Good Morning Vietnam!
Coming from Ha Long Bay, it was a very long 14-hour overnight bus ride. It was the best way to get there since there are no airports in Ha long Bay nor Sapa. If you are coming from Hanoi your trip will be a lot shorter. The drive was quite rough because the sleeper seats are quite small. If you are tall try and book the very back seats since they are the largest.
We arrived in Sapa at 5 am. We were allowed to stay and sleep on the bus until 7 am, which we took advantage of. When we got off we walked to the agency in which we booked our tour through. We used a company called Sapa O’chau. I highly recommended them for your trip to Sapa. They arranged transportation for us from Ha Long Bay and were super helpful throughout the whole process. They also have storage in their main office where you can leave larger backs so you don’t have to trek with them! The tour itself was super amazing as well and if I ever go back I would go on a different tour through them again!
The tour started in the town of Sapa. From there we drove to two different waterfalls. Sadly it was a bit foggy so we didn’t get to go to the lookout point they usually take guest to, but the waterfalls were awesome! From the second one, we started our trek.
We signed up for a two-day trek so the first day we trekked down to a small river in the valley where our guide found flat rocks for each of us to sit on and one to put in the middle as our table for lunch! We ate the famous Bahn mi which was delicious. then we continued our trek. We lucked out because our day cleared up and thankfully all the trails weren’t super muddy but it was still slippery. I recommend bringing clothes that you can get very muddy, just in case you fall. From lunch, we trekked a few more miles to our homestay. In total, we trekked about 8 miles today. Thankfully most of it was downhill. As we trekked through the mountains of sapa, I don’t think I could close my mouth. The scenery was jaw-dropping. Every single way you looked was so amazing and overall probably the most gorgeous place that I have ever seen.
When we arrived at our homestay we were showed to our room and all got to take quick showers before dinner. They made the most amazing dinner. It was rice with a few different options to pair with. They had chicken and peppers, pork, and fish. They also made spring rolls that hit the spot! To drink we got to try their famous “happy water”. I’m honestly not sure what it was but it sure was not my favorite thing in the world. The family we stayed with was also hosting another group of four guys from Denmark and Sweden whom we played games with after dinner.
The next morning we woke up and had about 7 more miles to trek to the location that our driver was going to pick us up from. Today we passed through a most famous place called Cat Cat Village. It was a very fairytale looking place that I loved. Along with his, there were many people selling hand-stitched purses and bracelets which I couldn’t pass up. During this portion of the trek, we saw a lot more of the famous rice field than we did the day before. None of them were super lush because it wasn’t the right season but were still awesome to see.
After stopping in our last town we got lunch at a local restaurant and then were driven back to the agency to pick up our bags. Then it was time for our bus ride (which they arranged for us) back to Hanoi so we could catch our flight the next day.
See You Soon
xoxo Gina