It's More Than 'Build It And They Will Come'

One of the challenges, and concerns, of developing homestays in a new village is ensuring that tourists have a reason to stay. These homestay owners are putting money into their homes to make them welcoming for tourists.  Lao Chai is about a 30 minute motorbike ride from Sapa which is close and tourists can easily visit for a day.

Stephanie With Su

One product that we believe will assist in bringing the right group of tourists through is a 15km trek from Sapa to Lao Chai through the hills.  It is just long enough to challenge tourists and enable them to end in Lao Chai at a homestay for the night.  So, how do we make sure that the trek will work?

We do it of course!!

On Monday,  we were guided by a local tour guide, Su, who we hired from SapaO’Chau to take us through this route of Sapa - Cat Cat Village - Y Linh Ho - Lao Chai.

Waterfall at Cat Cat Village

All I can say is...stunning!

We meandered down a trail of stairs to the the waterfall at Cat Cat village.  It was incredible to see so much rushing water and the sound is deafening. While there we listened to some traditional music, looked at handicrafts and picked up some smoked buffalo to munch on along the route. 

Rice Terraces

It was difficult to not stop every few minutes and just take pictures of the sweeping views of rice terraces, bamboo forests and weaving rivers.  There are several ‘pinch me’ moments along the trek. 

Along Y Linh Ho

We stopped for lunch where we were served fried noodle with pork and egg (my xao). We then continued until we reached the homestay of Ms. Mai where we were ready to sit and just relax. Reward earned! Based on our day (with a variety of fitness levels) we completed the trek in six hours and just as we thought, a fantastic route for travellers who really want to trek and experience what Vietnam has to offer.

Submitted by: Stephanie Wells