Sapa Things to Do Tips by Willettsworld

Giang Tachai

Day 2 of my trek consisted of trekking from Ta Van to Giang Tachai. We left and started to make our way up the valley along some very muddy paddy fields where my feet slipped all over the place even though I had on brand new boots which I had bought in Sapa. The Black Hmong girls gave us a hand which we needed as at one point we had to cross the top of a terrace with a 4ft drop on one side and the paddy field in water on the other side. We came to the village of Giang Tachai which is a Zao village and visited inside a house which was very interesting. The village had only had electricity for the last couple of years and the school had only been built in 2004.

Schools

Along the way on out trek we passed by a few schools located in the villages of Ta Van and Giang Tachai. We were told they were funded by the Japanese and have only been built in the last few years.

Ta Van

Day 1 of my trek which I did through et-pumpkin took me from Sapa to a village called Ta Vin where we stayed with a Zay family overnight. We got to our overnight home stay in the village where our beds were upstairs on the floor while they cooked our evening meal on a small open fire in the kitchen area. The food was fantastic - chicken and mushrooms, pork and mushrooms, chips!, rice and spring rolls. They even had beer!

Rice Terraces

Day 1 of my trek which I did through et-pumpkin took me from Sapa to a village called Ta Vin where we stayed with a Zay family overnight. Our party of 5 plus our guide left Sapa along with a small party of Black Hmong women, some with babies on their backs, in thick fog. The fog seemed to blow across the road one minute and then clear up the next. As we made our way downhill, the fog started to clear to give us a misty view over the rice terraces. Bit of a shame really but at least we could just make them out.

Trek - Day 2

Day 2 of the trek started with breakfast at our overnight home stay in the village of Ta Van which consisted of crepes, toast, coffee/tea. We left and started to make our way up the valley along some very muddy paddy fields where my feet slipped all over the place even though I had on brand new boots which I had bought in Sapa. The Black Hmong girls gave us a hand which we needed as at one point we had to cross the top of a terrace with a 4ft drop on one side and the paddy field in water on the other side. We came to the village of Giang Tachai which is a Zao village and visited inside a house which was very interesting. The village had only had electricity for the last couple of years and the school had only been built in 2004.

We had lunch near the river which, again, consisted of egg noodles with vegetables where I said goodbye to my fellow tour party as I had to make my way back to Sapa and they went on their way to another village for another overnight stop.

Website: http://www.et-pumpkin.com

Trek - Day 1

Day 1 of my trek which I did through et-pumpkin took me from Sapa to a village called Ta Vin where we stayed with a Zay family overnight. Our party of 5 plus our guide left Sapa along with a small party of Black Hmong women, some with babies on their backs, in thick fog. The fog seemed to blow across the road one minute and then clear up the next. As we made our way downhill, the fog started to clear to give us a misty view over the rice terraces. Bit of a shame really but at least we could just make them out. We carried on down into a river valley where the sun came out and all the fog had gone. We had a simple lunch here of egg noodles with pork besides a red iron bridge that went over the river. As we came out of the restaurant, we were faced with a huge group of Black Hmong and Red Dzao women, some of who started chatting me up by asking if I was married, age and where I was from, so-much-so that a young French girl came over to rescue me by claiming that I was hers!

Anyway, we left the Black Hmong behind and walked through the village of Lau Chai with the Red Dzao women past pigs, ducks, buffalo and some lovely wooden houses. We also passed by a few new schools that we were told were funded by the Japanese. We got to our overnight home stay in the village of Ta Vin where we were to stay with a Zay family. Our beds were upstairs on the floor while they cooked our evening meal on a small open fire in the kitchen area. The food was fantastic - chicken and mushrooms, pork and mushrooms, chips!, rice and spring rolls. They even had beer!

Website: http://www.et-pumpkin.com

Et-Pumpkin Tour

I travelled to Sapa as part of a 4 day/3 night tour with et-pumpkin who are based in Hanoi. Everything was done for me and I travelled from Hanoi to Sapa via train and bus where they even have their own 1st class train carriage which was very nice. I arrived at their hotel in Sapa called the Pumpkin Hotel (see my accommodation tips) and got given a good sized twin room all to myself which had 2 single beds, desk, 2 chairs, TV, phone, and a clean bathroom. The staff were nice and friendly plus I had all my meals here during the 2 days I stayed here before and after my 2 day trek. The meals are from 4 set menus with different choices of a soup, veg, main dish, spring rolls, rice and get a bit boring as you have to choice them for lunch and dinner.

After a little rest I explored what little there is to see in Sapa itself for the first day as this was given to me as a 'day off'. Day 1 of my trek started the following day which took me from Sapa to a village called Ta Vin where we stayed with a Zay family overnight. After climbing down from Sapa and just making out the rice terraces through the mist, we walked through the village of Lau Chai, after having lunch, past pigs, ducks, buffalo and some lovely wooden houses. We got to our overnight home stay in the village of Ta Vin where our beds were upstairs on the floor while they cooked our evening meal on a small open fire in the kitchen area where the food was fantastic.

Day 2 of the trek started with breakfast which consisted of crepes, toast, coffee/tea. We left and started to make our way up the valley along some very muddy paddy fields where my feet slipped all over the place even though I had on brand new boots which I had bought in Sapa. We came to the village of Giang Tachai which is a Zao village and visited inside a house which was very interesting. The village had only had electricity for the last couple of years and the school had only been built in 2004. We had lunch near the river and I said goodbye to my fellow tour party as I had to make my way back to Sapa and they went their way to another village for another overnight stop. I got back to Sapa and spent the night at the same hotel.

Day 3 took me down to the cultural village of Cat Cat. A 17-year old Black Hmong girl, who was on the first day trek to Ta Van, took me here where we headed downhill past wooden houses selling more textiles. We then came to a museum sort of place which displayed some ethnography items such as musical instruments, tools etc and then carried on down to some waterfalls. I then had the afternoon to myself before being taken to Lai Cai and the overnight train back to Hanoi. I really enjoyed my tour and trek and it was really good fun to stay with an ethnic minority family. Check at et-pumpkins website below and book with them direct at their office in Hanoi's old quarter.

Address: 89 Ma May st, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi

Website: http://www.et-pumpkin.com

Cat Cat Cultural Village

This was the last place I visited on my Sapa trekking tour and I didn't really know what to make of it - was it a genuine cultural village of some kind or just a tourist trap? A 17-year old Black Hmong girl, who was on the first day trek to Ta Van, took me here which is only a few km's downhill from Sapa. We reached the entrance which is marked by a large blue sign and headed further downhill past wooden houses selling more textiles. We then came to a clinic (see next tip) which didn't look all that clean inside or out. We then came to a museum sort of place which displayed some ethnography items such as musical instruments, tools etc and then carried on down to some waterfalls (Cat Cat is just the Vietnamese transliteration of the word cascade). We, or should that really be I, decided to take a motorcycle taxi ride back to Sapa as it looked a long way up.

Lake

If you walk north of the towns square past a couple of monument type structures, you'll come to a small lake which has a nice garden on the south shore and is overlooked by some posh looking hotels.

Square

The town’s main square sits in front of the church and was a busy place when I was in Sapa as it was the time of year where young Black Hmong girls seek out a partner. There was a giant swing made from bamboo and other temporary looking structures that gave it a recreational park feel!