Sapa And Y Ty: Rice Terraces Above The Clouds, 4 Days

Every part can be changed to suit your group.

1. Day 1 Hanoi to Sapa

   We leave Hanoi in the morning by limousine bus or private car and arrive in Sapa around lunchtime. In the afternoon your guide takes you on a walk around the town and down to the nearby village of Cat Cat, or to a viewpoint over the valley if you prefer a shorter stroll. In the evening, enjoy dinner in town, with local dishes such as grilled meats, rice cooked in bamboo tubes and salmon from the cold mountain streams, which is farmed in the area. Overnight at your hotel in Sapa. Sapa town has a small lake, a stone church from the French period and a lively evening market, all within a few minutes’ walk of the hotel.

   
2. Day 2 The Muong Hoa Valley

   A full day of walking in the most famous valley of Sapa. We follow paths through rice terraces and bamboo groves from Lao Chai, a Black Hmong village, to Ta Van, home of the Giay people, with Fansipan rising in the background. The walk is about 10 to 12 kilometres, mostly downhill, at an easy pace with many stops for photos and conversations. Lunch is with a local family. In the afternoon our driver brings us back to Sapa for a second night. The path passes small family workshops where women weave hemp and dye it with indigo, and children often walk along with the group for a while.

   
3. Day 3 Sapa to the Y Ty Highlands

   We leave Sapa after breakfast and drive west through Lao Cai and Bat Xat, then climb a winding mountain road into the highlands of Y Ty, close to the Chinese border. The landscape opens up into wide terraced valleys dotted with the earth-walled houses of the Ha Nhi people, whose women wear distinctive black clothing and silver ornaments. We walk through a Ha Nhi village in the afternoon and watch the sunset over the terraces. Overnight in a simple local guesthouse. The guesthouse is simple, with clean beds and shared or private bathrooms, and dinner is a hearty meal of local dishes. Evenings in Y Ty are cold for much of the year, so bring warm clothes.

   
4. Day 4 Clouds at Sunrise and Return to Hanoi

   Early risers may be rewarded with a sea of clouds filling the valleys below Y Ty, a sight that draws photographers from all over Vietnam, most often between September and April. After breakfast we drive back down through Bat Xat to Lao Cai, stopping at viewpoints and small markets along the way. After lunch in Lao Cai, we continue by road to Hanoi, arriving in the evening. If you prefer, we can arrange the night train from Lao Cai instead. On the way down, the road passes rice terraces, cardamom forests and small villages of the Ha Nhi, Hmong and Dao people, with plenty of chances to stop for photos.