Hey! I'll be landing in Hanoi and I have 4 days to kill before my travel buddy joins me in Hanoi. I wanted to do a trek and did a bit of research. Most people recommend either Sapa or Mai Chau, but the same people also say that those places are really commercial.
Can anyone recommend an offbeat trek? I'll be alone and I'd prefer not to take a guide along. Thanks!
The trekking in Mai Chau his very limited, unless you go by car to the beautiful Pu Luong Regional Park 40 km west of MC(no public transportation from Mai Chau). For trekking, the best is still Sapa, indeed touristy fo the reason that it is easily accessible by night train (I do not recommend !) or express bus, but IF you know where to go, you can stay in places with few tourists, such as the very authentic dao homestay of Olivier Sapa. Other solution with practically no tourists around : Bac Ha. You can go Hanoi-BH-Hani by night bus and do one of the trekkings organized by the Manager of the Ngan Nga BAC HA Hotel (not the big Ngan Nga next door, with is for groups). Advantage of BH : Less tourists except fo the Can Cau Saturday market and the big BH one on Sunday, to be seen if you can, but the quasi-totality of the visitors do not go trekking after.
Thank you so much for the info! Is Bac Ha easily accessible from Sapa? It might not be worth it if it takes a while since I have a total of four days for this. I'll be landing in Hanoi on 4th morning, and I'd prefer to do all my travelling during the night.
I really like Bac Ha and have been there twice in recent years, once for 7 days and once for 5 days. From Monday to Friday there are only a small handful of tourists, a few people come for the Saturday market and a whole lot more the main Sunday market. Then the cycle starts again.
I have done a couple of day trips with a car and driver to other villages in the surrounding mountains and it is great.
It is a fantastic area to ride a motor scooter too, great scenery, small villages and very little traffic. Particularly riding up the paved mountain road from Ban Pho village.
You can happily fill 4 days in Bac Ha, even if your visit doesn't coincide with the Sat / Sun markets.
Sapa-Bac ha is 3-hour drive by public bus. If you go back to Hanoi after, take the DIRECT night bus BH-Hanoi
Thanks for the info guys! I think Bac Ha is the place for me :)
Larsay - Should I take a bus from My Dinh in Hanoi? I'm planning to leave for Bac Ha as soon as I land in Hanoi.
Dale - Thanks for the suggestions! Do you know if trekking alone in Bac Ha is possible?
You can take the direct night bus Hanoi-BH in My Dinh
Very difficult to trek alone because the entire north is a huge maze of trails, the trails start outside of BH and you do not know where, you will find nobody speaking English once you leave BH, , and you will not find the mountains homestays, which are not indicated. Trekking in BH is much cheaper than in Sapa, so go to the small Ngan Nga Bac Ha Hotel (not the big NGan Nga next door) and ask the young manager fore a trekking/
I don't think it is impossible to trek alone, but I agree with Larsay that it is difficult. I did an overnight trek with a guide on an earlier trip and it was great, a lot of the small villages you can only get to by walking. The people were extremely friendly and I think would hardly ever see foreigners. I have used the services of guides through the Hoang Yen restaurant, but I think a number of restaurants and hotels have reliable contacts.
I have visited a couple of schools near Bac Ha too with really friendly kids and teachers, if you're interested in that kind of thing.
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