There are some villages near to Sapa where you can do a homestay.

If you have 2, 3 days in Sapa and have a tour guide, the first day you will have a long trek for about 5 or 6 hours along small village trails. Here is some advice and information for your trip.

• You should take drinking water or you can buy it along the way.

• You should wear good shoes, bring a rain coat because of the changing weather. When it rains the trekking road will be muddy, you'd better have a walking pole.

• Having knives is quite convenient when you cut something. Bringing a map or books of the area so you can note the places where you already lay your feet. Having a camera is very useful so you can record your trips.

• Sapa is close to the sun so you need to take suncream, insect repellant and a change of clothes.

• The temperature gets cooler in the evening so you should have a jacket with you.

• To carry everything above you  ought to choose a suitable backpack.

• You don't need to bring a sleeping bag or food because in the hill tribe peoples house you would be provided with a lot of food, and there are good conditions for bathing and warm places for sleeping. You need a flashlight when going out at night.

• For the people who would like to do a homestay for 4 days, apart from the things above you should have more warm clothes for changing in winter and normal clothes in summer.

For the people who do the tour by themselves, you need to bring some food such as bread, snacks and soft drink for lunch. When arriving in the village you will see some houses with eye-catching signs like: homestay, local house for staying; you can go in and ask them if it is okay to stay with them. They will prepare food, and a place for sleeping and of couse you have to pay for everything.

What do you need to conquer Fansipan : the highest peak of Indochina in Sapa, Vietnam.

• To reach the top of Fansipan you need to have some fitness and good health.

• You should wear the best mountain shoes possible and have boots in case of rain. Wearing glasses prevent your eyes from insect. It will be more interesting when you have a GPS so you can know  exactly where you are.

• If you have a tour guide and a porter you do not have to carry anything except rain coat and drinking water.

• You should take clothes to change yourself in summer time, and warm clothes in winter time.

• You need to have some snacks whenever you are hungry, because along the long trek you may loose your energy. You do not have to mind about the food and sleeping places because the tour guide and porter will take care of these.

•  It is convenient to have a caming lamp, a flashlight because there is no electricity in the mountain.

• You should have solar-cream and insect repellant with you. 

• If you travel alone with a porter that doesn't speak English, it will be difficult for you to communicate.