01 May 2025
This review is based on expectations vs. reality. Our guide saved the overall experience by taking us off the beaten path to her home and through less populated trails. Unfortunately the planned/organized trek and home stay were not quite as expected. The listing stated that we would be able to pick from various routes when meeting up with our guide, however it seemed like there was really only one way to go to get to the home stay which was with every other guided group in Sapa. While the home stay may be on the property where locals live, it was more like a hostel that they had built to service guided tours. This all may be the only way to respectfully, ethically, and safely see the area in 2 days, but based on the description I was definitely expecting less tourists, more flexibility, and more connection to the surroundings. So if you’re looking for an “out there” adventure, this probably isn’t the experience. If you’re setting expectations as scratching the surface, this could suffice