Slightly seasonal with the occasional typhoon
Getting There:
1. Direct flight from Singapore to Hanoi
2. Train to Sapa
Pros:
- safer at night
- separate rooms (for 4 pax; top up for 2 people room)
Cons:
- more ex
- deposits you 30+km away from Sapa town in Lao Cai
3. Bus
Pros:
- quicker journey
- some offer pickup from the airport if you don't intend to head into Hanoi city beforehand
- cheaper
Cons:
- road up the mountains might not be well lit and also bumpier
- harder to use the bathroom
Getting Around (Gmaps):
- Grab App
- Tuk tuk
Payment:
- Cash Preferred (VND / USD - change will be given in VND)
- Card accepted in some stores but usually has a 3% charge
- tipping not expected
Day 1: Journey to Sapa
Not too far from Sapa town and there's a nice view of the mountains. Very outdoorsy, very demure.
The hosts were super nice and they offer homecooked meals and can arrange the activities for you to explore Sapa
Pick a clear day to see the view from the summit. Lots of fog that could roll past through the day and obscure the view.
There's 3 parts to the journey to get up there (unless you want to hike all the way up; it'll take a full day and might have to camp overnight).
1. Funicular from Sun Plaza in Sapa town to the cable car station
2. Cable Car to the base of the summit
3. Funicular to the summit (most tickets only include one way but the walk down is quite scenic and there's a pagoda and some statues to see)
Day 2: Hiking Through the Local Villages
Start early and get a tour guide to take you through the villages. There's usually an option for the easy / hard way. The easy way is mostly along the roads but the traffic is not too bad. The hard way has some mud areas that might be slippery and occasionally hard to climb.
Starting in Sapa town and walking all the way past Y Lin Ho (another village) to Lao Chai (where we stopped for lunch) and straight through to Ta Van. The whole hike was just over 12km so better to wear proper hiking pants and boots to prevent slipping and sliding.
The tour package included the tour guide, lunch, and a one way pickup on the way back and we arranged it through our Homestay hosts.
Quite thrilling and fun but over really quickly and might not be worth the 200k dong to see the view for 2-3mins.
Not too many stores (about 5-10 souvenir stores, 3-5 food places and mostly BBQ type).
Day 3: Cat Cat Village
Supposedly the most touristy local village where you can dress up in their traditional costumes and take photos. But we went on a wet day and most things were closed or closing. It's almost completely outdoors so a bit hard to avoid the rain and the walking path is made of rocks and slopes so might be a little dangerous during the wet season.
Rainy day backup plan or at least a nice way to end the day after being soaked through. Highly recommended place with good and cheap massages.
Great night for a home cooked dinner at the homestay to avoid the rain.
Day 4: Typhoon Disaster
Souvenir shopping around Sun Plaza to try to avoid the rain.
Got stuck in Sapa an additional night so couldn't go through with some of the other plans we had for the trip.
Day 5: Hanoi
Found this airbnb perfect for larger groups of people and for hiding out from the typhoon. Located near Hoan Kiem Lake and the main attractions in Hanoi even though we couldn't go out.
Thankfully coffee was still available near the airbnb in the most aesthetic cafe ever to end the trip on a good note.
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