Getting from Hanoi to Sapa is an adventure in itself. You basically have three choices: Bus, Private Van or Train. While you can book all three on the same platform, the prices, departure and arrival times and the experiences will vary greatly.

When you follow travel pages on Instagram or TikTok and are interested in south-east Asia you will come across Sapa. Currently there seems to be a hype about this little northern Vietnamese mountain town. I had Sapa on my radar since 2019 and this year I went there. This is my honest experience and an overview of what to do…

While in Sapa I divided my time between the city and a homestay with a Hmong family in Ta Van village near Sa Pa. They offer half-day and full-day trekking tours and two ethnic handicraft workshops to their guests: a Hmong Indigo Batik Workshop and a Traditional Hmong Embroidery Workshop. I choose to do both.

Bar hopping = special drinks at selected places. The beer street in Hanoi is well known, one pub next to the other, street vendors selling beer from giant tubs for little money. However, Hanoi also has a sophisticated bar scene with meticulously designed and curated interiors and innovative cocktails.

Always on the lookout for unique things to do and more things to learn I stumbled upon a silver smith workshop in Hanoi. In the silver crafting village Dinh Cong, about 30 minutes from the Old Quarter of Hanoi inside a community house this workshop takes you back to the time where Hanoi was still called Thang Long (1010).