Vietnam

[Irenicis]

Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Halong Bay all must see..

I went to Sapa before, Damn Nice...

But if you choose Sapa, Mai Chau might have to skip.. I think they are in different areas which are far apart..

If I go Ninh Binh, would choose Mai Chau because is it in the Hanoi - Ninh Binh - Mai Chau loop.

If Mai Chau worth going?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Henabi]

Old quarter is big because there are so many small roads, small alleys and many interesting things to see, do and buy

Sent from Henabi virus using GAGT

 

[sendtolee]

I see. Thanks for your recommendation. I was thinking whether to try homestay in sapa anot.

Will be planning 2d1n in halong bay, 2 or 3 days in sapa and 1 or 2 days in hanoi. Since most probably going 6 days only.

Is old quarter very huge area? Afraid tat i book too far from the main area.

Hanoi to Sapa one way will take about 5 hours by bus.

Home stay has no heaters during the winter months.

 

[Delsamor]

Just want to check, which bank's atm/debit card is best used in vietnam to withdraw cash without incurring hefty charges?

 

[VacheronLim]

Hanoi to Sapa one way will take about 5 hours by bus.

Home stay has no heaters during the winter months.

yes i would say home stay is very subjective, you have to be mentally prepared of the conditions that may not be up to 'expectations' even though it's just for a single night

ethos travel (http://www.ethosspirit.com/) is one of the local agency that takes care of a lot of such booking, they support the local community through their programs, and they are quite flexible to cater to individual/small groups, which is ideal (e.g they can plan a shorter trekking route if anyone in the group doesn't like long treks etc), they will encourage you to engage their (english speaking) guides in dialogue so you can enhance your experience

i went for a single day trip, trek up the terraces and had a lunch with a local family, then trek halfway down and cab back to town, got some spectacular photos in during the trek, it's well worth the trek i must say

best time to travel to sapa will be in september, just before they harvest the rice so you will see those lush green/yellow fields which will give you plenty of photo-taking opportunities

rainy season (june to august) is kind of inconvenient due to frequent rains, and the roads in Sapa are absolutely horrendous so you get smack with mud stains the minute u step out of hotel

 

[weiiix]

Cool.... Any places to buy t shirts like adidas/nike?

Old quarter is big because there are so many small roads, small alleys and many interesting things to see, do and buy

Sent from Henabi virus using GAGT

 

[weiiix]

Ic. So i think at least 2 nites wld be gd. Engage ethos for day trip to the villages.

Did you visit fanispan? Do i need a guide or i just need take transport to board the cable car?

Hanoi to Sapa one way will take about 5 hours by bus.

Home stay has no heaters during the winter months.

 

[VacheronLim]

Ic. So i think at least 2 nites wld be gd. Engage ethos for day trip to the villages.

Did you visit fanispan? Do i need a guide or i just need take transport to board the cable car?

yes 2 nights will be good, because the bus transfer (i used sapa express) mostly depart hanoi in the morning, and arrive sapa just after mid-day

there are also bus services that depart hanoi mid-day, and arrive sapa by evening (which of course not recommended since you're basically only gona check in, have dinner and not have time to do much)

i feel homestay is mostly appreciated by caucasian (also partly because homestay packages are 2D1N or 3D2N, meaning A LOT of trekking), during my trip to sapa most are caucasian tourists, plus a small handful of koreans and vietnamese

if you know how to ride a bike/scooter, that will keep your travel expenses low (but please be safe, the roads in sapa town are absolutely horrendous with plenty of big potholes, uneven surfaces and steep slopes up and down, outside sapa town i find the roads a lot smoother but more undulating as they are essentially mountain roads)

you can either book direct with the rental shop or some hotels also provide such rental, the price difference is minimal so i will feel rent with hotel easier (safer too)

grab is available in sapa, but because the roads there are in very poor conditions, and many places are one-way traffic (not captured on google map) so the driver may take longer than to reach you

hotel can help you to call for cab too (pay by meter fare), and i think most hotels work with 1 or 2 trustable cab companies, so actually this is better than relying on grab

if you want to travel to further places, it's good to consolidate into the same day so you can rent a cab (hotel can help you book and nego with driver on the price, so basically u do private booking of the driver for entire day, and not worry about getting stranded somewhere in the mountains)

fansipan cable car, the weather conditions are extremely erratic, one minute you have breathtaking view of the entire valley, next minute it's shrouded by clouds right in front of you...the locals/hotel staff will normally recommend this, keep your itinerary flexible because weather will have a big impact on it

mornings are usually your best bet, when there are less clouds, if you wake up and look in the direction of fansipan mountain, and see it's relatively clear then you can book a cab and go...if your first morning is cloudy, try on second morning and etc

i will feel most places don't need a guide, unless you are visiting specific villages so an english speaking guide can come in handy

there are a lot of shops there selling 'the north face' apparels/equipment, very good price (obviously counterfeit products) but the quality is not shabby at all

if you don't have trekking shoes, can rent there as well (about 70,000 VND daily) which is inexpensive, they use north face trekking shoes which are waterproof so you can stick your feet into mud and not worry about it

 

[weiiix]

thanks for the clear explanation.

for example if i like to visit these places most likely will need a guide right?
Silver Waterfall -Sin Chai - Cat Cat - Lao Chai - Ta Van

i will feel most places don't need a guide, unless you are visiting specific villages so an english speaking guide can come in handy

 

[Delsamor]

2 nights can get u only 1 trek to village (mid difficulty) and homestay + 1 additional trek or sightseeing POI. There are a lot of things to see in Sapa. To cat cat and fansipan via cable car u don’t need a guide. In fact, I trek to ta phin by myself without a guide. Sunday in sapa town and bac ha is very happening.

 

[VacheronLim]

thanks for the clear explanation.

for example if i like to visit these places most likely will need a guide right?
Silver Waterfall -Sin Chai - Cat Cat - Lao Chai - Ta Van

if you wana go waterfall i will recommend love waterfall instead, it requires a short walk in (need to pay for entrance fee), and definitely looks better than silver waterfall

in any case, silver waterfall is just beside one of the mountain roads leading up to love waterfall, so if you do private hire for the cab, you will pass by it and can ask the driver to stop for photo-taking (if you want to), but because it's right beside the road i feel it's quite difficult to take proper photos (it's too 'near', and if you try to take photo from further back you might capture the road in the photo which spoils it )

and further down from love water fall is the famous o quy ho pass, on a clear day you will get opportunity for breathtaking valley scenery shots

cat cat village is quite well developed (very touristy) so self explore is perfectly fine

but if you're doing trekking with ethos, cat cat village can be a backup plan, see if you are OK to visit multiple villages or just one will do...in fact you can talk to your guide (ethos) and ask them to plan out the trek for you

 

[weiiix]

Does the mobile internet works well over there? Incase case get lost still can use google map to guide us back to the main road.

2 nights can get u only 1 trek to village (mid difficulty) and homestay + 1 additional trek or sightseeing POI. There are a lot of things to see in Sapa. To cat cat and fansipan via cable car u don’t need a guide. In fact, I trek to ta phin by myself without a guide. Sunday in sapa town and bac ha is very happening.

 

[weiiix]

Nice... Im not sure for 1 day trip how mani village can i cover. Have to check with ethos to find out more as well as the cost.

How big is the sapa town? Am looking at agoda to see which hotel to stay.

Jus received email from ethos that they are off during cny period. Will hav to look for other alternatives liao.

if you wana go waterfall i will recommend love waterfall instead, it requires a short walk in (need to pay for entrance fee), and definitely looks better than silver waterfall

in any case, silver waterfall is just beside one of the mountain roads leading up to love waterfall, so if you do private hire for the cab, you will pass by it and can ask the driver to stop for photo-taking (if you want to), but because it's right beside the road i feel it's quite difficult to take proper photos (it's too 'near', and if you try to take photo from further back you might capture the road in the photo which spoils it )

and further down from love water fall is the famous o quy ho pass, on a clear day you will get opportunity for breathtaking valley scenery shots

cat cat village is quite well developed (very touristy) so self explore is perfectly fine

but if you're doing trekking with ethos, cat cat village can be a backup plan, see if you are OK to visit multiple villages or just one will do...in fact you can talk to your guide (ethos) and ask them to plan out the trek for you

 

[VacheronLim]

Nice... Im not sure for 1 day trip how mani village can i cover. Have to check with ethos to find out more as well as the cost.

How big is the sapa town? Am looking at agoda to see which hotel to stay.

most of downtown sapa can be explored on foot, there is a good concentration of eateries to choose from

go with viettel to have a peace of mind on connection stability as it's quite high up in the mountains

 

[sendtolee]

Ic. So i think at least 2 nites wld be gd. Engage ethos for day trip to the villages.

Did you visit fanispan? Do i need a guide or i just need take transport to board the cable car?

Don’t need a guide to go fangsipan. Just need transport from sapa town to fangsipan, then take a free shuttle toentrance, buy cable car ticket, and a long queue awaits you. I went early in morning to get the cloud cover below me. Afternnon is hot and no crowds.
Minimum 3 nights in sapa recommended.

 

[sendtolee]

Nice... Im not sure for 1 day trip how mani village can i cover. Have to check with ethos to find out more as well as the cost.

How big is the sapa town? Am looking at agoda to see which hotel to stay.

Jus received email from ethos that they are off during cny period. Will hav to look for other alternatives liao.

If you want to trek to top of mountain, then at least 1 full day is required.

Day 1: depart hanoi morning, reach sapa after lunch, walk around town.
Day 2: go fangsipan or trek. Back in sapa evening.
Day 3: trek or fangsipan.
Day 4: depart sapa morning.

Vehicles will not travel from lao cai to sapa and vice versa after 3pm due to fog if weather changes.

 

[weiiix]

I see. Thanks alot.

most of downtown sapa can be explored on foot, there is a good concentration of eateries to choose from

go with viettel to have a peace of mind on connection stability as it's quite high up in the mountains

 

[weiiix]

Is there much things to do at fansipan? Normally need to cater how many hrs there with a relax pace?

Is there any buses that goes to Airport from Sapa? Cos hard to plan my itinerary to save transport time btw halong bay, sapa n hanoi. Either sequence also hve to go back hanoi for a nite.

Don’t need a guide to go fangsipan. Just need transport from sapa town to fangsipan, then take a free shuttle toentrance, buy cable car ticket, and a long queue awaits you. I went early in morning to get the cloud cover below me. Afternnon is hot and no crowds.
Minimum 3 nights in sapa recommended.

 

[Delsamor]

Does the mobile internet works well over there? Incase case get lost still can use google map to guide us back to the main road.

yes, get from reputable seller. Many reported half way credit all gone or the 10days sim card can only use for 3days. When I trek by myself, I look at google map to find the POIs along the way. But asking the locals would be better, it's free (or buy a 50cents bracelet).

 

[Delsamor]

Is there much things to do at fansipan? Normally need to cater how many hrs there with a relax pace?

Is there any buses that goes to Airport from Sapa? Cos hard to plan my itinerary to save transport time btw halong bay, sapa n hanoi. Either sequence also hve to go back hanoi for a nite.

Your fingers will be busy happy triggering at fansipan. Nothing to trek lah, just take cable car. Those who trek to fansipan took 2 days and pitch a tent one.

Go with Ethos with a peace of mind that everything is taken care of. But you can also find a guide there yourself when you arrived. This way, the money goes to them directly and you can negotiate the price + route is flexible.

Are you fit? Can you trek at least 12km a day consecutive for 2 days? If not, I suggest u do a mid difficulty trek on day 1, then next day go fansipan/cat cat/Ham Rong Mountain. If you got 3 nights in Sapa, you can take motortaxi to other villages or do a light trek. Bac Hac on sunday morning has a market too, can visit if u happen to be there.