When you thought of trekking and home-staying in Vietnam, Sapa maybe will appears immediately...But in fact, Sapa was a massive anticlimax! Agree the landscape was amazing, but the whole place stank of commercialism. This article is talk about another wonderful destination that just few people had written about: It's Pu Luong.

Pu Luong's scenic majesty not only matches that of Sapa, it goes beyond it profoundly! Pu Luong nature reserve remains untouched by the clutches of tourism. It delights sense of humanity and magic. The lush green landscape of the rice fields is strikingly intense and as you walk through the hillside you feel privileged to be one of the lucky few to take those steps. It's difficult and pretty expensive to reach.

The journey is ruggedly picturesque and the people you meet along the way are genuinely curious. Unlike in Sapa, there're no one try to sell you anything. Everybody is just living off the land and willing to open their heart with a rare guest. Driving the motorcycle soon becomes impossible and you have to hike an intense journey through the hills. You pass through a variety of tiny villages built on wooden stilts and witness the locals working in the rice fields. They spoke their own language and they still performed archaic customs to this day. You can hear stories about local tradition.

Take a homestay in Pu Luong is not easy as in Sapa but just ak any person you meet, he will help you to find a good place to stay. In the evening everyone celebrated by drinking Pu Luong water (rice wine) until the early hours.

Trekking in Pu Luong often lasts for 4 days so you can feel all the real life there. But it's difficult to discover by yourself so almost travelers book a tour from Hanoi. you can have a look at this tour : Pu Luong Trekking