Tours - Ta Van, Seo My Ty to Sapa

We start the tour early. We pick you up from your location in Ta Van village to head to the bamboo forest via the rice terraces.

Inside the bamboo forest we find it packed with wildlife. The forest is exposed on the side of the valley so there is the pleasant sound of the bamboo rushing in the wind. Coming back out of the forest, we rejoin the country road.

Arriving at the Trạm Kiểm Lâm (security entrance to the forest). We can also admire the view of the valley below with the village of Ta Van at the bottom. We stop for a few minutes to admire.

We then enter the Hoang Lien Son National Park. We carry on rough country road up the side of the valley. On either side of the country road are bushes, ferns, grass and of course trees which sometimes provide a “green tunnel” to pass though.

For lunch where we will have a picnic as there is nothing around here. This tour is wild after all! We sit next to a stream and enjoy being with nature.

We continue upwards along the countryside road, usually seeing some buffalo as the location is popular for local people to graze their animals here. After 2hrs we notice that we are no longer going up but down finally (so far we have climbed nearly 700m) so our destination is now only 1/2hr away.

Arriving in Seo My Ty at the homestay we are right next to the large reservoir where catfish and salmon are also farmed. We have the option of trekking to a waterfall 4km away where they farm salmon if we get here in time.

Food is local Hmong food. Bamboo fried with garlic, (occasional) local fish, pork, chicken, rice. All fresh grown on their own farm.

Breakfast is served. Either local style or pancakes (French crepes). Tea / coffee also available. We set off for our first destination of the day.

To get to our first destination, we follow the only road that winds around the lake before diverging to Seo Chong Ho around 8km away. Ferns grow all along the country road on either side. We pass a few houses but there are not many. All the people around here are homestead farmers and are either Red Dao or Hmong.

Arriving at Seo Chong Ho. Again lunch is a picnic as there are no houses / restaurants or things of that nature. We have an hour to eat and soak up the views of the lovely landscape that surrounds us.

Thac Hoang so waterfall is a local unknown gem of a place. It is a highlight of this trek so we must stop by for a little while. It is a perfect opportunity for a swim as well as taking some nice photos.

Our afternoon trek takes is across the Muong Hoa river by foot so some rock hopping or shoes and socks off time. We then climb the valley once again to get to our homestay for the evening in Su Pan.

Arriving in Su Pan, we have a lovely view of the valley below. This is our location for the rest of the day and for the night obviously. The homestay is own and run by an Hmong family.

The food is traditional Hmong style, noodles, rice, soup, pork, chicken etc.

Breakfast is served. Either rice or pancakes (French crepes). Tea / coffee also available.

We head off from Su Pan and up the valley on the single track countryside road to our first destination Hau Tao. The grade is quite steep but the road is pretty good quality by local standards at the time of writing.

There is a lovely waterfall as well as a bridge that used to be part of the route before it was improved. We stop a few minutes for some photos because waterfalls are beautiful.

To get to the next village Hau Tru Nha we have to climb higher (its a theme of the day). The road cuts though a cluster of bamboo trees flanked by beautiful rice terraces. If there has been recent rain - the familiar sounds of small waterfalls can be heard everywhere. The road is very steep in places here so care must be taken. We press on to the next village as that is where our lunch is.

Lunch is served! We eat at a local restaurant for a change in Hang Da. Food is traditional Hmong food. After all the climbing of the day so far, an hour to eat and rest is welcome.

Our final leg of the tour is to leave the single track road and on to the buffalo trail. This takes us up to the top of the valley and to the Dragon Mountain (local feature). From the top there is a beautiful view to take photos from. Down the other side is Sapa.

Arriving Sapa town square, we have made it! This is our toughest trekking tour option so feel good that you made it all the way to the end. We hope you enjoyed this less touristy route and experienced some enjoyable local culture.