Sa Pa Travel Forum

i will be in hanoi at the beginning of may and would like to go on up to sapa and the highlands...i guess i can take the train or fly to sapa and would appreciate recommendations for really out-of-the-way places to visit from sapa...i can hire a car and guide if necessary...would like to see areas that are not visited by hordes of tourists. i have been teaching in danang for three months and really appreciate the scarcity of tourists here (as compared to hoi an and hue). thanx...

When I was in Sapa, I went to the standard places. On weekday, it was quieter but there are still tourists. There are many other villages further away which rwequire special permission to go. If you have extra time and cash, there are many travel agencies that arrange permits and tour guides to take you further away to less "touristy" villages. Just say that you want to see other non-Hmong tribes. For the locals, one village is the same as another.

If you go to Sapa you can go by train or bus, has no fly. the train from Hanoi to Lao cai everyday, after from Lao Cai you take the bus to Sapa(38Km). You can go to around sapa to explore the life style of minority ethnics as H'Mong, Dao, Tay ...they have the special customs, habit and traditional. and you can enjoy the beautiful view in Sapa.
You can hire the guide and car to explore the North-West(highlands) tour as: Sapa - lai Chau - Dien Bien Phu - Son La. Those areas you can go to fom Sapa.
Have a good time!

Really out of the way .. Hmm, are you get ready?
You wont meet other travellers if you trek in a different way. ( meet them sometimes only ).
Sapa - Y Linh Ho ( few tourists on the way ) - Lao Chai - Ta Van
Nam Keeng ( few tourist here ) - Nam Cang - Ban Ho ( some stay here overnight )
OF course, you would need guide to go into the village.

If you go travelling to Sapa, you can go by train or car. Sapa hasn't got a plan. I went travelling Sapa two times and I suggest that you'd better choose Train because It's safer than car.
Good luck

Overnight trains both ways - standard sleeper is 4 bunk beds. If can afford, go for the better coach with wooden wall panelling and even table lamp. Anyway, expect to be shaken up a bit by the track. All the trains leave within the hour of each other, like carrying cattle loads of tourists. Kind of fun.

Just got back from Sapa earlier this month and we had a great time there. While there will be a number of tourists in Sapa, I don't think you'll really feel it when walking around the town. But if you want to go off the beaten track, would suggest that you choose to visit the more out of the way villages rather than the usual Cat Cat / Lao Chai / Ta Van villages. Would suggest you avoid the Bac Ha Sunday market too for that reason.

Taking the overnight train is a great experience over doing the trip by car.

Hope this helps.
Cheers