VietNamNet Bridge – Cottages have been built in Cao Banh Hamlet, Phuong Do Village, Ha Giang Town, to lure more tourists with community-based tours.

Stepwise: Tourists walk along terrace rice fields in Mong Sen Village in Sa Pa District of Lao Cai Province. Terrace fields are a typical landscape of mountainous provinces in the north.

Cao Banh is poor with a per capita income of only VND6 million (US$360) per year, the village isn’t connected to the national grid, but electricity is supplied by a small hydro-electric power station.

The local administration has decided to focus on trekking tours to promote development in the region.

Last year, the Ha Giang Culture, Sports and Tourism Department opened two villages, Tha and Cao Banh, to tourists as community-based trekking destinations.

Cao Banh Village, which is 7km from the centre of Ha Giang Town and over 400km north of Ha Noi, hosted over 2,000 visitors last year, but the village expects to attract more tourists next year as its reputation grows.

The trekking route takes visitors on a full-day adventure through terraced fields, palm forests and jungle, and tourists enjoy seeing how the Tay and Dao people live in the villages of Lung Vai, Khuoi Mi and Na Thac.

“Visitors really need a local guide as it is easy to get lost in the cardamom and cinnamon forests,” said Tran Thi Huyen Thanh, a tour operator from the Wild Lotus Travel Agency.

“Trekking is only possible in the dry season, as in July and August roads are washed out,” said Thanh.

“More than just a nature trek, visitors can also discover how farmers earn a living by working in the fields,” said local guide Le Trung Khiet.

“In my experience, adventurers like to interact with villages rather than just lounging about,” he added.

Visitors stay in stilt houses with villagers, each person pays VND50,000 ($3) to the host and VND70,000 ($4.2) per head for dinner.

“You can ask local guides to pre-order cooking if you have special requirements, or eat as the locals do, mainly rice and chicken,” said Thanh from Wild Lotus.

“Vegetables and chicken are the staples of the region, they have turned these into a source of income,” she said.

The Wild Lotus Travel Agency offers a four-day package at $64 from Ha Noi to Cao Banh.

A Mong Sen adventure

Close to Ha Giang, the Green Sapa Tour Company offers trekking in Mong Sen Village, Sa Pa District, Lao Cai.

Mong Sen, 800m above sea level, is home of over 400 Mong people.

Take a stroll: Tourists trek in northeastern Ha Giang Province, a community-based destination 400km northeast of Ha Noi.

“Mong people are hospitable but shy, but the locals are opening up as more tourists flock to the area,” said Le Tuan Kiet.

As trekking routes are long and difficult, porters are recommended to help tourists carry their supplies.

“We have a group of 30 porters, they are very important because a lot of tourists become exhausted after climbing up and down the hills,” said Dao Van Phong, from Green Sapa Tours.

Giang A Linh, 27, an ethnic Mong, said he has worked as a porter for nearly two years. He said he can carry between 20 or 30kg of food and supplies for camping.

Song A Chu, 21, who lives in Y Linh Ho Village, down the valley from Sa Pa Town, said being a porter brings him a good income and also a chance to travel.

The route through Mong Sen is a little difficult and slippery, but local guides know the best way.

Hanoian tourist Nguyen Tu Trong, who joined a Green Sapa Company tour, said he hurt his leg when he fell coming down the hill, but thought the experience was worth it.

“It’s the first time I’ve been trekking. I live in the city which is noisy and stressful, trekking has helped me relax, and its a chance to discover this beautiful landscape and see how ethnic people live,” said Trong.

Vu Thi Thanh Hoa from Nam Dinh said, “Now I know how local people live, I walked through the rice terraces and saw local people grinding rice with a water wheel.”

In the last hundred metres of the trek, tourists have to cross a suspension bridge over a large stream to get back to the main road, where they are picked up and taken back to the city.

The tour takes six hours from Sa Pa Town centre, touring not only Mong Sen, but Ta Phin and Ma Tra villages, populated by Mong and Dao people.

(Source: Viet Nam News)