Home Sweet Homestay: Living with a Black H’mong family in Sapa

Photos of Sapa in Northern Vietnam usually show jade green rice terraces beneath bluebird skies. I visited during winter and could barely see my feet, never mind the paddies. At that time of year, those lovely terraces are more or less pure mud, the valleys are cloaked in dense fog and the region is prone to cold snaps and rainstorms. 

This may sound disappointing but it was the total opposite. Sapa’s mist-wrapped hills and frequent thunderstorms were exactly my cup of tea and it felt special to see an alternative side to the hill station rather than the picture-perfect summer look. 

The other thing that made my trip to Sapa memorable was choosing to stay at a Black H’mong homestay in a remote village far from the touristic Sapa Town. This was a richly immersive experience that gave me the chance to find out more about this ethnic minority who call the Vietnamese highlands home. And whilst the landscapes were on the moody side, there was nothing gloomy about the family or house I was lucky enough to call home for a couple of days.

This is my experience of trekking in Sapa, staying at an authentic H’mong homestay and some advice on planning your own trip to these atmospheric highlands of Vietnam.

Sapa, Vietnam

Sapa is a hill station located in the Lao Cai province of northwest Vietnam close to the Chinese border. The region comprises a number of small villages that are inhabited by H’mong tribespeople and 20+ other ethnic minorities. Dotted around these villages are waterfalls, forestry, rice paddies and the tallest mountain in Vietnam and Indochina, Mount Fansipan (Phan Xi Păng).

This beautiful region is in no way an off the beaten track experience in Vietnam. Over the past few decades the province has burgeoned into one of the most popular places to visit in Asia. Combining international and domestic tourists, Sapa receives around 3 million guests per year. 

As the largest settlement and the gateway to the highlands, Sapa Town is touristic and an assault on the senses. Multiple Western style restaurants and large hotels are a far cry from the peaceful remoteness you might hope to find. As a result of the overtourism in Sapa, tourist targeted scams are common in the town and tour operators and vendors are known to be pushy. 

One other thing to be aware of in Sapa Town is that there are hundreds of children roaming the streets selling crafts and trinkets or even just asking for money. Local authorities request that travellers do not buy from these children. They should be in school rather than being exploited on the street. Sending them home with profit only incentivises their parents to send them back out the following day.

If this is all sounding bleak so far, rest assured that once you flee Sapa Town, the villages (and villagers!) are not like this at all. My tip is to side step the tours and luxury hotels of the town and whisk yourself to a H’mong homestay in the mountains for a few days with a local family. 

A Black H’mong Homestay Experience in Sapa

I visited Sapa in late February shortly after celebrating Tet in Hanoi. Every few days a traveller would check into my hostel fresh from the mountains, speaking of snow and single-figure temperatures. Well, I’d just travelled from wintery London and I’d even packed my thermals (always be prepared) so I decided that a post-Tet trip to Sapa was written in the stars. A friend from the hostel recommended that I follow in her footsteps and stay with the H’mong tribeswoman, Mama Sumi, and her family.

This word of mouth recommendation is one of the best ways to visit Sapa responsibly and choose an authentic H’mong homestay. 

When you make arrangements directly with the host family, it cuts out the need for a middle man. It is unclear whether the money generated by tours ever reaches the families in these far flung communities. By booking your Black H’mong homestay independently you will know for sure that the money will benefit the host and her family. They typically put the money into renovating their homes or as savings for their children to get an education or relocate if they wish.

Besides, this way doesn’t take away the magic of independent travel.

Trekking from Sapa Town to Hầu Thào

Bright and early from my night bus journey and a quick breakfast in Sapa Town, I met my H’mong homestay host, Mama Sumi. A woman with the warmest smile in Vietnam. And trust me, she has a lot of competition. 

Mama Sumi lives with her husband and teenage children in the small mountain village, Hầu Thào. Rather than lingering in Sapa Town, Mama Sumi and I set off on our 13 km trek through the Hoang Lien Son mountain ranges. We climbed slowly into the hills, taking our time to admire the views when the mist allowed us. After spending the past few weeks in Hanoi, it was such a treat to breathe in fresh mountain air, greenery and open space.

As we walked, Mama Sumi pointed out crops of tea leaves and vegetation grown by the H’mong people as well as other ethnic minorities who call Sapa home. Along the way, specks of colour emerged through the mist. Other friendly H’mong women in their colourful traditional dress who would stop for a natter with Mama Sumi. 

Black H’mong tribespeople of Sapa

During our trek, Mama Sumi told me about the H’mong tribespeople and their nomadic heritage. Sometimes known as the Miao people, the first H’mong settlement was near the Yellow River in China. During the 18th century, the tribes were pushed out of the country and subsequently travelled into neighbouring Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand. Nowadays, the 8 million remaining H’mong tribespeople have settled and found permanent communities in each of these countries. Around 1 million H’mong people live in Sapa.

Black H’mong women dress in their traditional clothing. They stain hemp, linen and cotton fabrics with the natural dye of indigofera plants which are indigenous to Vietnam. This dark blue, practically black, material is used to make jackets and pleated skirts that are then adorned with intricate, colourful hand embroidery. To protect their legs, they wrap fabrics around their calves. They pin their hair back and wrap it in a scarf in a sort of turban style. Mama Sumi later invited me to try on the full clothes and it was comfortable and proved a more substantial buffer against the winter chill than those thermals of mine.

Although the H’mong people have traditional gender roles with the women being responsible for the domestics of the household and the men taking care of the land, Mama Sumi assured me that women and men are on equal terms within their communities. I loved hearing about how Mama Sumi talked about her daughter’s future and the possibilities she would provide her with. Most of the trekking guides among the H’mong tribespeople are women, we didn’t pass a single male in the three days I spent in Sapa. 

The H’mong women produce beautiful handicrafts such as purses, bags, friendship bracelets and scarves. These are woven using the same dyed hemp fabrics that are then decorated with neat hand embroidery. The women also excel at gold and silver jewellery making, and many H’mong women embellish their outfits with pieces that they’ve made themselves. You can buy these at all the Sapa villages and from the regional H’mong homestays. Sometimes your host family might kindly insist on gifting you a couple of items as a keepsake, I think this is a sign that they liked having you and you were a good house guest. 

Home sweet homestay

Mama Sumi’s house is a simple dwelling that is typical of the H’mong style. It’s a large barn that is divided into several sleeping areas with curtains drawn around them for privacy. Adjacent to the main room there is a small kitchen where Mama Sumi worked her magic to create some of the best food I have eaten in my life. As I write up my notes from my H’mong homestay I swear I can still taste her spiced meats and buttery tofu. 

A short walk from the main building there is a separate toilet. When I visited this was an Asian-style toilet with a hose for washing with cold water. Since my visit, I hear Mama Sumi has added a Western-style toilet and shower. It’s typical that H’mong homestays put some of their tourist income into home renovations that will make their place more desirable to Western tourists but also more comfortable for themselves. 

The fire pit around which we would all sit for the nightly family dinner is the heart of the house. After a day of trekking in Sapa’s misty mountains, I loved taking my seat by the blazing fire. We would swap stories, compare cultures, raise glasses of ‘happy water’ (rice wine, lethal) and puff on ‘happy smokes’ with Mama Sumi’s mischievous friend Mama Susu. 

During my stay, Mama Sumi and her family slept downstairs. We homestay guests were assigned the upper level, a mezzanine style which was accessible by a wooden ladder. Each night I would sink into a mattress placed on the floor beneath a mosquito net and cocoon myself into a hefty woollen blanket. Those were necessary during Sapa’s winter nights when the temperatures would drop as low as 3°C.

It isn’t luxurious but it was one of the homeliest and most comfortable places I have ever slept and the energy of the house warmed me to my soul. Each night I slept like a kitten and loved waking up the rabble of cooking pots, roosters and morning chatter from the family down below. 

Lost in Hầu Thào

Not content with the 13 km hike, myself and Mama Sumi’s other guests decided to walk into the village that first evening. Losing track of time we got caught in our first Sapa rainstorm which soon chased away the sun and saw the village plunge into darkness. All the buildings we had seen during the day were bolted up with the lights out. Mountain haze covered the moon and any stars. Our phones had zero reception, limited charge, and, we were lost. 

We begun flagging down passing motorbikes. Kind faces peered out from colourful ponchos. It was a bit of a long shot, but we’d ask if they knew where we could find Mama Sumi’s house. Generally, the response was a polite ‘no’ but they could take us to Sapa Town. Being 13 km in the wrong direction, we appreciated the kind offers but continued our fumble through the dark.

What felt like hours later, we wandered into someone’s garden where a churchbound woman was able to help. She shined her torch up the hillside and told us which path to follow. Now that we had a sense of our bearings we listened for the waterfall which we knew we’d shortly pass (and hopefully not fall into), from there it was the final ten-minute stretch uphill. And we made it right before the skies reopened for one of the largest displays of lightning I’ve ever experienced. 

Mami Sumi was beside herself and told us that she’d been out on her motorbike looking for us. Her worries soon turned to amusement and she was at a loss to how we’d managed to get so lost in this village that she could find her way around blindfolded. Delighted to have us back in one piece, she waved us to take our seats around the fire and pile our plates with her homemade food. 

Mortified by the panic we’d caused, we sat down to eat our belated dinner. Fresh vegetables prepared with chilli and garlic, tender chicken and pork, silken tofu, fluffy rice, even some chips to appease our Western tongues! The following morning we woke up to thick pancakes for breakfasts. If you want to eat well in Sapa, stay with Mama Sumi. Her food remains the tastiest that I ate the whole three months I spent in Vietnam (two of which were spent in the culinary capital, Hoi An, so that’s really saying something).

On my second evening we had a second round of drama. As we ate dinner, Mama Sumi excused herself and nipped out on her motorbike. 10 minutes later she returned, with her (extremely shy and now extremely legless) husband draped over her shoulders. Taking his seat at the table, he giggled, then slumped into a deep alcohol induced sleep. Occasionally, he’d sit up, look around at the unfamiliar faces in his home eating his food, giggle, grin at us, and fall back to sleep. That’s the impact of happy water for you!

Trekking in Sapa

During those days I spent with Mama Sumi in her H’mong family homestay, I would enjoy early breakfasts on the terrace, surrounded by a menagerie of cats and kittens, dogs and puppies, chickens and roosters. Then we would trek to local villages and weave our way through the mountains and rice terraces past grazing water buffalo. 

Weather conditions varied from dense fog, thunderstorms, downpours and long stretches of blazing sunshine. When the clouds cleared, I could right across the valleys and see views of the mountains including the occasional glimpse at Mount Fansipan. Although it had snowed the week before I travelled to Sapa, there was no snowfall during my stay. Sapa is the only place in Vietnam that receives snow during the winter months. 

Most of the standard trekking trails in Sapa are not too challenging. You can expect to walk around 6 hours each day but the routes are relatively flat. If it’s muddy you can prepare to have a tougher time. It definitely helps to have a guide when trekking in the remote parts of Sapa. Especially if you plan to go trekking in Sapa during winter, where mist can roll in at the drop of a hat and the rain makes it difficult to follow the trails. I mean, if you can get lost between a house and the village of said house, imagine how lost you can get in the mountains. 

I’m all for totally independent travel in the vast majority of cases but in a place like Sapa I do think you can get a deeper experience if you stay at a H’mong homestay. And providing you avoid the scammy operators who undercut the community guides, you will know that your money is going to benefit the family who took care of you. 

Cat Cat Village 

If you do want to add in some independent exploration of Sapa besides trekking with your H’mong homestay guide, there are some short walks that you can access easily on foot from Sapa Town. One of the most accessible is the route down to the village of Cat Cat. Founded by ethnic H’mong and Dzao families during the 19th century this is only a 2.5 km walk from Sapa Town. I followed the main road which was easy but not that exciting although I have since heard that there is a more interesting trail that goes via the backroads.

The contemporary Cat Cat Village is designed to accommodate tourists. It’s quite light hearted fun and less brash than Sapa Town but I wouldn’t consider it the most authentic part of your Sapa itinerary. It’s sweet but is fairly polished up you’ll need to limbo around your share of selfie sticks. When I visited during winter it was quiet but I would avoid the village during peak season. 

You will descend into Cat Cat Village via a long paved staircase which snakes its way down to a riverside setting. Along the way, you can browse colourful markets and pop your head into workshops and see the tribeswomen weaving handicrafts and fashioning gold and silver into jewellery. There are lots of cafes and restaurants where you can have coffee and noodles. 

Once you reach the basin of Cat Cat Village there’s a pretty waterfall from which you can stroll alongside the river towards the giant bamboo water wheels. You can paddle in the water or ride on the amusements such as the bamboo ferris wheel. There is a short hiking trail up the mountain as well which will be quieter than the central part of the village. 

If you want to ride on the cable car to the summit of Mount Fansipan the base is not far from Cat Cat Village so you can coincide your visit. 

How to book an authentic Sapa H’mong homestay

If you are planning to go trekking in Sapa and would like to stay in an authentic H’mong homestay family, feel free to contact me and I’ll put you in touch with Mama Sumi. She will put you up in her house, feed you home-cooked meals and guide you around the mountains. 

Her doors are open year-round. She charges a modest figure for this and accepts solo travellers like me as well as couples and small groups. I paid around 330,000 VND for two nights’ accommodation, all my meals and guided treks with either Mama Sumi or her daughter. Bear in mind that this was a few years ago, the price will have increased.

Alternatively, you can arrange your Black H’mong homestay when you arrive in Sapa. Whatever time of year you arrive in Sapa Town, a flock of women will greet you as you step off the bus. They are genuine, independent hosts and trekking guides who know every inch of the Sapa highlands. If you decide to do this instead, make sure you agree on the fee beforehand and confirm that all your meals and guided treks are included. It’s nice to know the money is going directly to a family rather than an agency. 

It is a little overwhelming to book your H’mong homestay this way but once you’ve found your host, she will invite you into her home and treat you like family. 

In terms of payment you will pay your host in cash (Vietnamese dong) at the end of your stay. Ask your host if you need to get cash from an ATM in Sapa Town before you head to the wilderness. 

How to get to Sapa from Hanoi

If you have a motorbike you can drive to Sapa from Hanoi in around 10 hours. But you’ll probably want to do it over a few days and explore the other villages along the way and stay in other homestays or hostels. 

Alternatively you can take the train or bus to Sapa. 

Night bus

The easiest way to get to Sapa from Hanoi is via bus which takes 6 hours. There are countless providers who shuttle tourists between the Vietnamese capital and the hill station. Prices for the bus start at 300,000 VND and will increase the higher the level of comfort you choose. I recommend the night bus because it saves you a night of hostel fees and you’re less likely to run into traffic during the night. 

My bus to Sapa from Hanoi was the first of what would be many experiences of night bus travel. It was an almost luxurious affair, with (comfortable) reclining seats. They were individual, too, so there was no awkward competition over elbow space with a stranger. Snuggled under my blanket (utter luxury, see!), I enjoyed the sensation of being jostled along the highway in the pitch black knowing that my final destination would be lovely green mountains. 

If you book your bus directly with your hostel you’ll get picked up from there which makes things easier. There are loads of tour agencies in Hanoi who will also sell the bus tickets. However, I’ve heard that there are a lot of scams so it’s safest to go with your hostel. 

But if you want to book in advance I recommended Green Bus. I booked with Green Bus and they were great; the bus was clean, spacious and departed promptly at 10 pm so I reached Sapa Town at 4am. Our kind driver let us sleep on the bus until sunrise, Most will boot you off as soon as you arrive in Sapa so you’ll have to sit around and wait for cafes to open or for your H’mong homestay host. 

Sleeper train

Alternatively, but more expensively, you can take the train to Sapa. The closest train station is Lao Cai which is around an 8-hour journey. From Lao Cai you will need to take a taxi or minivan for the 1-hour transfer to Sapa Town. Trains run throughout the day and overnight. Prices for the train start from 350,000 VND for economy and creep up to 2,317,750 VND for sleek VIP berths. Then you will need to add on the cost of the taxi which research suggests is around 800,000 VND. 

Disorganised travellers like me, take note. Return buses and trains sell out, even in low season. It happened to me and I had to spend a night in Sapa Town. Try and book your outbound travel at least 24 hours in advance!

Best time to book your H’mong homestay in Sapa

The H’mong homestays welcome tourists year-round. Due to its altitude, Sapa experiences weather extremes which may impact when you plan to visit the region.

December, January and February are the coldest months with average daytime temperatures of 8-12°C. During the night it is significantly colder. 

March through to May, the region is exposed to sunnier and warmer days with temperatures pushing 20°C and the number of sunshine hours increasing. June, July and August bring hot weather and frequent rainfall. Temperatures hover between 20-25°C with July being both the hottest and the rainiest month. 

Temperatures peter off to the high teens in September making the following three months a glorious time for trekking thanks to the cooler weather and reduced crowds. 

Sapa is busy throughout the year however January and February draw the smallest crowds due to the cold temperatures. As I mentioned, this is also when the scenery is at its most stark so you shouldn’t expect to see a lot of greenery.

Is Sapa worth visiting?

To conclude, a lot of travellers now wonder whether it’s even worth visiting Sapa due to how popular the region is. Like with any popular travel destination there is a reason it’s popular, and for myself, I was enthralled with the natural scenery of Sapa and Hầu Thào. My time staying in an authentic H’mong homestay is still one of my favourite travel experiences.

I’m pleased that I didn’t skip Sapa on account of travellers who hadn’t had a good time there. But even if I hadn’t enjoyed my time in Sapa so much, I’m sure that I wouldn’t have regretted visiting. 

My recommendation is to avoid spending time in Sapa Town and to instead make a run to the mountains and choose an authentic H’mong homestay. It’s easy to get to Sapa via public transport and you can either book a homestay via word of mouth recommendations or final a tribeswoman guide once you’re in town.

If you choose this authentic H’mong homestay style you will just need to prepare for the fact that your accommodation will be basic. If you can’t handle Asian-style toilets, a bit of dirt and some bugs, it probably will not be for you. But if you love the chance to experience a different way of living, hanging out with nice people in gorgeous scenery and eating amazing home cooked food, you’ll have as wonderful a time as I did.