Day 4: Sa Pa, Mường Hoa Valley – Sín Chải A
Index
| Day 1 | Departure Oslo |
| Day 2 | To Hanoi |
| Day 3 | Hanoi sightseeing and night train to Lào Cai |
| Day 4 | Sa Pa, Mường Hoa Valley – Sín Chải A |
| Day 5 | Mường Hoa Valley to Nậm Cang |
| Day 6 | Sapa: Mường Hoa Valley |
| Day 7 | Fansipan climbing rest stop/station at 2800m |
| Day 8 | Mt. Fansipan – Bắc Hà |
| Day 9 | Bắc Hà |
| Day 10 | Bắc Hà to Hoàng Su Phì |
| Day 11 | Hà Giang |
| Day 12 | Back to Hanoi |
| Day 13 | Departure Hanoi |
To Sa Pa
Tuesday: We were on the night train from Hanoi to Lào Cai, and a little past 5am, we were abruptly awakened by the train staff who had brought the coffee we ordered the night before.
An hour or so later, we got off the train in Lào Cai.
The hiking part of this adventure would soon begin.
OK, so you don’t know the Michael Jackson song…
We were now waiting for our new guide – Nguyễn Thành Cương – who introduced himself as “A Kong”. The “Kong” was just there to make things easier for tourists, and the way I understood it – “A” was commonly put in front of male names. He also used the example “Thi” for women. “Thi” is a common Vietnamese middle name for women, but I have not found the necessary documentation for “A” being a commonly used “Prefix” for men.
We hauled our luggage out on the street, waiting for the bus to pick us up.
But before getting on the bus, we had breakfast at the Vietemotion restaurant near the train station.
White bread and omelette for breakfast. Could have been worse!
After breakfast, we began the “long and winding” trip to the town Sa Pa. Views were restricted to side windows only…
Katie Melua famously sang about nine million bicycles in Beijing. Vietnam has rather more motorbikes: more than 80 million of them…
Vnexpress.net: The addition of a large number of new vehicles during the first half of 2026 brought the total number of registered automobiles in circulation in Vietnam to 7,134,939. Meanwhile, motorcycles and scooters remained the most popular mode of transport, with a total of 84,003,180 vehicles. Additionally, the management system recorded 112,163 registered specialized motor vehicles nationwide.
Given Vietnam’s estimated population of approximately 102.3 million people (as of 2026), it is tempting to assume that only the ones under the age of 3 doesn’t own a motorbike…
Going up the mountain road, spirit was good!
On the list of things I wouldn’t expect to see on this curvy road to Sa Pa, was a huge boat. But always expect the unexpected!
Fortunately, our driver managed to overtake it.
On the matter of overtaking – someone was always passing someone else, regardless of the traffic against. My front view was close to zero due to all the bags and now I didn’t have the nerve to look out the side windows either…
The bus ride went on and on…
Then, the traffic halted for a long time. A major traffic jam as the result of a) a landslide, b) fixing the problem, c) too many cars and d) drivers with no concept of staying in line…
Eventually, we could see mountains – including the country high point – Mt. Fansipan.
But Fansipan was not on our program just yet. First, we had to get to Sa Pa and hike a few days in the Mường Hoa Valley.
We enjoyed the occasional stops, allowing us to stretch our legs and other required activities…
Finally, we arrived at Sa Pa.
I felt sorry for the driver. There was not much margin left for a bus of this size in the narrow streets.
Then, the logistics became a bit unclear. We were dropped off at the “Impressive Hotel” (a bold claim!) and had to unpack what was not needed for the next few days, like sleeping bag, mattress and warm clothes.
We were also given the opportunity to take a shower before continuing on our bus trip. The odd part was that this was not the hotel we would return to, 3 days later.
It should be noted that this trip was a Pilot trip, meaning that Norrøna hadn’t done exactly this trip before. They did a trip the year before but made several changes to it. As such, everyone understood that there could be deviations from the program.
We then moved over to the Sapa Relax Hotel & Spa, where we left our bags that we didn’t need for the next days.
We all got surrounded by local women, confusing us at first by asking normal questions, but then we realized it was quite a clever way to sell their handicrafts from their local villages.
Then, we left Sa Pa.
Soon, we would begin hiking!
Farewell to Sa Pa. For now. We would be returning in a couple of days.
We were now going to the Mường Hoa Valley and the nature turned more and more amazing by the minute.
Eventually, we reached Dzao Eco Home, from where would begin hiking into the Mường Hoa Valley.
To Cần Ngài Homestay
The route to Cần Ngài Homestay was close to 6km. A little longer if it hadn’t been for a change of plans…
The surroundings were gorgeous.
From the very start of our hike into the Mường Hoa Valley, we were followed by a group of local women hoping to sell us woven handicrafts. We later learned that this is a well-known phenomenon on the popular trekking routes around Sa Pa, where Hmong and Red Dao women may accompany groups for several kilometres before trying to make a sale.
Based on their red hats, I suspect these were Red Dao women.
They were remarkably persistent, but unfortunately for them, we were firmly in hiking mode rather than shopping mode.
We were not a greedy group, by any account or standard. But the timing was just completely off. Everyone just wanted to get going…
They followed us for several kilometres before giving up. It is very difficult to be annoyed at someone just trying to make a living, but they were so incredibly clinging, albeit not in an intrusive way.
As soon as they left, I could focus on taking pictures…
For a Norwegian, this was like walking through a fairytale landscape.
I was shifting between my 100m and my 24-105mm lens. A good question would be: “but you already have 100m in the 24-105mm lens”. Which is very true, but the 100mm lens is just so much better.
Unfortunately, one in the group suffered from an unexpected cramp in the foot. This was only a problem when going downhill, but this first leg was all about going downhill, from 1000m to 500m elevation.
I had never seen rice fields before, and this was just the very beginning.
The surrounding landscape was absolutely nuts. My camera was running hot already.
Speaking of hot, the day was hot too. Insanely hot. We suspected the temperature to be well above 30 deg. C°, and then there was the air humidity…
Our guide A Kong (I will just refer to him as Kong from here on) had a most excellent hat, which I tried to mimic by wrapping a sweater around my head, under my cap.
We had a very skilled guide in Kong. There wasn’t a flower or plant that he didn’t have deep insight into…
Our teammate with the cramp got a slightly lighter burden when others helped carrying her backpack. We all hoped this was a transient issue and that it was all forgotten about the next day.
Northern Vietnam is indeed mountainous. I don’t know what I had expected to see, but this was overwhelming.
The valley floor got closer by the minute.
There were beautiful moments all around.
A part of me wanted to explore all these mountains, but I also realized that because of the impenetrable forest, most of them are unreachable.
Walking down this path gave me a deeper connection to nature than I get from other places I have hiked. The flowers, the plants, the animals. Everything was revolving around the everyday life here, in a way I haven’t fully processed before.
I am used to see herds of cows in Norway, but when I see a single cow here, I get a strong feeling that someone is strongly dependent of it.
We all looked forward to reaching the valley floor in Bản Hồ.
And soon, we could see the Mường Hoa river and the Thủy Điện Bản Hồ hydroelectric power station.
From the valley floor, we were supposed to hike all the way up to 1000m again, with a stop for lunch along the way. But Anne-Kristin and Kong had decided that they would get the bus to pick up the person with cramps.
The water buffaloes looked intimidating, but I felt less scared than I would have, passing a Norwegian cow – without horns.
The bus arrived and picked our unlucky teammate, and then a few others joined on the bus as well. The rest of us would be walking until the bus returned and then take us to the lunch place.
We then crossed the Mường Hoa river…
Being a Norwegian, it is always strange to see large boards, celebrating past and present leaders…
Every now and then, Kong stopped and talked about local food production, often related to rice…
… and fruits/plants.
Eventually, the bus came and picked up the rest of us. This saved us from the last 90-100 vertical meters before the lunch break.
At the Cần Ngài Homestay, we would enjoy lunch before our hike continued eastbound.
Sín Chải A
After lunch, we still had 5,4km to go – which was a solid distance in this heat. And it would take its time, as Kong had still a lot to talk about…
Then we passed through the Thanh Phú village. We had no idea that we would be returning here two days later…
If you need space to dry something, there is always space to be found…
Next, we followed a road up and into a side valley of Mường Bo Valley. On a Norwegian map, a side valley like this would definitely have its own name, but this doesn’t seem to be the case here.
We were now moving into the part of the valley that this hike is probably all about – the rice fields.
The everyday life was still surrounding us…
And the nature was still breathtaking…
In a former blog post from this trip, I used the expression “fish out of water” for explaining that I felt a bit lost in a situation. Here, that expression became very real…
But in the end, it was just a woman on a motorbike who had lost today’s dinner. It was duly retrieved and hopefully, everyone in the family got a decent meal that evening…
This would be the first night we weren’t staying in a hotel. I was curious to see what the “Homestay” concept was all about.
Kong never ran out of things to talk about. We felt lucky having such a skilled guide!
Then we met people putting up flags. I was getting ready to tell Anne-Kristin that we didn’t really need a welcoming party…
… but then I learned that some important person from the local government was going to visit the village.
All those who hated the paved road were probably happy about taking a shortcut through the forest…
I was trying to mimic Kong’s hat and it worked well. But now he had turned his into a regular cap…
We also got a short break before entering the village where we would be spending the night.
A bit later, we entered the Sín Chải A village.
Finding the name of the village took hours of detective work. Google Maps doesn’t have it in the database. And after numerous rounds with AI, I decided to check Norrønna’s own program. It said: Shin Chải. My oh my! There are however two villages close by, hence: Sín Chải A and Sín Chải B.
Now we just had to locate our homestay for the night and a few minutes later, we arrived. I didn’t catch the name, though.
Unfortunately, there was nothing impressive about this place. It looked worn down and there were not enough sheets for everyone.
There were a few rooms, and Anne and I got one of them.
There was one WC and one shower, to be shared by 14 travelers…
But the food was quite alright! Our second guide – I never saw his name written, so let me call him “Tang” as that’s how his name sounded like, had come here in advance, to supervise the cooking. That’s a really good service from the guides! And our teammate with the cramp went on the bus with him, hoping to get in shape for the next day.
“Tang” wasn’t really a guide per se. He represented the company that Norrøna had the contract with. A man of few words, not talkative like Kong…
We were able to put the disappointment about the facilities aside and focus on having a good time!
Kong also taught us “Skål” in Vietnamese – “mot, hai, ba, dô!”
Finally, it was time to call it a day. I felt a bit bad for those who got bunked in the “dormitory“
Trip statistics: 11,19km, 585 vertical meters, 5h:42m
