Sapa
Read →Terraced valleys and Hmong trekking villages threaded through the northern highlands.
Cover Story — Northern Vietnam
Sapa vs Ha Giang: Which Should You Choose?
Two mountain regions, one itinerary slot. An honest head-to-head on landscape, culture, comfort and risk, plus the six-day plan that does both.
Jack Lee
Asia Trip Blog — Field GuideVietnam, in priority order
Vietnam · five places to start
Where to go first
Ha Giang
Read →Vietnam's most dramatic road trip, one hairpin at a time.
Ha Long Bay
Read →Thousands of limestone karsts rising straight out of jade-green water.
Hanoi
Read →Old Quarter alleys, egg coffee, and a thousand years of history.
Da Nang
Read →Long beaches and the gateway to Hoi An and the Marble Mountains.
Asia Trip Blog — Farther AfieldLaos, Cambodia, Thailand, China
Farther afield
06 · Laos
07 · Cambodia
08 · Thailand
09 · China
More of the trail, roughly in the order we’re covering it
Laos
Slow river towns and the Banana Pancake Trail's quiet heart.
Cambodia
Angkor's temples and the Mekong's floating villages.
Thailand
Bangkok's chaos, southern islands, and northern hill country.
China
Ancient capitals and landscapes that inspired a thousand scrolls.
Asia Trip Blog — DispatchesFresh off the trail
Latest field notes
Northern Vietnam
Fresh off the trail
Trekking Sapa Without a Guide: Self-Guided Routes
Sapa trekking without guide is entirely doable. It is legal, safe and cheap. The classic routes follow real roads and well-worn paths, offline maps cover them accurately, and thousands of independent trekkers walk them every year. Should you trek Sapa alone? That is the more interesting question. Here are the routes, the rules and the…
Asia Trip Blog — ContributorsThree storytellers, one trail
Who’s writing
Northern Vietnam & rail
Contributors
Jack Lee
Jack launched AsiaTripBlog after spending years backpacking through Southeast Asia on a shoestring, then returning in style. He specialises in Vietnam — from the northern highlands to the Mekong Delta — and believes the best meal you'll ever eat costs about $2 and involves a plastic stool.
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