Every question, in one place

You need to be able to walk for five or six hours on two or three consecutive days, including climbs. If you walk 10 to 15 kilometres on hills at home without trouble, grade 2 routes are within reach. Grade 3 routes add one or two days with 700 to 800 metres of climbing.

Yes on every route. Your main bag travels by vehicle or stays at the start hotel, depending on the route. Porters can be arranged on request.

No. Every trek is private to your party, from one traveller up to eight.

For northern Vietnam, September to November and March to April are the dry, clear windows. For Laos and Mondulkiri, November to February. July and August fall in the rainy season in all three regions. The trekking seasons page has the month-by-month chart.

Most people take the overnight train from Hanoi to Lao Cai and a road transfer up to Sa Pa, or a bus or private car the whole way. Sa Pa is about 250 km from Hanoi. We can include a private transfer as an option.

Day one through Lao Chai and Ta Van is the busiest part of the valley, and you will meet other groups. Days two and three, towards Ban Ho and Nam Toong, see far fewer walkers.

Your guide switches the ridge section on day two to a lower path and, if needed, shortens day three. If a landslide closes the road out on day four, the vehicle meets you at a different point.

Yes, by dropping the Nam Toong loop on day three and walking out from Ban Ho that day. You lose the quietest walking of the trek.

Warmer than Sa Pa or Hoang Su Phi, because the villages are lower. From May to August open terraces are hot by late morning; we start walking early in those months and shorten midday stretches.

Yes. Drop day one and add a loop day in Pu Luong instead. You lose the flattest walking and gain a quieter village night.

Teenagers who walk regularly manage it well. Day three is the one to judge them by: 14 kilometres and about 650 metres of climb.

Green from early summer, ripening in September and October depending on the valley. Families on the route tell us each year how the crop is running before we confirm dates.

Often you hear them; seeing them depends on where the group is that morning and on the weather. The camp works with habituated groups, which improves the odds, but nobody can promise a sighting.

No. You sleep at a community-run forest camp. It is the only trek on our list without family-house nights.

Days are warm all year and humid under the canopy. The cooler, drier months are November to February; the rain falls mostly from June to October.

By road from Phnom Penh. We can arrange a private transfer, or you can arrive independently and meet your guide in Sen Monorom.

For the late-September harvest weeks and Lunar New Year, two to three months ahead. Otherwise three to four weeks is usually enough, with passport details at least a week before a border-area trek.

Vietnamese homestays must register foreign guests with the commune police, and border-area routes need a provincial police permit. Both are done from passport details.

Sometimes, for Sa Pa or Pu Luong outside peak weeks. Not for Hoang Su Phi, because the border-area paperwork needs time.

The town is busy and the first valley day is shared with many walkers. Beyond Ta Van, towards Ban Ho and Nam Toong, the paths are much quieter.

Yes. Snow has fallen in the town on several occasions in recent decades, in the coldest weeks of winter. It is rare and does not last.

No special permit for the valleys we walk. There are village entrance tickets, which our trek includes, and your homestay registers you with the commune police.

No. Fansipan is a separate climb. Our Sa Pa trek stays in the valleys and villages below the town.

Different. Pu Luong is lower, warmer, closer to Hanoi and quieter away from a few hotspots. Sa Pa has higher mountains and a longer trekking tradition.

Since July 2025 Mai Chau has been part of the new Phu Tho province. It was previously in Hoa Binh.

Some stream pools and waterfalls are used for swimming in the dry, warm months. Ask your guide; after heavy rain the water is fast and brown.

It is the gentlest of our Vietnam regions. Teenagers who walk regularly do well on our four-day route.

No. They are planning estimates measured on maps, marked as estimates everywhere they appear. Real distances can differ by a kilometre or two on a day, and a guide may reroute a section.

Hoang Su Phi, because it has three consecutive climbing days of 600 to 800 metres. Nam Ha has the same peak climb but over fewer days, on rougher paths.

Pu Luong and Mai Chau by climb and surface. Mondulkiri has the least climbing but the most heat.

Because we plan it per trip rather than running a fixed route. The access days vary with where you come from.

In northern Vietnam, from mid-September into early October, for two to three weeks per valley. In 2025 Hoang Su Phi's harvest came early and ended in late September.

Cold, not too cold. Sa Pa averages 6.2 °C at night in January and houses are unheated, but hosts give thick blankets. Bring a warm layer to sleep in.

February, closely followed by January, around Luang Namtha. Both average about 25 mm of rain.

Not necessarily, but some homestays close for family celebrations and transport is busy. Tell us your dates and we check availability.

We handle enquiries through the form and reply by email, so the plan and price are in writing. If you prefer a call, add your number and tick the call option in the form.

Dates, party size and the trek are enough to start. Fitness, age of any teenagers and any knee or diet issues help us get the plan right first time.

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