Vietnam is the country has great topography and conditions for trekking. ¾ of the territories of Vietnam covered by mountains and jungles with many untouched place by the tourist, authentic villages, hospitable local people and great scenery as well as nature. Hereunder I would like to share with you some information and ideas for trekking in Vietnam.
1. Trek duration: Trekking in Vietnam can be very flexible in term of duration. It can be from few hours to dome of beautiful place along the tour or for few days for some of short trekking tour or sometime it can be from one to few weeks.
2. Trek destination: Most of the popular trekking areas are located in the North of Vietnam and mostly in the mountain area. It can be clarify to some of the category as bellow:
* National Park: very ideal places for trekking as they have beautiful nature and scenery as well as very trekking routes. If you like to trek in this kind of destination, you can be in Cat Ba, Ba Be, Pu Luong, Xuan Son, Cuc PhuongNational Park in the North, Bach Ma National Park in the Central or CatTienNational Park in the South of Vietnam.
* Beautiful mountain area that you can trek and visit local villages as well as integrate to local people: This is one of the most popular trekking activities in Vietnam. Some of the popular places can be in Sapa, Bac Ha, Mai Chau, Tam Duong, Cao Bang, Ha Giang… in the North, in Chay Lap in the central or in Central Highland and Da Lat in the South of Vietnam. This is a great way to discover local places, enjoy beautiful scenery, meeting people as well as having very good physic activities during the trek. In many stops, you will stay overnight in the house of local people and this can be one of the highlight of the trip.
* Some of the summits in Vietnam for conquering: The most amazing one for this activities in Fansipan – the top of Indochina with the elevation of 3143m from sea level. It is the big challenge and dream of any Vietnamese people to climb up there. The shortest time to conquer this summit is in 3 days from Sapa town. The other uprising destination is Tay Con Linh, the amazing mountain in Ha Giang.
3. Trek time: as Vietnam having the tropical weather and sub tropical weather in the North of the country so it is not really good idea to trek in the hot and raining season. The best time for trekking in Vietnam is from October to March, when the weather is cool and it is in dry seasons. It not really very fun to trek in the rain as I had experiences for the few times.
Trek gear: The most important thing is you need to have the proper trekking boots. You also need to have a good rain coat, torch, toilet paper, mosquito repellent, first aid, long sock and cotton clothes, sunblock …
I’m pleased to share with you some pictures taked by my own during my trekking and adventure trips in Vietnam:
Cao Bang is the authentic destination for trekking
Opportunity to hike following the hill-tribe trails in Ha Giang
Mai Chau, Hoa Binh gives chance to trek in green environment
Sapa is one of the most popular destinations for trekking
Bac Ha Market is one stop to visit during the trek in Lao Cai.