Your train arrives in Lao Cai early in the morning. Lao Cai, near the Chinese border, is a lovely hilltop village. Explore downtown and eat at a local noodle eatery for breakfast. After breakfast, your driver and guide will transport you to a local market (Coc Ly on Tuesdays, Sin Cheng or Cao Son on Wednesdays, Lung Khau Nhin on Thursdays, Can Cau on Saturdays, and Bac Ha or Muong Hum on Sundays). Explore the kiosks filled with handcrafted things sold by the numerous hill tribe peoples that gather here to buy and sell their items.

Meals: Breakfast.
Accommodation: Hotel in Sapa.

Northern Vietnam was once known as Tonkin, and the French dubbed the Sapa region the “Tonkinese Alps.”

Breakfast is served at the motel. Leave the hotel at 10:00 a.m. and begin your adventure. Leave town by walking via the local market. After a few minutes, you’ll see a road leading downwards to Cat Cat Village. The Black Hmong community is well-known for its brocade weaving and gold and silver jewelry manufacture. The stroll to Cat Cat Village and its surrounding hills allows you to witness farms and techniques employed by the locals. A brief halt at a waterfall and a hydropower facility is made. After that, return to town and spend the remainder of the day at leisure.

Meals: Breakfast.
Accommodation: Hotel in Sapa.

After breakfast in town, take a walk down the valley past rice paddy terraces, taking in the stunning views along the way. When you reach the small river at the valley’s bottom, travel along its bank for a bit until you reach the Black H’mong minority settlement of Y Linh Ho. You’ll get a firsthand to peek at their lives and traditions, hear tales, and have a fantastic time socializing with them.

Meals: Breakfast, Pinic Lunch.
Accommodation: Soft Sleeper Cabin with AC.

Arrive in Hanoi early morning. Check out the cabin. Tour ends.