Apr 10, 2025
A Truly Unique Cultural Experience - My daughter and I spent 4 days in Sapa with ETHOS in late March and we absolutely loved it! It was such a wonderful and unforgettable experience on so many levels. When we arrived in Sapa we had already been in Vietnam for 4 weeks but we learned more about Vietnam, especially its minority ethnic groups, in the 4 days we spent at ETHOS than during our whole trip. The ETHOS Centre has a very warm and friendly vibe, thanks to Hoa and Phil (the owners) and their wonderful team. Upon our arrival, we had an extremely interesting "info session" with Phil and Cha about Vietnam and the reality of its minorities. This enabled us to appreciate and understand a lot more about what we were about to experience. We chose to do the Hmong Batik Class (thank you My for your patience, help and wonderful smile throughout the day! The results were way beyond what we had hoped for!), the Red Dao Embroidery Workshop in Ta Phin (many thanks to May Lai and her family for welcoming us into their home, being such great teachers, offering us a great lunch...and wonderful herbal baths!) and the 2-day Buffalo Valley Trek (we can't thank Cha enough for being such an exceptional guide and interpreter and many thanks to the family who hosted us for the night and with whom we had so much fun). Through these experiences, we were able to truly connect with the people we met, learn about their culture and make memories that will last a lifetime. It was, by far, the most memorable part of our 5-week trip in Vietnam and we are so grateful to everyone at ETHOS for their time, patience and kindness! Hope to see you again!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Apr 9, 2025
Experience of a lifetime - What a fantastic experience. Hoa and Phil, together with their guides and host families, create an unforgettable, authentic and fascinating experience. And it’s so fantastic that the local people benefit from this enterprise. This was my second time in 3 years this time I did the buffalo valley trek. The countryside is beautiful. Our guide, My, was again the best guide and companion you could wish for, and our host families I will never forget. Such genuine hospitality and eagerness to be with us and share their culture and lifestyle with us. The cherry on top here is that this enterprise does so much for the community, supporting them in so many ways.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Apr 7, 2025
Our best memory - This 2-day Ethos trek (Buffalo trek) is our best memory of a 15-day roadtrip in Vietnam.
There will always be a moment out of time, privileged and different.
Hoa was great patience for organizing the trek (which one to choose...) and to organize our transfer from Hanoi. The exchange with Phil before the trek was informative and inspiring.
Finally, the families who welcomed us were so friendly and warm. To conclude, our guide My, was great with enthusiasm. She shared her culture, her life with humor and passion.
No tourists crossed during this trek.
Authenticity that has no price, an incredible, different experience.
Everything we were looking for.
Thank you.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Apr 5, 2025
Herbal trail from Sa Pa. - A great experience with a May linh guide with a great kindness and listening. We did the herbal trail, very easy to adapt according to the walking skills of each. The meeting with the two families was very moving. The lives we meet are rough and simple but joyful. Many thanks to our guide and to the team of Ethos who is leading such a beautiful and virtuous project. toh chin...( thanks to Red Zao ).
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 29, 2025
Beautiful SaPa. - We did a one day Spirit Tree walk with Pang and then a morning walk Rice Terraces and Waterfalls the next day. Thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Pang and learning about her life and family. Highly recommend. Thank you Ethos!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 27, 2025
An unforgettable stay through Hmong fields and villages - I was lucky enough to be able to hike for two days with my friend and our wonderful guide: A. We chose the trek "Buffalo valley" which took us through rice fields, waterfalls and bamboo forests. In addition to discovering beautiful landscapes and far from the tourist trails, A's company was a real joy, as it is full of good humor and desire to share. The various stopovers in the Hmong villages were also great moments in this trip, we were able to cook and dine with the locals who showed extreme kindness. Finally, thank you to Ethos for offering us this trek, which is not only a hike but also an immersion in the Hmong and an awareness of their condition.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 27, 2025
Wonderful experience in Sapa with Ethos - It was a wonderful experience! ❤️ We have chosen a 2 days trekking and we don’t regret it. 👍 The day before we came to the agency but Hoa the manager said you can pay on your return.
We had a wonderful trekking with our guide: My. 🩷 She speaks a very good English and she explained us many things about the culture the mountain plants and her roots: the Hmong.
We had wonderful meals and we had a good night sleep. We were afraid to be cold during the night since in the mountain the temperatures are much lower in the evening but we had a hot water bottle and many blankets! 😀👍
The landscapes were breathtaking and just the 2 of us with our guide. It was perfect! 🤩
Thanks again to My and to all the team for the organisation!
We will keep wonderful memories from this trip to Sapa 😍
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 27, 2025
Wonderful Time on the 1-Day Hmong Experience Tour! - We just returned from the most wonderful 1-day tour with Ethos. We are a family group of 5 - myself and my partner, a queer couple, our two children (12 and 9), and my mother. Our day began with an incredibly thoughtful conversation with the couple who own and operate Ethos and a few of their guides about issues ranging from local and national politics to customs of local tribal communities. We took off with our guides, who calibrated the duration and intensity of our trip perfectly for our group, on a breathtaking walk through terraced Hmong farmland. Our guides educated us all the way along on farming practices, medicinal uses of various plants, and cultural conventions in the community we were walking through, as well as sharing their own experiences growing up in Hmong villages nearby. We visited the lovely and welcoming home of a Hmong family, where we helped to prepare a lovely lunch that we all shared. With our guides serving as interpreters, we had a conversation with our host that stretched over several glasses of home-distilled “happy water,” and felt like a true cultural exchange- we discussed our different customs with respect to everything from work life to child birth, and came away with a feeling of real personal connection. And the meal was absolutely delicious! We have had many fried spring rolls over our week in Vietnam, and these were our favorites of all. (Our 12 year old ate 5 of them.) We glowingly recommend Ethos tours!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 26, 2025
Back to basics...❣️ - Amazing Buffalo Tour. Two days and one night in a paradise walking, in contact with friendly smiling people who make you feel... at home... with them.
Perfect organization.
So many emotions.....
Our guide A always smiling nice and welcoming told us so much about these areas and those who live there... He helped us to understand and love this land. At some point we didn't want to leave...Thank you all and a big hug to A who for two days was like a sister to me.🙏❤️
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 25, 2025
Lovely hike and homestay with May Phin - My partner and I decided to do the herbal trial tour with our lovely tour guide May Phin. When we arrived we were welcomed and made to feel at home. We appreciated the initial talk from Phil to learn more about the Red Dzao community and the local Vietnam History. This was truly one of the highlights of our trip and was a great escape from your 'typical touristy' tour and to know your money was going to the right places and supporting the local community. The host families were lovely and the food they shared with us delicious. We will definitely be back and want to stay longer in Sapa next time. Thank you to May Phin, the host family, Phil and Hao.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
