A muddy river winds through green mountain valleys as seen from Pha Daeng Peak viewpoint in Nong Khiaw, Laos.

Regions

Where we trek

Six hill and forest regions across three countries. What each one is like on foot, how high, how wet, and which of our treks goes there.

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The regions at a glance

Region	Country	Terrain	Reference height	Wettest months	Our trek
Sa Pa	Vietnam	farmed valleys below high mountains	town about 1,600 m	Jul–Aug	4 days
Ha Giang (Hoang Su Phi)	Vietnam	earth hills cut into terraces	villages about 1,200 m	Jul–Aug	5 days
Pu Luong & Mai Chau	Vietnam	limestone ridges, terraces, valley	reserve 60–1,667 m	Jul–Aug	4 days
Luang Namtha (Nam Ha)	Laos	forested ridges	town 552 m; peaks to 2,094 m	Jul–Aug	3 days
Phongsaly	Laos	high ridges, tea, villages	town about 1,300 m	summer months	on request
Mondulkiri	Cambodia	lowland forest, grass hills	low plateau	Jun–Oct, peak Aug	3 days

Reference heights are for the town or villages named, from the sources on each region's page. They are not the highest point you walk to. For the walking itself, kilometres and climb per day, see the route table.

Northern Vietnam: three different kinds of hill

Sa Pa is the easiest to reach and the most visited. The town is built up; the valleys below it are still farmed by Hmong, Dao, Tay and Giay families, and the Hoang Lien range above holds Vietnam's highest mountain. Trekking here means valley paths and terrace edges with a road never far away.

Ha Giang is two regions under one name. The east is the Dong Van karst plateau, a UNESCO Global Geopark crossed mostly by road. The west is Hoang Su Phi, terraced earth hills against the Chinese border, where we trek. Since July 2025 the whole area belongs to Tuyen Quang province.

Pu Luong is lower and closer to Hanoi: a nature reserve of 17,662 hectares in Thanh Hoa, limestone ridges above Thai villages. We pair it with Mai Chau's flat valley next door, now in Phu Tho province.

Northern Laos: forest and long roads

Luang Namtha is the base for the Nam Ha protected area, where village-guided trekking has run since the UNESCO-backed project of 1999. The town has an airport 6 km to the south and is reachable by the Laos–China railway via Na Teuy station.

Phongsaly, further north, is a town at about 1,300 metres with a mean annual temperature of around 20 °C, surrounded by ridges and villages. It is excellent walking country, but reaching it takes a long day by road or river from the nearest railway or airport. We plan treks there on request, for travellers with at least a week in northern Laos, and do not sell a fixed short trek.

Eastern Cambodia: Mondulkiri

Mondulkiri is the one lowland region on our list. Our trek uses a community forest camp in Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, run with Bunong guides, rather than a family homestay. It is not a terraces trip; it is a forest and wildlife trip, and the heat is the main challenge. Read the Mondulkiri trek page for details.

Sources: Sa Pa climate table (Vietnam Institute for Building Science), via Wikipedia; Dong Van Karst Plateau Geopark, Wikipedia; Viet Nam News, new names for 34 provinces, 14 Apr 2025; Protected areas sourcebook of Vietnam, Pu Luong (2004); Nam Ha National Protected Area, Wikipedia; Phongsaly, Wikipedia; Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, Wikipedia; Sen Monorom climate table, Wikipedia · checked 2026-10-03.

Choosing a region by month

If your dates are fixed, the month decides more than the region. September to November is the window across northern Vietnam; November to February suits Laos and Mondulkiri; July and August are wet everywhere. The trekking seasons page has the month-by-month chart.

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