North Vietnam - Sa Pa Village / Halong Bay / Hanoi Old Quarter Area

Hanoi which is located at the north of Vietnam and mainly has a few attractions which 1 of it includes Sa Pa Village that consist of the Vietnamese minorities which are still living daily by agriculture and handicraft. Tourist and visitors do help contributes to their revenue which in turn can provide facilities and amenities. Education are now also available for kids in Sa Pa, and some of them can speak and understand us when we chatted with them.

A glimpse of Sa Pa landscape with a minority lady with her kid on her back.

Viettel Sim Card with 7gb data 200,000vnd (1 month validity) can be convenient purchased at Noi Bai International Airport

Exchange rate is good at airport as well: $1sgd to 16,200vnd during my visit.

To avoid taxi scam, Mai Linh taxi will be the more reputable company and it cost about 450,000vnd to travel to Hanoi Railway station or Old Quarter area from Noi Bai International airport.

Alternatively, taxi can also be arranged at the Viettel Sim Card booth at 500,000vnd fixed rate.

Taxi driver mostly couldn’t speak a single word of english, so have to be prepared to show them the address that you are going and for my case I communicated with them in my limited vocabulary of Vietnamese, yet still manage to pull through the trip (LOL).

Sa Pa is in Lao Cai Province which is at the north west of Vietnam, 4 main minorities are left now and having the highest mountain in Vietnam name Fansipan mountain which is 3143m altitude.

My access to Sa Pa is a direct flight to Hanoi Noi Bai International airport by Vietnam Airlines, after which to take a taxi to Ga Ha Noi which is commonly known as Hanoi Railway station. There are many colonial style train service to Lao Cai province. I have made my arrangement via a tour agency Sapa O Chau; personally i felt that their service is good and convenient as well as no online payment is required, I will just have to pay upon arrival at their agency in Sa Pa and their reply to my email is prompt and informative.

http://www.sapaochau.org

Ga Ha Noi aka Hanoi Railway Station

Train ticket for 2 person

Making our way to the trains in Hanoi Railway station.

Through Sapa O Chau, we had book for Chapa Express Train soft berth which are actually a 4 person berth with 4 beds within and bus transfer from Lao Cai Province to the mountainous area of Sa Pa and stops right in front of their agency where I can then made my payment prior to commencement of my day tour. It was an approximate 9 hours train ride from Hanoi Railway station and these train service will only depart at night from 2100hours onwards and arrived in Lao Cai in the morning around 0700hrs. Also, we had arrange a direct overnight sleeper bus from Sa Pa to Halong bus station which actually cuts across north Vietnam, so cool!

Pricing are as follows:

Chapa Train Express soft berth from Hanoi Railway station to Lao Cai Train station - $35usd per pax one way

Bus Transfer from Lao Cai to Sa Pa - $3usd per pax

Discover nature and village by motorbike 1 day tour - $60usd per pax which includes motorbike with fuel topped up and english speaking tour guide. (option to choose between automatic bikes or manual bikes)

Sleeper bus from Sa Pa to Halong Bus station - $25usd per pax

Total: $123usd = 2,706,000vnd per pax.

The train ride is indeed a really nice and new experience that I didn’t had before, as there is only the 2 of us, we shared the 4 man soft berth with a nice German couple, chatting our way along as we travel until we are tired and doze off. Awaken by the sun that shines into our berth and the train is still travelling; checking on my googles map, we are approaching Lao Cai station probably in an hour time.

Sharing berths with new traveller friends

Journey wasn’t difficult but just do not need to be bothered by anyone that tries to approach us along the way, there is no special priority services and only uncalled for services which will ask for tips in return which are unnecessary.

After alighting from the train, we made our way to Lao Cai station admin building, and right out there someone is waiting for me with my name as arranged by Sapa O Chau agency, guiding us to the bus transfer that will bring us to Sa Pa Village which is about 35km away. 45mins is all it took for us to arrive at Sapa O Chau office, the place where we can conveniently make our payment in vnd or usd and additional charge of 2% for use of credit card. As we arrive in Lao Cai station around 0715hrs, bus transfer allows us to arrive around 0800hrs in Sapa office just in time for a light breakfast before setting off for the Discovery Nature and Village motorbike tour at 0830hrs.

Alighting from Chapa Express Trains


Lao Cai Train Station building


The bus we took to Sa Pa 

Discover nature and village motorbike tour gave us the chance to see many of the minority villages and the beautiful landscape around Sa Pa. While on our trip, it is possible to stop any time to take photos or just enjoy the beautiful view of the mountains and valleys. Total distance for riding will be around 70km which includes tarmac road as well as villages uneven terrain with difficulty level easy to medium. 

Sapa O Chau office in Sa Pa where we made our payments

Initially we thought that we will be moving out in a group but surprisingly it is just the 2 of us and the tour guide and so it makes the tour very flexible and versatile. I will highly recommend the motorbike tour and even if you couldn’t ride, you should just hop on to the tour guide bike. Along the way we met other tourist that chose the hiking options, we were almost taking the same route, but as we ride pass them I can see that they are tired and sunburnt from the scorching sun and unsheltered village terrains. We ended up at the same locations anyway but they arrive very much later and more tired of course. 

Riding round in automatic bikes

The places of visit are as follows:

Sapa --> Tram Ton Pass --> Love Waterfall --> Silver Waterfall --> Matra --> Ta Phin --> Sa Seng --> Hang Da --> Sapa 

Tour inclusive:

Tour guide, motorbikes, gasoline, lunch, one big bottle of mineral water, hands-on handicraft workshop, village entrance fee, helmet, elbow guards, knee guards

At Love waterfall stop, we parked our bikes and hike for about 2km in to see the golden stream and relax at the Love waterfall. After which will be riding down the long winding mountainous road and stopping as and when we like to take picture of the scenery. It is really a nice experience, riding like a local and feeling the mountainous cold breeze and yet being shine continuously by the morning sun.

Hiking to Love Waterfall


Golden Stream

Taking a picture with Love Waterfall

Lunch is provide in Ta Phin village where we interacted with the minorities and will have the chance to learn about handicraft. It is definitely a sumptuous and delicious lunch, all well worth it. The village view is spectacular and breath taking, overwhelming our vision and embracing us totally. Livestocks running around and water buffalos crossing the road in front of us that we have to brake almost immediately so as not to bump onto them.

The winding mountainous road that we rode 


Beautiful landscape of Ta Phin village


The place where we had our lunch


Terrace padi fields of Ta Phin Village


Adorable lady serving us our lunch


Our sumptuous lunch

Returning back to Sapa O Chau around 1530hrs, we returned our bikes and decided to rent just 1 bike instead so that we can still navigate around the place more conveniently. This time round I will be the pillion and navigator instead, what an easy and comfortable task for me haha. 

On our way back towards the end of tour


Beautiful landscape along the way

Buffalos crossing our path

Navigating our way to the hotel that we have book that cost about $18.08sgd per night for 2 person, rested for a while before going for traditional Vietnamese massage and dinner.

Night streets of Sa Pa

Hotpot and beer in cooling weather with strong wind

On our 2nd day in Sa Pa, it will be a day of self exploration with our rented motorbike. we visited the city centre passing the old catholic church and to a hilltop cafe for sightseeing and some drinks.

2 litre of petrol is all it requires for a day tour


Enjoying the scenery while we have our drinks 

Nice Vietnamese coffee nice scenery

Overnight motorbike rental excluding fuel is $10usd = 220,000vnd

Main attractions for today will be visiting the Cat Cat Village which are also 1 of the main attractions in Sa Pa. 

Information of Cat Cat village are as follows:

Cat Cat cultural village was formed in 19th century by the gathering of some families belonging to some ethnic groups living in mountainous areas of northern Vietnam, especially Black H’Mong .They lived next to each other along the mountain side and cultivated surrounding their home. Rice and corn were grown in terraced fields, while traditional handicrafts such as twisting flax and weaving fabric have been well-kept. Through times, Cat Cat Village has transferred to one appealing feature of Sapa’s tourism.

Entrance to Cat Cat Village


Children playing with running stream of water


Black piglet


Local delicacies


Black pork meat with don't know what vegetables. 


Wheels for hydropower


Children having fun with self made swing

Buffalos leisure during their off day 

After Cat Cat village we made a trip to Fansipan Legend which is the cable car station with carriage that can fetch 35 people over a route of 7km with a duration of 15mins to the peak of Fansipan Mountain 3,143m altitude also the highest mountain in Vietnam. The ride cost 33usd single trip which means 2 way cost 66usd, it is way too costly for a cable car ride and so we just walk around the station and descend our way down have a late lunch in a local market. A last Sa Pa traditional foot massage and a quick shower, we are ready to depart Sa Pa to continue our journey to Halong which is in the North East of Vietnam.


Entrance to Fansipan Cable car station

A bus transfer is required from Sapa O Chau office to Lao Cai railway station where we exchange our sleeper bus tickets at an agency there and another transfer to Lao Cai bus station which is about 8km away. Here we finally starts to wait for our Sleeper bus to Halong bus station which is about 7hours duration. Sleeper bus has a very innovative design which allow passengers to lie down almost 150 degrees declination, having 3 rows at the bottom and 3 rows on the upper deck with individual ladders to climb to the bed on top.


Lao Cai Bus station


Sleeper Bus


How sleeper bus looks like inside

After a night of rolling around in sleeper bus, we finally arrived in Halong bus station. Grabbing my backpack, we made our way to the ticket office and to my surprise is that all instructions and ticket informations are in Vietnamese. Upon our arrival in Halong is a rainy day with typhoon warning of windspeed up to 120kmh, I guess there wouldn’t be any much activity today as the tours are cancelled. A few of us tourist gathered at the ticket station discussing about our next location and another couple is going to the same place with us and so we shared a taxi together to our accommodation which is Halong Party Hostel and Hotel. 

Instructions and pricing at Halong bus station

Check in time is 1200hrs, we started our morning beer session till 1145hrs, booking our next day day tour to Halong Bay and Bus ride to Hanoi Old quarters area before retiring back to our room and slept the afternoon away. There are 2 kind of tour package for Halong Bay tour which are listed as 4 hrs tours and 6 hrs tour. We opted for the 6 hrs tour plus lunch.


Early arrival at Halong Party Hostel and Hotel


What a way to start the morning of bad weather and typhoon

Pricing are as follows:

Halong Party Hostel and Hotel (room with 2 single bed and free breakfast) - $31.98sgd for 2 nights

6 hours tour - 450,000vnd

Lunch - 110,000vnd

Bus from Halong to Hanoi Old Quarter area - 150,000vnd 

6 hours itinerary are as follows:

Tourist Wharf - Thien Cung Cave (Daugo Cave) - Stone dog - Floating village - Man head - Luon Cave - Pen - Dinhhuong - Fighting Cock - Ti Top island.

It may sounds a lot of place of visit, but only Thien Cung Cave, Floating village and Ti Top are stop overs, remaining are actually those small rocks in the sea that resemble the names. As the boat moves really slowly between places, duration hence is long despite just a few stop over and our lunch is on board.

Getting ready to set of for Halong Bay day tour


The boat that we will be taking

Multiple colour lightings in Thien Cung Cave to brighten up the atmosphere

A glimpse of the bay behind me

The view from the top of Ti Top Island

It has been a tiring day, been out in the sun and sweating and climbing and trekking around for sightseeing, we retire back to our hostel for a shower before going downstair to enjoy the free beer session 2000hrs - 2100hrs that is held every night at Halong Party Hostel and Hotel.


The quiet waters and a peaceful sunset as we made our way back from Halong Bay

The friendly staffs


The free flow beer from 2000hrs to 2100hrs

Waking up at 0630hours, we get all our stuffs pack and ready to set off as the bus to Hanoi Old Quarter area is at 0800hrs. We were expecting a bigger 40 seater bus but to our surprise it came a 15 seater huge van which eventually squeeze 20 people inside including the driver. My row of seat which are design to sit 3 person ended up sitting 5 person, with mother and a kid on the right and me and another young lady being squeeze in the middle. The driver was swerving in and out of the traffic, accelerating and braking hard resulting in the young lady beside me and the kid getting car sick and puking, if only he can drive more gently and moderately.

Finally we arrived in Hanoi old quarters area which is the centre of Hanoi city about 1 hr ahead of scheduled time. Approximately 150km journey.

Hanoi Old Quarter area city centre

Hoan Kiem Lake red bridge to a temple

Making our way to Spring Flower hotel which is about  10mins walk away, this is a nice comfortable 3 star hotel to stay for the last night which cost about $44sgd. 

As Hanoi attractions are mainly outside Hanoi like Halong bay and Sa Pa village, it is just a city to dwell and chill for the very last day, walking around the hustle and bustle of the city.

Nightlife will be different as compared to day activities in Hanoi where they have a few streets of vibrant and crowded street restaurants and bars, live music performance on the streets and places for beer everywhere! Stroll along Dinh Liet street to Ta Hien Street and you will be welcome by the crowd that fills the bars and restaurants.

Tourism supports


Live band street performance everywhere

Bar hopping at the very last night of our North Vietnam tour will definitely be a good option to fully exploit the varsity and vibrancy of Hanoi night life.

Ending the night wonderfully with bar hopping session

Another beautiful backpacking trip completed with endless awesome memories, experiences and sightseeings... I will be looking out and planning for my next trip ahead.... Soon!

Thanks for reading..