Unforgettable Sapa: 2-Day Luxury Mountain Adventure from Hanoi

Beautiful place to visit. Hotel was wonderful. Hiking downhill (and then taking a taxi back to the top) was great! Tour guide was easy going...(if he would have given us more history - it would have been 5 stars!)

Our guide provided an experience we will never forget. Her knowledge of the area and the ability to explain local culture, history and lifestyle, was wonderful.

A great trekking tour around the beautiful Sa Pa! The tour guide, Eye, was so lovely and knowledgable - couldn’t reccomend more! Stayed in the mini bungalow which was perfect and had beautiful views in the mountains. Food was good too!

I was lucky to have a very smart, compassionate and talented young lady, Ms. VU as my guide. She was very professional and helpful!

We enjoyed a lot the tour and Ai was very nice and kind. Good comunication and she explained all the history and the traditions of the villages very well,we had a great time.

The guide (Ai) was the very big highlight of our tour. We had unlucky weather but she made adjustments for us to enjoy the situation as much as possible in the context. She was funny with very good English. That let us learn a lot about the local culture which is amazing. I can’t even imagine how amazing the whole things would have been with sunny weather

The driver was coughing and gagging both to Sa Pa and back to Hanoi. The bus was dirty. When we arrive at hotel no one was there to greet us and hotel did not have our name. We had to contact the travel agency for information. It was very disorganized. However, the actual tour guide on location was absolutely wonderful on tour to Cat Cat Village. The next day for trekking, the group was too large and we got separated from tour guide. The local women had to help us. Because they help us we had to buy their goods.

We had a great tour to SAPA. Lot of hiking on both the days and quite frankly little tiring and exhausted we all were when the tour ended. Scenes were breathtaking, visit to Cat Cat village was interesting with waterfalls, local music & dance. Views from SAPA VISTA facing the vallley were one of the best you can get from the room in SAPA. I recommend to & fro journey from Hanoy by sleeper bus ( 1x1 setting ). 6.5 hours sitting in limo is not a good idea. Otherwise all good.

The scenery is stunning and the local guide is friendly and informative. The rest of the tour is highly unorganized and ad hoc. Communication from the tour organizer/travel consultant is not great and sometimes entirely inaccurate. If you are well prepared and manage your expectations, it will be an enjoyable trip. Know that the trails are incredibly muddy and slippery. Waterproof hiking shoes are necessary. There were members of our group that were not informed of the conditions ahead of time and were woefully ill prepared for the trekking. One nearly slid off a muddy embankment. The tribal ladies are friendly and will offer you a hand along the way. They will ask where you are from, how old you are, and what your name is. They will then aggressively try to sell you their handicrafts. They will follow you on all of your treks so be prepared to either firmly tell them you won’t be shopping or come with cash and a willingness to buy. The homestay is lovely and the meals are delicious. Despite arriving late in the evening right before dinner though, the bungalow rooms were not ready when we arrived. The transportation to and from Sapa and the tour start was a mess and I would recommend arranging your own to avoid all the hassle and miscommunications with the tour operator. Taking the “luxury van” seemed like a good option, but I would avoid it! It seems travelers that took the sleeper bus had a much better experience. Overall the villages and region are beautiful and the homestay is a nice experience. It makes up for some of the headaches with the tour operator. If I were to do it again, I would visit these villages but not book this tour.

It was our experience in Vietnam that tours consist of transportation to the site, lodging and guides at the site all sub-contracted and loosely put and managed together by an agency. In our case we were driven from Hanoi to Sa Pa, just the two of us, by a taxi driver who did not speak any English. The hotel was great. We initially did not understand that this was going to be the arrangement. We skipped the visit to Cat Cat village (which screamed at us “tourist trap”) and concentrated on the second day hike through the rice fields. Our local guide, Ru, was absolutely superb, and the Hmong ladies that came with the group and helped us navigate an extremely treacherous and slippery hike, saved our physical integrity. Harley managed well the logistics from Hanoi. Our main issues are (1) the lack of accountability. What happens if someone gets hurt in the hike, or something goes wrong while traveling to the site? Will the agency we booked the trip with respond for losses or damage? Will any of the subcontractors? (2) The significant vacuum of information. The customers should know about the odds of fog during different seasons, and hence the chance of a failed tour. We should also be advised when difficult conditions are present, so we can bring equipment such as extra-grip shoes and walking sticks that enhance our safety and gives us more agency. Back to point 1: nothing against the delightful Hmong ladies, but we should be made aware that we are putting our lives in the hands of yet another party, one that does not even have a formal business contract with the tour operator. This said, all ended well; we had a great experience, took great pictures and had great interaction with our guide. That will not always be the outcome. As a client, be ready for significant uncertainty and from time to time even a perilous outcome.