have a chance to visit a waterfall and the hydroelectric power station built by the French.

12:30 -13:00: Back to Sapa town and have lunch at a restaurant. You are free and easy to discover Sapa town.

16:30 – 17:00: Transfer from hotel to Lao Cai train station. Have dinner at the restaurant, near the train station before getting on the night train to go back to Ha Noi. 

Last night: Overnight on the train. Arrive at Tran Quy Cap Station at 5.00 am and scramble to negotiate with taxi drivers.

Sapa is amazing and probably one of the most incredible places I’ve been. It’s valleys of cascading rice terraces full of fascinating hill-tribe people who have little formal education but a good command of several languages. They’re persistent hawkers of their handicrafts, and if you don’t buy anything, you might find yourself cursed at in several different languages. For trekking and exploring minority villages, the attractive old French hill station of Sapa remains popular, but nearby Bac Ha is a less-visited alternative.

If I went back, which I hope I do, I’d research how to get there myself. The tourist industry is exploding there with plans to build Asia’s longest cable car ride in the near future.