Jan 23, 2025
Fantastic family experience - Our family of five did two different experiences with Ethos - the two day Buffalo Valley Experience which involved an overnight homestay and the one day Mountain View trip. Both were absolutely incredible. Doing both back to back felt that we were really immersed in the cultures, traditions and everyday life of local communities. We felt very privileged to be hosted by such warm hospitable families and our guide My, was absolutely wonderful - so knowledgeable and patient with our questions, repeating information, words and phrases as often as we needed. It was a joy to be involved in preparing meals including foraging where we could.
I would whole heartedly recommend this to anyone considering coming to the Sapa area. You get so much more than on a group tour. We didn't see another tourist for the whole of the trips.
Thank you to all of the Ethos team who were all so helpful and knowledgeable throughout. And especially to My for her wonderful guiding. The kids (and us!) would love to make a return trip sometime ❤️
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Jan 16, 2025
Red Dao Experience - We had a wonderful experience with Ethos. The communication prior to our arrival was prompt and clear and they were so helpful in helping us plan our time in Sapa. We enjoyed the Red Dao Experience one day trek and herbal bath. Our amazing guide May Linh took us on a wonderful hike through the hills. She was so fun and kind and knowledgeable. She shared tons of information about the local area - the crops, the animals, the plants, the people. As we hiked, she collected various plants to use in our herbal bath. She took us to a local home where we had a delicious lunch, learned more about Red Dao customs and had very restorative herbal baths. It was an incredibly unique and enjoyable experience and we appreciate all the care everyone at Ethos showed us.
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Jan 15, 2025
Authentic and Unforgettable Red Dao Experience with ETHOS - We had the pleasure of doing a 2-day, 1-night Red Dao tour with Mei Lai through ETHOS, and it was truly unforgettable. The experience was inclusive but never intrusive, allowing us to connect deeply with the local culture. We didn’t see another tourist for two days, making the journey feel incredibly authentic and serene.
Sharing meals with local families in their homes was a special highlight, giving us a glimpse into their way of life. The walking tour was tailored perfectly to our preferences, with the flexibility to shorten or extend it as needed. Mei Lai was an exceptional guide—kind, knowledgeable, and wonderful company throughout. Her family is wonderful and we enjoyed spending time with them in the evening.
The accommodations were comfortable, and the herbal bath was a treat! Foraging for the herbs ourselves in the forest added a unique touch to the experience. ETHOS’s commitment to ethical, community-based tourism truly shines through. Drawling conclusions, this was more than a tour—it was a meaningful cultural exchange. Highly recommend!
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Jan 10, 2025
Meaningful tourism - You will get an incredible experience that has everything you would want from your trip. You trek, and at times it’s not so easy too, you learn about the community, about local customs and more importantly you do it all while helping local people. The high point is the ability to sit down with locals and share food together, see what they see, eat what they eat. Makes you think and the whole thing sticks with you. Very unique. And big shout out to our guide Mee/Mya (sorry, not sure how to write the name) - super funny, energetic, approachable and lovely person. We will miss you! Overall, highly recommended.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jan 10, 2025
Incredible experience for the whole family. - Our experience with Ethos was exceptional from start finish. During our planning stages, Hoa was friendly and communicative about our trekking options that would be appropriate with our kids (ages 12 and 15). She provided lots of detail about the treks, the town, and organized our overnight trains for us.
When we arrived at Ethos, Phil and members of his team greeted us warmly and shared lots of stories about area and the people.
Our Hmong guide, My (sorry if I’ve spelled her name wrong) was friendly, welcoming, well-informed, and good humoured. We thoroughly enjoyed our trek in the misty mountains and our overnight stay with a local family. Truly an incredible experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jan 8, 2025
We would have liked to give 6 stars! - Ethos is a very serious association that is really committed to supporting local people.
From the first email we exchanged with Hoa, through the briefing on the morning of the first day with Phil (anything but obvious!!), to the two experiences with Mailin and Cha, the whole Ethos group made us feel welcome and gave us great passion and professionalism.
These were undoubtedly the two busiest days of our two weeks spent in North Vietnam. And think that we spent two days in the rain and in the fog!
This makes you understand how much the landscapes and nature of this beautiful place that is Sapa have taken a back seat and how strongly in the foreground what we experienced with the whole family of Ethos. We perceived them just like that: a united family that takes great pleasure in welcoming those who rely on them and offers a service, many tips and programs of the highest level.
On the last day, for our logistical and practical needs, we fell back on a short group trekking organized by our hotel. THERE WAS NO COMPARISON.
Thank you so much for everything.
Luca and Sara
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jan 6, 2025
Wonderful buffalo trip - We had a wonderful experience with Ethos. Communication was warm and extremely accommodating Hoa was very responsive at all hours and greatly aided in organising/booking our entire stay in Sapa. The tour was beautiful and allowed us to truly immerse ourselves in the traditions and culture of the Hmong and Dao people. I would like to give a special shout out to Cha our wonderful guide from the Black Hmong community, a very bubbly and knowledgeable person, with great humour and charm. All in all the experience was great from start to finish especially if you’d like to hear a detailed lecture about the history of the area and the people living there. Great staff, welcoming energy and positive community orientated goals!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jan 6, 2025
Amazing athentic tour organized by a great team 🥰 - This is one of the best experience and tours I ever did and I‘ve travelled a lot.
I did the tour already back in 2018 and still it was for me amazing.
Hoa, Phil and the entire team do a fantastic job here and I can only reccomend it to everybody who wants to do a authentic tour arround Sapa, who likes to hine and is interested in how the different tribes in that area live.
We were lucky to soend two days with May Lai, who is one the sweetest person I‘ve met, and we even had the chance to stay at her house over night and soend time with her family. Thank you very much for
everything, let‘s see, maybe I will do this
tour for a 3rd time 😉.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jan 5, 2025
Ethos trekking in Sapa - I can absolutely recommend the tours with Ethos. I had a wonderful time with my guide May Lai on an overnight trek to her village. She is very knowledgeble and explained so much about her village and how they live. She welcomed me in her home and let me be part of her family for one night. It was a pleasure to meet her family and share a meal with them. I enyojed hiking, talking and cooking with May Lai. She is very sympathic and interesting to talk to.
All the homecooked lunch and dinner meals were delicious and the people we met were so kind.
The tour was very well organized by Hoa and the Ethos team. Everyone in Ethos was so welcoming and sympathic. And they gave me a very interesting introduction bevore the trek. Hoa is very responsive and took such good care of me bevore, during and after the trek. It was an amazing experience!
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Jan 3, 2025
Spirit Tree Hike - We went on a day hike to a local village with our guide Tra. The whole experience was amazing. It started with a great discussion of history of the region before heading out. Tra was so warm and inviting to spend the day with. She took us to a local village home for lunch and taught us how to make it. This company and our guide were fantastic and I recommend it highly
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