Vietnam Adventure Travel: 3-Week Trek the Northwestern Vietnam in Style

Upon arrival at Noi Bai International Airport, Sonasia’s guide & driver will pick you up and transfer directly to the hotel in the old quarter of Hanoi.

Vietnam's capital races to make up for time lost to the ravages of war and a government that as recently as the 1990s kept the outside world at bay. Its streets surge with scooters vying for right of way amid the din of constantly blaring horns, and all-around layers of history reveal periods of French and Chinese occupation – offering a glimpse into the resilience of ambitious, proud Hanoians.

Pick up and transfer from your hotel in Hanoi to Pu Luong retreat.

In the morning, you enter Pu Luong Nature Reserve by road via a breathtaking mountain pass giving you a panoramic view of the whole valley. 

You arrive at your accommodation in time for a delicious lunch, followed by free time to explore the beautiful retreat, with its captivating panoramic views and tranquil setting. Vietnamese set menu lunch at the retreat.  

In the afternoon, you will be transferred to a suspension bridge over the Cham River, where you begin your walk in search of stunning water wheels. 

Get up close to each wheel and discover how water is moved from river to handmade bamboo aqueducts via simple constructions of all sizes. 

Arriving at a local fisherman’s house, you have a short rest to gear up for the rafting adventure with Dinh and his team. Float along the calm river and enjoy the views, in between learning how to paddle and steer your handcrafted rafts. 

Arriving at scenic Tan Lap Bridge, you disembark to be transferred back to Pu Luong Retreat. 

Dinner at your own arrangement for more flexibility. 

Overnight in Pu Luong.

Breakfast at the retreat. We start early in the morning to descend into the beautiful valley facing the Retreat where you walk around tumbling rice terraces. 

Trek through small paths shrouded in vegetation to slowly reveal a picturesque village sitting at the base of a towering mountain. Your camera will not be able to sit still! 

Continuing to the base of the valley, you weave between roads and farmland, villages and wild fields, ponds and rivers, mountains, and open land. Savour the ever-changing scenery as you trek to a beautiful spot to enjoy a simple picnic lunch. 

You have your free afternoon to explore the refreshing water to the nearby river, before moving to pick up point to be transferred back to the Retreat. 

Dinner at your own arrangement for more flexibility. 

Overnight in Pu Luong. 

Breakfast at the retreat. You have the chance to get close to village life and interact with locals living in the hills above the Retreat. Glimpse at daily life, walk around working farmland and rice fields, and learn about making rice wine and weaving colorful textiles. Then you will be transferred back to Pu Luong Retreat for lunch.

After that, we will transfer directly to the peaceful Bakhan Village, Mai Chau Valley via Hoa Binh City

Upon arrival, check in the charming Ba Khan Village Resort to take some rest.

If you wish, walk around the Muong Village of Khan Ha and village’s West hill for a breath-taking view of the valley. 

Dinner will be served at Bakhan Restaurant before watching the unique traditional dance by villagers 

Overnight at Bakhan Village Resort 

09h00: Take another great workout in nature with our East Mountain trek route.

11h00: Arrive at a local Muong house where lunch is prepared. 

13h00: Continue afternoon walking through the valley and the villages Khan Ho & Khan Thuong 

15h30: Back to the resort. Rest and relax.

Dinner & overnight at Bakhan Village Resort 

After breakfast prepared by Bakhan Village Resort, you will drive toward Son La, the fifth largest province in Vietnam, located in the far north. 

Take a short hike to Pa Co village 30km form Mai Chau where you will meet the Black H’mong ethnic group. 

Continue the drive past lush tea plantations in Moc Chau. This is an incredible chance to shoot great photos. 

Cross a bamboo bridge to visit Na Ken village, 80 km from Son La, home to the Black Thai ethnic group. 

To this day, their houses are built in an ancient structure with thatched roofs shaped like a tortoise carapace and unique decorations called "khau cut" at each end of the ridge. 

Arrive at Son La in the late afternoon. 

Overnight in Son La

Today you travel to Dien Bien Phu crossing the Pha Din Pass, the highest and longest pass in Vietnam with an altitude of 1,500m. 

At the middle of the pass, stop to visit a multi-ethnic primary school and a village of the White H’mong hill tribe where children in colorful traditional costumes will welcome you with warm smiles. 

You then drive to Dien Bien Phu, site of the most legendary battle in Vietnam’s struggle for independence from the French in 1954. 

Visit famous sites of the Indochina War, the Ellianne Hill and the War Museum, which vividly describes the fight. Relics from the battle on display include old French tanks and artillery pieces, and most interestingly a reconstruction of the bunker in which the French commander, Colonel de Castries, surrendered to Viet Minh forces. 

Overnight in Dien Bien Phu

Transfer to Lai Chau, a town due to be flooded when the plans for a large hydroelectric dam become reality in the near future.

Continue the drive to Tam Duong along Nam Na River, a major tributary of the Black River. 

Visit a village of the Black Thai, Chan Nua Thai with its large wooden houses on stilts. 

Arrive in Tam Duong around late afternoon, check in your simple guesthouse.

Overnight in Tam Duong

Tam Duong is a frontier town situated in a beautiful valley amongst limestone peaks. This place is the home of many hill tribes such as the H'Mong, Man Tien, Lu and Cu Chu people. 

Authentic in lifestyle and colorful in costumes, most of these tribes have migrated from South China during the 17th - 18th century. 

A full day of trekking through their villages, nestled at the foots of the mountains and hills, enables you to discover the differences among these ethnic groups.  

Overnight in Tam Duong

In the morning, discover the most fascinating cultural activity of hill tribe people, at the local market held every Sunday. 

You will meet many different minorities from the surrounding regions of Tam Duong that come to exchange their goods, drink rice wine and meet friends. This is a great photo opportunity.

En route to Lao Cai, you take a hike through Ban Hon, a village of the Lu ethnic group. Lu women take great pride in their shining lacquered teeth and traditional costumes adorned with metal jewelry.

Arrive in Sapa, once a mountainous town during the colonization by the French. Check into the hotel. 

Free time to explore the little town with its market and remains of colonial architecture. 

Overnight in Sapa

9:30 am, start from Sapa Ethnic (04 Hoang Dieu Str) on the main road to go down to Muong Hoa valley. 

Beginning of the trip is the moment for admire the panorama view of the town and then the valley from the main road. 

After 4km on the main road, we start going down to the valley by the small trails through the terrace rice fields to get to Y Linh Ho hamlet, a small village of the Black Hmong people. 

From Y Linh Ho village, we go along the river to go to Lao Chai village (means "old village" in the local dialect). 

It is time for you to visit the local families, listen to your guide's explanation about the local culture: how they live, way of building the traditional house, techniques of making clothes... or listen about the way of treatment for a sick person. 

The lunch will be served in one of the local refreshment restaurants on the side of the river. In the afternoon, we leave Lao Chai to continue to Ta Van village, the Giay people's residence. 

The guide to bring you into some family: listen about their life, enjoy some green tea, learn about the differences of their culture from the other hill tribes even they leave close to each other. 

Tonight, you will enjoy a home stay in Ta Van Village for an unique life experience.

Leaving Ta Van village after Breakfast and following the foot path uphill, you will pass through impressive terraced rice paddies on the hill slopes before getting through a bamboo forest, a huge waterfall to Giang Ta Chai village of the Red Zao peoples. 

Walking around the village you will meet many women with their embroidery work to make their traditional dresses, occasionally you can see the blacksmiths making farming tools and even hunting riffles. 

Passing the Muong Hoa river again and then trek uphill to Su Pan village passing the rocks field with unique carving which is believed to be the messages of the ancient peoples. 

In this village you will see the special technique to build houses on the steep rocky land. 

From Su Pan trekking downhill for an hour, Ban Ho valley will open wide in your sight. 

Arriving to Ban Ho of the Tay late in the afternoon, check in the spacious local house built on stilts for Dinner and Home stay. 

After Breakfast we spend an hour walking to explore Ban Ho, a large village of the Tay peoples who live on spacious wooden houses built on stilts and very well organized before ascending uphill to Nam Toong village of the Red Zao. 

The trail of this part is really steep but the higher you reach to, the more stunning scenery will open in your sight. The village locates on the top of a hill and almost isolated and the houses are rudimentary, but the peoples are very welcoming. 

After Nam Toong, the trail winds its way up and down hill slopes for an hours to Nam Keng and My Son, the two small villages of the Xa Pho ethnic whose population is only about 4000 in Vietnam. 

Most of the Xa Pho are still living the most primitive way basing on forest gathering, hunting and practicing slash and burn agriculture. Every family here built a small house on stilts away form their living house to avoid catching fire for store their food and valuable property. 

You will stay overnight in this village. 

Wake up early for fresh air watching local life before breakfast. The amazing thing here is watching children walking some kilometers up and down hill to school and it seems that they enjoy their school hours very much! 

Leaving this poor village, walking downhill to the river for a crossing and then uphill again to Thanh Phu, another Tay village where you will spend about two hours wandering around the village before Lunch. 

In the afternoon, continue trekking for few hours along the way back which offers panorama view of Ban Ho valley before picked up and drive back to Sapa by jeep. 
Check in hotel and your evening is free. 

In the morning, drive to Bac Ha town via the scenic route.

Upon arrival, start trekking to Ban Pho village visit local friendly H’Mong people and beautiful landscape the climb up Hoang Thu Pho via Hoang Ha village. 

Lunch will be served at one of the viewpoints along the way.

Continue to trek to Ta Van Chu in the afternoon with some stop to visit local villages and admire their lifestyle.

Here or there, you will see the tribe people walk back home from the field.

Arrive in Ta Van Chu late afternoon, check in the stilt house, our accommodation for tonight.

Dinner with the host family

After breakfast start trek at 8'30 am down the valley and remote villages; guide will point out rare points of interest, traditional customs. 

After three hours hiking, stop for lunch, rest of the day o¬n the rugged terrain to Lu Than village (H’Mong and Nung minority). Overnight in Fu La ethnic Homestay. 

Following breakfast, trekking through the rugged terrain past rice paddies, local villages. Be prepared to get wet - some streams; picnic lunch; quiet trails to our final point. 

After three hours on the trail, the tiny village of La Di Thang, H’Mong people. Continue to Thai Giang Pho village, Stay the night in Na Lo (Tay minority Homestay). 

Mixture of ups and downs throughout the day, challenging climbs, exceptional views of the Coc Moi villages; trek to Na Hoi Village; climbing up from Na Hoi to Ngai Thau villages descend from mountain to village o¬n the banks of the Chay River; footpath hike through plum and peach plantations; 

Lunch break on quiet roadside, photograph the scenery - good stretch, lunch in the shade; downhill to Nam Mon overnight here (Homestay of Nung Family) 

After breakfast climbing up the Nam Lan village via Coc Sam (Coc Ly market on tuesday. Flower H’Mong, Blue H’Mong, Tu Zi, Tay and Nung people all converge here bringing life for local peoples, photographs and shopping; 

then we go down Chay River take the boat trip to visit the Tien Cave and enjoy the scenery as in fairy tales on the River photograph the scenery - good stretch. Finish at Trung Do Village (Tay people). Sleep in a traditional Tay house. 

Leave Trung Do; final trekking day; two hours’ climbing up the mountain visit Coc Cooc village via Khoi Xa with ethnic Dzao. 

Our guider talks about the custum of some different minorites then downhill to Bao Nhai transfer to Lao Cai to spend the night

You have ample time in the morning to relax or stroll around the town for your own exploration.

The afternoon is spent for a scenic drive to Mu Cang Chai, another rice terrace paradise. You may have time to get some stops on the way for taking pictures. Check in a stilt-house homestay of the Thai people nearby Mu Cang Chai town. Dinner and overnight there.

After breakfast, Today is the great day of adventure trekking to the most highlights area in Mu Cang Chai. Transfer to trekking point where you will enjoy trekking tour through truly stunning countryside in the Mountain area of Mu Cang Chai. Our professional tour guide will lead you through the most beautiful spots of the whole area; enjoy wonderful views of rice terraces, corn fields as well as village of local people in Mu Cang Chai. Enjoy the most highlight trekking route in Mu Cang Cang area from Che Cu Nha to La Pan Tan which offers amazing landscapes. Lunch at local food stall.

This afternoon you enjoy trekking tours in Mu Cang Chai to pick up point then the driver transfers you to Tu Le Town. Check in homestay. Have dinner at local family.

Overnight in Tu Le.

Have breakfast at homestay. Today you will start heading back to Hanoi following the old paths which offer great countryside. Have lunch at local food stall on the way.

You continue the trip in the afternoon to return Hanoi. Arrive in Hanoi late afternoon. 

Check in your hotel and spend the rest of the day to relax and stroll around the small streets of Hanoi for your own exploration.

Overnight in Hanoi

You are free to stroll around the town for your own exploration before taking the departure flight