Pan Hou: Rice Terraces of the Red Dao
Bite-sized trip
Day 1 – Arrival at Pan Hou in Ha Giang
In the morning, you’ll be collected by shared transfer from your hotel in Hanoi and embark on a 6 hour drive to your ecolodge in the northern province of Ha Giang. The Hoang Su Phi valley is home to various ethnic groups, such as the Red Dao. This area is a quiet alternative to famous Sapa, completely undiscovered and ideal to travel by car. Surrounded by greenery, the ecolodge is designed like a small village with traditional style bungalows and comfortable facilities. You can even enjoy a traditional herbal bath. Take in the surroundings in peace and quiet, maybe take a short walk on the first day, before enjoying dinner in the charming restaurant.
Day 2 – Visit the Red Dao
You will wake up to the sounds of the birds singing and phenomenal views. After breakfast, it’s time to explore. With a local guide you will take a five hour hike past rice terraces, tropical forests and a Red Dao village. Here you will join a family for lunch while learning more about their culture, medicinal herbs and clothing. After the hike, back at your ecolodge you can relax with an extra spa session or just sit with a book and soak up the scenery.
Optional: We recommend adding an English-speaking guide. He can translate your questions and people’s answers. Ask your travel specialist about the possibilities.
Population groups of North Vietnam
Many different ethnic groups live in North Vietnam. They have their own customs, costumes, dance, religion and rituals. Each valley has its own population groups. For example, the Tay live around Ba Be Lake, Hmong around Sapa and Dao in Ha Giang. During this trip, you will encounter mostly Red Dao. The women are often easy to recognize, as they wear bright red turbans and lots of silver. They emigrated from China and brought Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism with them.
Day 3 – Departure to Hanoi
In the morning, you will have plenty of time to take a leisurely walk in the area. After lunch you will depart again by private transfer to Hanoi. From Hanoi, it is best to take an evening or night train to the Phong Nha caves, for example, or book an extra night in Hanoi to avoid any more travelling on that day.
Accommodation
For this bite-sized trip we offer the following options
Pan Hou: rice terraces of the Red Dao - with homestay
With a night extension, you can do a two-day guided hike instead of a day hike. You will then sleep the first night at the ecolodge, the second night at a Hmong family’s home and the third night again at the ecolodge. You will pass beautiful vistas of rice terraces, several Red Dao and Hmong villages, a tea plantation and bamboo forest.
Along the way you will have lunch with a Red Dao family and breakfast and dinner at the Hmong family where you will also spend the night. The homestay is simple, of course, but a unique opportunity to learn about the local people and see how they live. Both hiking days take about 5 hours.
We can offer this variant with private transfers and with shared transfers. Please let us know your preference and we will check availability. The shared transfer is possible on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Pan Hou: rice terraces of the Red Dao - with cooking workshop
For those who love both hiking and cooking, we have this variation of the bit sized trip with a cooking workshop. To collect and prepare ingredients, locals went into the mountains. Searching for mushrooms, medicinal plants and herbs, they could not use heavy cooking utensils. Therefore, they cooked in clay and bamboo; this, of course, weighs very little. You will step into their shoes during the cooking workshop; collect ingredients, prepare and cook in bamboo and clay. Think delicious specialties from Ha Giang, such as Bánh cuôn, noodles and Thang Den. If you do the workshop on Sunday, you’ll get the ingredients together with the cook at the local market in Thông Nguyên. On other days, you get the ingredients from the garden. Enjoy your lunch!
After the homemade lunch, you will go on a hike with your guide to a Red Dao village. This hike is shorter than in the standard building block. The rest of this variant is the same as described above.
We can offer this variant with private transfers and with shared transfers. Please let us know your preference and we will check availability. The shared transfer is possible on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
