Every part can be changed to suit your group.

1. Day 0 Hanoi to overnight train

   We meet you at our office in the early evening for a short briefing, then transfer you to Hanoi Railway Station. The overnight train to Lao Cai departs Hanoi at 10:40 PM and arrives the following morning at around 6:30 AM. Cabins are shared but comfortable, giving you a proper night's sleep before the trekking begins. Please bring a small backpack for the trek and leave larger luggage at your hotel in Hanoi. Our team will give you a short list of what to pack, including rain gear, a warm layer for the evenings and good walking shoes.

   
2. Day 1 Lao Cai to Sapa and a hike through Sa Seng

   After arriving in Lao Cai, we drive up to Sapa along a winding road with views over rice terraces and mountains. Once you have had breakfast and a shower, we set off on a 9 to 12 km hike through the Sa Seng valley, home to Black Hmong families known for their indigo-dyed clothing. The trail follows buffalo paths and village lanes through terraced rice paddies, with lunch taken outdoors overlooking the valley. In the afternoon we continue down to Hau Thao village, where you spend the night in a Black Hmong family home, sharing a home-cooked Vietnamese dinner.

   
3. Day 2 Hau Thao to Giang Ta Chai

   From Hau Thao, surrounded by hills and rice terraces, we trek toward Su Pan village along paths that cut through bamboo forest and past waterfalls, crossing a suspension bridge on the way. This is the longest day, around 12 to 15 km. We finish the walk at Giang Ta Chai, a Giay village set among more rice terraces, where you spend the night with a local family and share dinner together. Su Pan is a Red Dao and Black Hmong area, and along the way you may meet women collecting bamboo shoots, herbs and firewood. The homestay is simple, with mattresses, mosquito nets and shared bathrooms, and the family cooks dinner with vegetables from their garden.

   
4. Day 3 Back to Sapa and overnight train to Hanoi

   A final hike of 6 to 10 km takes us through Lao Chai and Ta Van, two villages home to Black Hmong and Giay families, with more views of the valley's terraced slopes. From there we drive into Sapa, where you have a couple of hours to walk around the town before being picked up in the late afternoon for the transfer to Lao Cai. The overnight train departs Lao Cai at 9:30 PM, arriving back in Hanoi around 5:45 AM the next morning. Sapa town has a lake, a stone church from the French period and a busy market, where you can buy embroidered textiles and hemp fabrics made by the families you met on the trek. The train has shared four-berth cabins with soft beds and air-conditioning.