Dong Van Karst Plateau Trek And Sunday Market, 5 Days

Every part can be changed to suit your group.

1. Day 1 Hanoi to Nam Dam Village

   We leave Hanoi early and drive north to Ha Giang city, arriving around lunchtime. After lunch we continue to Quan Ba, stopping at the Heaven Gate viewpoint, and then walk for about an hour and a half to Nam Dam, a village of the Red Dao people tucked into a green valley below the limestone peaks. The Dao are known for their red headscarves and their knowledge of medicinal plants. Dinner and overnight in a traditional earth-walled family house, with a herbal bath if you wish. Most travellers find the pace comfortable after the first hour, and Heaven Gate has views of the wide valley and the karst peaks of Quan Ba.

   
2. Day 2 Quan Ba Valleys and Lung Tam to Yen Minh

   A morning hike of around 8 to 10 kilometres through the valleys of Quan Ba, on farm paths between corn fields, small rice terraces and Hmong hamlets. After lunch we drive to Lung Tam, where a cooperative of Hmong women grows, spins, weaves and dyes hemp with indigo, following traditions passed down for generations. You can watch each step and try the loom yourself. In the late afternoon we continue to Yen Minh for the night. Lung Tam hemp cloth is woven on wooden looms and dyed with indigo grown in the village. Yen Minh sits in a green valley surrounded by pine forest.

   
3. Day 3 Sung La Valley and Dong Van

   We cross the Tham Ma Pass and walk for about three hours through the Sung La valley, a high plateau of earth-walled Hmong and Lo Lo houses, stone fences and fields of buckwheat or corn depending on the season. After a picnic lunch we visit the Hmong King’s palace in Sa Phin and continue to Lung Cu, near the northernmost point of Vietnam. We arrive in Dong Van in the late afternoon and spend the night in the old quarter, where the market sets up before dawn on Sunday. The plateau is at its most colourful in October and November, when the buckwheat flowers turn the fields pink and white. The old quarter of Dong Van has stone houses with tiled roofs, some more than a century old.

   
4. Day 4 Sunday Market and the Ma Pi Leng Ridge

   We start early at the Sunday market, when people from the surrounding villages arrive on foot and by motorbike to trade livestock, vegetables, textiles and tools, and to share bowls of thang co soup. If your dates do not include a Sunday, we visit a smaller weekly market nearby instead. Later we walk along the old path on the Ma Pi Leng ridge, with dramatic views down to the Nho Que River, and continue to Meo Vac. Dinner and overnight in a local guesthouse. Thang co is a hearty soup traditionally made with horse meat and herbs, a market-day favourite among the Hmong. The walk along the ridge takes about two to three hours with plenty of stops.

   
5. Day 5 Meo Vac to Ha Giang and Hanoi

   After breakfast we drive back across the plateau to Ha Giang city, stopping at viewpoints and small villages along the way. Lunch is in Ha Giang before the long drive south to Hanoi through the hills and valleys of Tuyen Quang. We arrive at your hotel in Hanoi in the evening. If you would like a slower end to the trip, we can add a night in Ha Giang city or continue east to Ba Be Lake instead. The road back passes tea hills and small market towns, with a stop for coffee. Your guide shares the last stories of the trip and recommendations for your next days in Hanoi.