Lao Chai – Ta Van (sleep) – Giang Ta Chai – Seo TrungHo/[Su Pan] – Ban Ho (sleep) – Thanh Phu (sleep) – Sin Chai A

• Level of Difficulty: HARD
• Length: 4 days/3 nights
• Trekking: sealed road, local paths, rice terraces
• Ethnic Minorities: Black H’mong, Dzay, Red Dao, Tay

This trip is really the ultimate trip if you wish to experience the full variety of ethnic life in the Muong Hoa Valley. It‘s a combination of all our other home stays. It‘s really reserved for those who are physically fit and want a lot of walking. You need to book this trip with us in advance so that we are able to make the necessary preparations.

Day 1 – Sapa – Lao Chai – Ta Van

From Sapa, we trek via Y Linh Ho through beautiful scenery to the Black H’mong Village of Lao Chai, where there’s time to spend time looking around the village and learning about local life. We have a picnic lunch in Lao Chai or at an alternative spot on our walk.

After our lunch, we walk through rice terraces and on local paths to the Zay village of Ta Van. This is the only village in the Sapa area where the Dzay people live. We spend time looking around the village.

We meet our local Dzay hosts in their home. Our hosts and guide will prepare our evening meal. The rest of the evening can be spent getting to know more about family life in Ta Van or strolling around the village.

Day 2 – Ta Van – Giang Ta Chai – Su Pan/Seo Trung Ho – Ban Ho

After breakfast in Ta Van, we walk along local paths, and through rice terraces and scattered settlements to the Red Dao village of Giang Ta Chai where we meet the people of the Red Dao minority with their colourful traditional dress. We have our picnic lunch at Giang Ta Chai or at an appropriate spot.

After lunch, we follow local paths out of the village. There are two possible options at this point:

HARD OPTION (not possible in poor weather): We continue trekking through a wilder and more uncultivated area to the Tay village of Seo Trung Ho where there is time to look around. We trek further down the valley to the pretty Tay village of Ban Ho where we can observe the local life of the Tay minority in Ban Ho and compare life here to life in the H’mong villages nearer Sapa.

EASY OPTION: We walk along local paths, up the side of the valley and on to the sealed road to the village of Su Pan taking in the beautiful scenery. It’s then a gradual decent from Su Pan through forest until the village of Ban Ho appears in the valley below. Look out for the small local school on the way down. At Ban Ho we have time to observe the local life of the Tay minority.

We meet our local Tay hosts in their home. Our hosts and guide will prepare our evening meal. The rest of the evening can be spent getting to know more about family life in Ban Ho or strolling around the village.

Day 3 – Ban Ho – Thanh Phu – Sin Chai A

After breakfast, we have more time to look around and experience life in the lovely village of Ban Ho. We can take a swim in the river if the weather is good and visit the hot springs.

We depart from Ban Ho trekking through rice fields and on the sealed road, our destinations: Thanh Pu and Sin Chai A villages. The walk is beautiful partly due to its distance from any main settlements and due to the relative lack of fellow travellers. After several hours trekking we cross the river and climb to the village of Thanh Pu. There are two possible options here. The longer and easier option is to walk up the road that winds its way up the side of the valley to the village. The quicker alternative, but more demanding walk, is to follow a steep path that leads up to the village. We continue through the village and onward to Sinh Chai A. Picnic lunch at an appropriate spot.

We spend some time looking around the village of Sinh Chai A, home to the people of the Black H’mong ethnic minority. After experiencing the atmosphere of this village, seldom visited by tourists, we make our return to Thanh Phu, our base for the night. We meet our local hosts in their home. Our hosts and guide will prepare our evening meal. The rest of the evening can be spent getting to know more about family life in Thanh Phu or strolling around the village.

Day 4 – Thanh Phu – Su Pan -Sapa

After breakfast, there is more time to look around and experience life in the village of Thanh Phu. We then make our way back the sealed road to Su Pan, taking in the beautiful scenery. We have our picnic lunch at an appropriate spot on the way.

We continue our walk to Su Pan where we meet with our car/ motorbikes to take us back to Sapa.