Mao Sapa Trekking and Homestay — Hotel in Muong Hoa Commune

Here is the long story: A developing tourist spot is around Sapa, with tons of homestay businesses scattered across the mountain, and Western faces are everywhere. But even for all those anti-tourist-spot travelers, it doesn’t mean this place isn’t worth visiting. Bao, one of Mama Mao’s sons, hardly speaks fluent English, but he tries to say as much as he can without any rush. I believe his smile, like a Korean star, definitely helps him avoid a lot of trouble dealing with those arrogant travelers. This pure smile and these eyes are not just seen on his face but also on his two brothers. The blood relationship is so obvious that I have never seen anything like it in my life. Zo acts as the second pillar of this homestay after her mother-in-law, Mama Mao. She drinks like a beast, just like her mother-in-law. Every night, during ‘happy water’ time, she pours the rice wine out one by one, talks to everyone one by one, and cheers around each table. Her hospitality is overwhelming throughout the night, making you wonder how she can be so tireless. What I haven’t mentioned is that she needs to walk about 10 km every day for a trekking tour and cooks breakfast and dinner every morning and evening. Oh, and her two cute kids sometimes need comfort from their mum. According to Mama Mao, they started the trekking business about 8 years ago and earned money bit by bit to build up this homestay. Mao and Zo are fluent in English, which they learned from tourists. They didn’t know how to spell English words, at least not as well as they could speak them. Now, all the family members are running the homestay: she, her sisters, her sons, her daughter-in law, etc. Tourism makes them get rid of the hard work of farming, but jumps into other kind of hard work with heavy emotion output. They are good at making jokes and even playing tricks on you to keep the atmosphere lively. Everyone laughs after such tricks, and they will surely encourage you to drink again. Most travelers here have good intentions, but a good heart doesn’t always help them to be respectful enough for this place and its people. An anti-tourist young guy couldn’t communicate with Bao during the trek and returned home with misunderstandings that could have been easily resolved with a translation app (which is why I know a little bit about Bao’s girlfriend and his studies). A nice woman was considerate of Zo’s tiredness but murmured a bit when they accidentally served the ordered drinks to the wrong person. She would kept calling Zo a cheater when Zo replaced her rice wine with regular water during happy water time. It may not be a big deal when everyone gets high with drinks, but you should know this is her everyday practice. I am definitely a tourist. The role of a tourist hardly diminishes no matter how nice you try to be. It is impossible to understand them in just 3 days, which sometimes you can even hardly do with a person for a year. Their overwhelming hospitality and kindness make me feel great, but something feels weird in my deep down. They may enjoy it and think this is the best among all the life choices they have, but I never know. As a tourist, the only truth I can understand is how pure they are, how hardworking they are, which makes it worths the 6-hour bus ride from Hanoi and 5-hour walk from Sapa town (though you can take a 30-minute taxi). All credit to Mama Mao and her family,...

Via a travel agent, my son and I did a 3 days/2 nights homestay and trekking with Mao, or rather, Mao’s family. The trekking started in Sapa in a group of eight, with Su (Mao’s sister) being our guide. We did 15km trekking on the first day, from Sapa to the Dragon mountain then down to Mao’s homestay, stopping at H’Mong eatery for lunch. The second day we went to other HMong villages then crossed the river to a Red Dao village for about 10km trekking. On the last day it happened to be the end of Tet holiday festival for ethnic people so we were treated to a unique carnival where hundreds of people in ethnic costumes descended to party. Motobikes then took us back to sapa.

Overall the trekking was quite challenging especially the first day as the path was slippery and muddy due to prior rain, with lots of going uphill and downhill and through bamboo forests. The scenery was amazing albeit lack of rice field (not in season) and fogging detract from the experience. Having a bamboo stick was a big help for everyone in the group.

We enjoyed the breakfast and dinner which were cooked by Sau, another sister of Mao’s, and her other family members. Other people that stayed there during our stay (from Europe and America) seem to like it as well. We had pancakes with mango banana honey nutella kind of spread for breakfast , and Vietnamese stirfry, meatballs and northern style vietnamese spring roll (nem ran chay) w rice for dinner.

We stayed in our own rooms and the bedding was surprisingly comfortable. Bathrooms are outside the main house. They are not too clean (toilet inside bathroom) but functional and come with hot water.

What stood out for us was the genuine hospitality that you can only find in ethnic people. Mao and her family were so accommodating, making sure everyone was happy.

We got to ask Mao about her family and how she started out her business, and her story was so moving. From being a H Mong woman selling ethnic crafts in sapa market without any education, she came to create one of the earliest trekking businesses in sapa when some spanish guy showed her a map and asked her to take him to villages. At the low price she charges for the homestay and trekking, i don’t think the money is great for them but they seem very happy tvat they don’t have to work in the rice field like many H Mong people.

Highly recommended for those seeking of-the-beaten track trekking and real ethnic...

We booked this trek and homestay through an agent and didn't know many (any) details until pretty much the morning we started, and to say we were pleasantly surprised was an understatement. We probably over packed due to not knowing what we would need, but Mama Mao's family who met us at the starting point offered to transport our bags to the homestay so we wouldn't have to carry it all along with us. After they provided a hearty breakfast the first morning, we set off with Mama Mao's sister in law Kerr (sorry, not sure how it's spelt) and she was an absolute delight. Her English was great, and she was very considerate of the comfort of everyone one in the group.

The trek wasn't always easy (the first hour or two was the hardest, I'd say), but the locations were great and we didn't see any other groups of trekkers along the way aside from at our lunch stops. We arrived at the homestay mid afternoon and then had some free time until dinner, which was at around 7pm and was fresh and tasty.

The accommodation itself comprised of a purpose built home for visitors, with small bedrooms and large communal areas to hang out. Our king sized bed was really comfy and I ended up sleeping over 10 hours because I hadn't slept well on the train the night before - in saying that some other members of our group stayed up quite late enjoying the "happy water" with Mama Mao after dinner, which I was told the next day kept a few of the others up later than they had hoped.

The next day we were offered breakfast before our second day of trekking, and then lunch again at the end. That's 5 meals included, which we were really impressed by. After lunch we walked to a meeting point where we were picked up by car to be taken back to Sapa town, where we arrived around 3pm. The driver kindly offered to take us to our next hotel (4km out of town), which was also very much appreciated.

Unfortunately we didn't have the best weather during our time, so the dog blanketed most of the views we had hoped to see, but despite that honestly this tour has been the most impressive part of Vietnam for us so far. Needless to say, I highly recommend choosing Mama Mao's trekking...