Sapa homestay and trekking with Nhu – Our awesome guide

Nhu’s phone number is: +84 (0)1694495127

Nhu was our guide on our last visit to Sapa and she is actually the reason I created this website. I really want her to have a good livelihood so she can improve the quality of life for her family (she is married and has two children).

After speaking with Nhu on the phone, we agreed that we’d meet at Sapa church (a famous landmark in Sapa) at 9:30 AM to discuss our trekking and homestay options. Right at the start, she made a very good impression and we requested 3 days trekking of 6-7 hours each day in the mountains (we were highly optimistic about our fitness level at the time) and 2 nights of homestay in her house. We also wanted breakfast, dinner and some lunch break during the trek. For all of this, she requested 80$ (40$ per person), which is obviously insanely cheap. We agreed to start the next day at 8:30 AM.

  • Views from the trek

On the day of the trek, we met again at 8:30 AM. Nhu came on time and had a basket with our lunch. Right from the start, she took us off road into a rice field. We walked for a few hours, crossing a river and a few small mountains with the most amazing views then stopped for lunch. Nhu made sandwiches for us all and we continued on the way to her village, crossing a few hidden villages in the mountains. It was really a great experience!

Nhu spoke openly about her life and her family which was a good way for us to get an inside view of the H’mong tribe’s daily life. They really live a humble life. She was also interested in our life and we had a great conversation along the way.

After about 7 hours of walking, we arrived at her small village located on a mountainside. Just to get to her house was a trek on its own :). Her house is very modest but exudes warmth and she has a lovely husband and two children. She cooked us an amazing dinner, one of the best we had in Vietnam. I think the pictures tell the story better than I can.

Unfortunately, when starting the trek I had a cold and we decided to return to Sapa in the morning. This was very disappointing for us as we would have loved to do more trekking and see more villages, but I was too weak and didn’t want to take a risk.

In the morning, Nhu cooked us an amazing breakfast and gave us two handmade wrist bands and a bag as a souvenir. Since we only did one day trekking and homestay, she requested only 35$ for both of us. And of course we gave her a tip.

A nice story:
When we talked with Nhu about the local H’mong tribe families, she said that the richest families are the ones with the cardamom fields that are passed down from generation to generation and they can make an income of 100,000,000 VND per year, which is about 375$ per month. So, I hope this website can help her and other guides join this “millionaire” club ;).

Nhu’s phone number is: +84 (0)1694495127

21 thoughts on “Sapa homestay and trekking with Nhu – Our awesome guide

  • November 28, 2016 at 1:58 pm
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    Thanks for the information. We stayed at Nhu’s place this year in September – amazing woman and lovely family. I would recommend her to anyone willing to visit Sapa and spend some days in the area. Unique experience!

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  • April 9, 2017 at 11:07 am
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    Thank you so much for Nhu’s contact, I had an amazing time trekking in Sapa with her last week! I wish I had had more tine then only one day and could have done the homestay that she offers. She speaks such good english and could tell me so much about the local cultures and rice planting. As a solo female gap year traveller I was nervous about how this would be, but I have no regrets about making that phone call and would love to go again! Would absolutely recommend to anyone wishing to really see Sapa in all its splendour and get off the beaten track!

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    • April 9, 2017 at 9:36 pm
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      So happy to see you enjoyed the trek with Nhu, hopefully next time you’ll have a change to do home stay also 🙂

      Reply
  • August 9, 2017 at 8:39 pm
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    Thank you so much for creating this website! I hv shares with everyone i have met who is traveling to Sapa about Nhu! My Vietnamese friend from Hanoi and I arranged to meet her on our second visit to Sapa in March of 2017. Our first trip here in 2013 we stayed at a wonderful hostel run by teenagers training to be in the hostelry business. We were so glad to stay with Nhu and her family this second trip and saw so much more theough our homestay and guided trek than before. Nhu is a native Hmong woman who is proficient in Vietnamese, Hmong and the English language. Her cooking is amazing and some of the best we had in our North to South trip in Vietnam.
    I could go on and on but would like to say this. Staying with Nhu is supporting her and her family directly. No middle men no gimmicks. Nhu is attentive to providing an awesome experience and will tailor your tume with her to your desires. Want to go on a long trek- she has the trek for you. Would you like to visit a more localized area she will tailor your time wime with her to you.
    Nhu is fantastic and we highly reccomrnd her and her family to stay with and experience Sapa through a Hmong families eyes and well.. importantly taste buds:) enjoy and have a great time with Nhu and her family!

    Reply
  • October 4, 2017 at 1:55 pm
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    Thank you very much for your kind recommendations! It makes me very happy!
    You are welcome to come stay in my home! I can also take you trekking 🙂
    Feel free to contect me on WhatsApp and I’ll answer as soon as I can!
    Waiting for you here in Sapa 😍
    Nhu.

    Reply
  • October 4, 2017 at 2:01 pm
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    Thank you very much for your kind reccommendations. It makes me very happy!
    You are welcome to come stay in my home.
    Feel free to contect me on WhatsApp and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!
    Love,
    Nhu

    Reply
    • January 3, 2018 at 9:51 am
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      Hello, Nhu (hope this message reach )

      we are planing to come in few weeks and it will be great if we can meet you. Of course i really dont know is the weather will be good for hiking in 20-25 of january in sapa, but anyway..let’s try:)
      How is possible to contact with you Nhu?

      Reply
      • June 7, 2019 at 4:30 pm
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        Nhu’s phone number is +84 (0)1694495127

        Reply
  • December 7, 2017 at 1:24 am
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    Thank you!!! We stayed with Nhu for two days/one night and we absolutely loved it!! Not a big luxury touristic homestay with 20 people but the real deal. Staying in her actual house, eating and drinking with the family, playing with the children in the village was such an unique experience. Day 2 of the trekking she took us out into the mountains and we didn’t see any tourists at all. Her English is so good, unbelievable that she learned it just from tourists. I cannot recommend it enough. Just send her a voice message on whatsapp or call her (she cannot read English) and she will arrange everything. Her husband even picked up our luggage at the church in Sa PA so we wouldn’t have to carry it the whole day.

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    • December 7, 2017 at 9:29 am
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      Great!! so glad you enjoyed it :))

      Reply
  • March 19, 2018 at 4:46 am
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    Just got back from my tour in Sapa with Nhu and I could not recommend it enough. I am a 21yo female and travelled alone, stayed with Nhu for 2 days 1 night, she made me feel very welcome and safe! Her family is lovely (husband & son) although they can’t speak English. You get to stay inside her house with them unlike a lot of the other guided tours you can get through tour companies. I paid $40 USD ($900,000VND) which is cheap in comparison to tour companies, I have a friend who did 2D/1N with Sapa Sisters and paid $100USD, with them you also share a homestay with other tourists. It’s also good to know that the money you pay goes to her and her family directly, you’re not giving a cut of it to some business.
    The experience is definitely what you make of it so ask lots of questions to learn because she is more than happy to teach you, and she also is very interested in learning too. Even if you don’t go with Nhu and you are visiting Sapa I would recommend not going with a tour company, there are plenty of women in the town centre who will approach you and ask if you would like a homestay, chat with them and find a person that you are comfortable with as I saw many other tourists do this also, this way you get a much more authentic experience.

    Reply
  • May 18, 2018 at 5:46 am
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    We also did a 2D/1N Trekking with Homestay with Nhu. It was great and can only be recommended. She tells you a lot about the landscape, farming and her culture and is happy to answer questions. Her English is really good. She lets you decide if you would like to stay at her house or in a bigger homestay for tourists. We stayed at her house, it was basic, of course, but clean with hot water and a toilet.
    If you would like to do a tour with her, contact her on WhatsApp. She prefers Audio messages instead of text messages because she needs help to write and read in English. Do not hesitate to do a tour directly with her instead of going with a tour company.

    Reply
    • May 22, 2018 at 6:22 pm
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      Happy to hear you enjoyed it 🙂

      Reply
    • December 6, 2019 at 8:45 am
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      I just sent her a voice message asking her if she available in dates 15-17 of December 1919.
      My daughter and me would like to have her as guide and host.

      Reply
  • May 22, 2018 at 4:38 pm
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    Hello everyone! I am thinking of making a 2 days 1 night trip in Sapa and reading this topic i think i will go for a tour with Nhu! I am a 25 years old girl, I would like to see as much as I can and living the experience. I have been told that some treks are a “tourist trap” cause they are going to all the touristic places. And also that some guides bring you to places where tons of people try to sell you stuff. Do you think for my needs Nhu would be a good option? Is it August so bad weather as some people say? Thank you.

    Reply
    • May 22, 2018 at 6:21 pm
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      Hi Martha,

      Starting from the end, August is not the best season for this area, best time would be this year would be September to November,
      you can get lucky and catch some sunny days but I would not advise to do tracking in the mountains if its raining, its too dangerous.

      Doing a trek with Nhu its the exact opposite from ” tourist trap”, in fact I would be surprised if you will see any tourists during the trek and home-stay.
      its a 5-7 hours walk in the Sapa hills and she takes you trough some local villages. no one is going to sell you anything there, they are busy working in the fields.

      When we stayed at her house for the home-stay in her tiny village she didn’t even had a shower in her wooden home, really local experience 🙂
      since I built her this website she started to have a few more clients and now they have a basic shower and they improved their house a bit.

      I would definitely do this if the weather will allow it, otherwise if its raining, sadly my suggestion is to take the touristic route (its a 2-4 hours walk on a flat surface).

      Let me know if you need some assistance.

      Reply
  • October 1, 2018 at 5:11 pm
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    Hei,

    We are a group of 5 people that want to travel to Sapa in November. Do you think it’s possible for Nhu to accommodate us all?

    Reply
    • October 2, 2018 at 11:06 am
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      Yes, Recently she hosted a group of 6 (3 couples), so she can accommodate 5

      Reply
  • May 12, 2019 at 3:09 pm
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    Hello, I have enjoyed reading the responses and am interested in staying at Nhu. We (my husband and I) will probably arrive in Sapa on July 21 and want to stay 2 nights with a local family. We are not interested in a hike but would rather walk around and get in touch with the locals. My question is whether we can be picked up in Sapa?

    Reply
    • June 7, 2019 at 4:27 pm
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      Hi Yvonne,

      Please contact Nhu directly by whtasapp or a phone call
      +84 (0)1694495127

      Reply

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