Has anyone done Sapa this way
 

Instead of booking everything with a travel agent for 2 day 1 night Sapa, I would like to be picked up at train on Sunday am and then driven to Bac Ha Market and then see some villages and then to Sapa hotel overnight. The next day I would like to use the guides recommended at Sapagold Sea hotel for 4-5 hours trek(So or Tung) and then have someone drive us back to the train station for Hanoi.I would arrange this part myself from the hotel. Is this possible. Thanks for your help. alana

Anything is possible but I think the hardest part would be to find a driver/guide to pick you up from the train upon arrival. The train arrives very early in the morning and the station is a bit of a scrum with many drivers waiting to pick up their guests. There will be guides available for hire but you will ocourse have no way of judging how good or bad they are (& belive me some can be really hopeless). We had real problems with our guide in trying to get him to venture more than a few hundred yards off of the main roads. With only very limited time I would strongly advise arranging everything with the hotel but explain clearly EXACTLY what you require and it should be possible to incorporate a lot in to your drives to and from Sapa.

Incidentally the trek around the Sapa valley is superb!

Thanks for the reply. I may just bite the bullet and have a travel agent arrange everything even though the costs will be higher. any more advice. Alana

What time of yaer are you going? We were their over teh new year period and it can get very cold. One day we were hiking around the valley with 75f and blue skies the next we were close to freezing and thick fog!

Take some good shoes/trkking sandals as the trekking for just the one day will take probably consist of a circular walk around the valley parts of which are very steep. if you have a trekking pole great, if not ask your guide to cut a piece of bamboo. Take the usual precautions re sunscreen , hat etc. if it is sunny you can get very hot. Lunch will usually be in one of the villages - they are used to hikers and the food was very good. Enjoy it while you can as our guide told us the plan is to flood the valley for a hydro electric project.

If you like Sapa, you may wantto check out teh Mai Chau valley. it is half a day north of hanoi and has great scenery and is a lot less visited by tourists than Sapa. have fun!

What are you getting quoted from the agent? I hired a man named dao long to guide us (not in a group-just two of us) for two days in October with overnight in a village homestay. Seemed like a good deal for everything that was included. I made my hotel arrangements separately.

Let us know how your plans shake out. When are you going?