Robert Burke
Wrote a review 5 - 2025
Trail walking and homestay
Review of: Ba Be National Park trekking & kayaking 3 days 2 nights
Great homestay and stay at Linh's. Good roadside food stops. Safe and expedient driving. Hien kept us informed and led a good tour. The tour was good for our time constraints. Tour was exactly what we were hoping for lots of walking in remote areas. Please ask guest house host to offer water upon arrival. We arrived thirsty and out of water. It was available, but we did not know until after 2 hours.
Date of experience: 5 2023
Lori A
Wrote a review 11 - 2023
Ba Be National Park
Review of: Ba Be National Park trekking & kayaking 3 days 2 nights
Super friendly guides providing a great experience. The scenery was beautiful and the local people so friendly. Would definitely recommend this trip!
Date of experience: 11 2015
Dear Lori A, I was delighted to have your sharing; it made me happy to know you were satisfied with the trip. Your compliments on our services as well as staff are the great encouragement forcing us moving forwards. You are always welcome and have good time traveling with us. Best Regards, Linh
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AlysFur
Wrote a review 4 - 2023
3 day 2 night Ba Be trip
Review of: Ba Be National Park trekking & kayaking 3 days 2 nights
I did the 3 day 2 night Ba Be trip in October and I thoroughly recommend it. It's an amazing place & everything was perfect. Very comfortable transport, delicious food, lovely accommodation & incredibly friendly guide (Long). Thank you so much for a wonderful experience!
Date of experience: 4 2023
eckh20
Wrote a review 4 - 2023
Great 5 day trekking trip to Ba Be!
Review of: Ba Be National Park trekking & kayaking 3 days 2 nights
While my husband was working in Hanoi, I decided to take the plunge and do some trekking further north in Vietnam before heading south from the capital once his conference was done. As a woman travelling alone, and with an immune disease that renders my capacity to do physical activity unreliable, I was definitely looking for a company who could provide me with a guide and a good itinerary. Kevin (Mr Hien) at the B-Tourist did just that!
ITINERARY
I can't find t...Read Morehe exact itinerary but it was:
Day 1: Pick up at my hotel in Hanoi in a private car. Drive to Ba Be, stopping for lunch at a local restaurant half way, plus a stop at the ruins of a French prison for Vietnamese POWs. In the evening a short walk to a nearby cave. Overnight at Mr Linh's homestay.
Day 2: 24km from Coc Doc via the school at Na Nghe for lunch, then via Dan May to Ta Ken where we stayed at a simpler but very comfortable homestay. Quick visit to the nearby Dau Dang waterfall. A long day for anyone not used to walking distances / in the heat / up and down hills. Incredible scenery though.
Day 3: 14km Short boat ride to avoid a difficult rocky patch, and then along the river to Ban Cam. Stop at a school to meet the kids. Quick stop for tea with a family before a steep hill climb for about half an hour (with regular stops) before lunch with the teachers at a school. Then onwards uphill (mostly concrete road from here though) to Cam Ban for an overnight at a very simple homestay (see below).
Day 4: 10km/16km Two hours down the concrete road, with it's amazing views, to Ban Tau, and then just 1km further to Khuoi Tang to catch the boat (also run by B-Tourist). From here a couple of hours visiting Phuong Cave, the Fairy Lake, An Ma Temple before either returning straight to Mr Linh's homestay by boat, or being ped off further along the coast for a final 6km back.
Day 5: Short walk along the bank of the lake through Pac Ngoi village until you ask to be picked up. Head for Hanoi via lunch at another local restaurant and a visit to the Ethnography Museum where the guide will walk you around the replica buildings outside to tell you about them, before leaving you to explore inside by yourself (exhibits are in English). Back to Hanoi and the hotel.
GUIDE
Overall this was a hugely well organised tour. Long, my guide, was incredibly reassuring, especially about stopping whenever I wanted. He maybe went a little overboard nagging me about eating more fresh fruit (like it would cure my incurable immune disease) which felt very patronising after a while. But in general he was friendly, respectful and judged very well my preference for walking without talking so I can take it all in. Long carried all the water for the trip, plus umbrellas for when it rained or was very sunny. He also translated along the route so that we could meet local villagers, give candy to kids at local schools, eat lunches with teachers, and converse with our homestay hosts. His organisational capacity was amazing, calling ahead to places to arrange food for us, including vegetarian for me. He always walked ahead of me in case it was slippery or dangerous, and there was always a hand waiting to help if it proved so. For someone who works several weeks without a break, and spending 5 days with me, he was incredible. He even made me another steam bath with local medicinal herbs when I got back to help me relax!
The driver didn't speak much English but his driving felt pretty safe. Can't really comment much more!
ACCOMODATION
The homestays were great. Mr Linh's homestay justifies the revues - welcoming, extremely comfortable and a great way to begin and end the trek. Mr Linh didn't help my anxiety about starting the trek by suggesting I change my plans the morning we were due to start walking, but I think that may have been prompted the nerves showing on my face. But the showers were hot, the beds huge and the duvets sumptuous. They kept my room for me the whole time so that I could store my stuff, which was nice. The second homestay is similar, though there hadn't been enough sun for a hot shower so I was provided with a large container to stand in and plenty of hot water. After such a long trek this was certainly good enough for me. The food and company was good and I slept well. The third homestay was more simple with a squat toilet outside and again it was a large container for a shower in a shed outside, but they gave me the steam bath with medicinal leaves in to use as washing water and it smelt and felt great! The toilet was clean and flushing so I had no problem using it, and while the bed was in a large dorm room (which I had to myself), I was warm and comfortable enough to sleep. Back to Mr Linh's for the last night, and back to luxury!
OTHER STUFF
- No problems if you're vegetarian (let them know before you go) but if you don't eat a great deal, prepare to be nagged and hassled. There were times I was really frustrated with being told to eat more like a child.
- You'll need to be able to carry enough stuff for the three trekking days and two nights away from Mr Linh's (changes of clothes and toiletries & medication etc.) so if you can't manage that, this isn't for you.
- You also need to be able to walk up hill a bit, though the pace is up to you to set. However, the plans are always adaptable so if you decide you can't do the full day, your guide will be able to change plans to shorten it for you.
- If you have questions or concerns, let them know. My husband emailed for reassurance that I'd be well taken care of and the reply did just that. It was also clear by my guide's manner that he had been briefed and was always keen to reassure me about our trek.
OVERALL
If you have time to take 5 days out of your trip, this is absolutely a trek to do. Yes, at times it is hard and tiring, but that's trekking! The views were breathtaking and it was such a different experience meeting and staying with local ethnic minority families, to the bustling cities and hotels I experienced on the rest of my trip. I felt amazing at the end having achieved something I (and apparently some staff) wasn't sure I could do. All with a dedicated guide and driver (the latter staying at the homestay for the entire time) and all for about £100 a day (my only additional costs were sweets for the school kids and tips).
There's not a huge amount I'd suggest to improve. The nagging over food I could have done without, but I reminded myself that my husband and I had wanted a tour company and guide who would take care of me, and this was that (if a little unwelcome/overboard). They hadn't made clear to me that I would be carrying my stuff, I had thought the driver would bring it to wherever we were staying, so that was a surprise but I managed it. I would also have happily skipped the museum at the end, as by then I was tired and ready to get back to Hanoi.
My huge thanks to the whole team, and especially to my guide Long for such an incredible trip.
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Date of experience: 2 2015
NOMADasaurus
Wrote a review 12 - 2023
Relaxing, Beautiful And Fascinating
Review of: Ba Be National Park trekking & kayaking 3 days 2 nights
We did some different tours with the B Tourist while we were staying at Mr Linh's Homestay and were blown away with the quality of the service. All our wants and needs were catered for in a very professional manner. Mr Linh is very knowledgeable and passionate about Ba Be National Park and he beams enthusiasm as he takes you to some of the places not normally visited by tourists. The food provided was delicious and the scenery was amongst the nicest we have seen in Vietnam. We'll...Read More definitely be back to do another tour with them, and will recommend staying in Mr Linh' Homestay to our friends and any travellers we meet.
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Date of experience: 12 2014