Tour is also possible to be guided in French, Chinese (Mandarine) and Spanish with extra cost.
To get off the beaten path, Suoi Ho - Ma Cha - Ta Phin Day tour is a good choice!
Starting the day with a short trek of 3 km to Suoi Ho village, the first stop in your itinerary. This is a H'mong people's village where they cultivate tea and cardamon near by their houses. Following a small trail through rice terraces to reach the next spot - Ma Cha village.
Ma Cha (or Ma Tra), which is just 5 km away from Sapa, is home to the H'mong people. It is not well known yet. If you have a desire for a less tourist route, this is what you are looking for! Lying along the path to Ma Cha are mazes of terraced rice fields and hills. All are man-made by manual tools over hundred years. Life here still remain calm and simple as it was for many year, so do not be surprised if there are pigs or buffaloes roaming around.
Ta Phin, a village of mostly the Red Dzao and a few H'mong people, is about 17 km in the Northeast of Sapa. The village covers an area of almost 3000 ha in a valley surrounded by a breath-taking landscape. People here are famous for their hand-made brocade and herbal baths. Come to see the scenery and communicate with local hill tribes, it is worth your day!
Itinerary
Start the day with a 3km trek through picturesque scenery to the village of Suoi Ho (3 kms), home to Hmong people. From which you can enjoy views over endless rice terraces. Keep trekking toward Ma Tra village, where you might see some domestic animals roaming around. You will come across the captivating ruins of a church dating back to the French time in the early 1900s. Take some minute to explore this sight and take some photos.
Trekking to the Ta Phin village, where you will meet both the Red Dzao and the Black H'mong people. The Red Dao are famous for their master of using herbal medicine from the forest around to treat many illnesses, their most famous remedy is herbal baths. A Red Dao herbal bath can be arranged for you upon your request. Transport will be provided from Ta Phin back to Sapa.
TOUR NOTICES
What to wear: Proper walking shoes are needed. No tolerance for slippers, high-heels or improper sandals.
What to bring: Cameras, sun block, sunglasses,...
Lunch: Lunch with local host family. Please kindly inform us if you have a special diet.
Tour Customization: Yes, please inform us your interest, we will customize the day tour according to request!
Tour Start: Daily at your hotel in Sapa.
Tour Attention: Please kindly notice that the rate can be added up 25% for the Holidays in Vietnam
THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE THE TOUR
When you start the walk from Sapa town to the villages, there will be some local ethnic people walking with you. Their purpose is to sell you their handicrafts such as: brocaded Purse, scarfs... which they carry along with their basket on their back. It is to remind you that this is quite usual in Sapa and it happens to all every travelers. In some hard walking routes through the rice fields on the wet days, these locals are willing to aid you with the walking route if you are in a need. If you need their help, you can say thanks to them at the end of the tour by buying their souvenir or give them a small tip. As it is unavoidable fact in Sapa, you'd better know about it before hand.
- Should you buy any gifts for local kids in the villages? This is not our recommendations. For the kids or adults in the villages you are visiting, giving candies, gifts or money when you pass or visit are not really good as then kids can quit school and adults can stopped the field work just to stay at the village waiting for tourists to pass by to ask for money and gift. For a sustainable tourism, we suggest that you should not. If you would like to donate for the villages here, there are couple of NGO funds those collect and support the remote villages.
- Should I tip the guide at the end of the tour? Only-When you are satisfied with the tour guide services, tipping is waited by the guide as the appreciation of the guide's work. Proper tip for Sapa Local tour guide is around 10$-15$/day but this vary depending on each tourist tipping culture and enjoyment of the tour. Tipping is not included in our tour quotations.
– All entrance tickets, Private Sapa Local Tour guide, Lunch in a local host family.
– Tip and drinks.
– Other extra expenditures not mentioned.