Trek Notes

1 – Packing:

Suitcase:

We understand that the trek is just one portion of your vacations to Vietnam and you may travel with a big suitcase that contains your clothes and your personal belongings you will need for the whole journey. Your suitcase should be left at your hotel before you start the trekking tour since the trek is usually arranged in the area where driving is difficult or impossible. If you start the trekking tour immediately after your arrival in Vietnam, then you can leave your suitcase in our office.

Medium size bag:

Please prepare what you will need only for the trek. The longer the trek will be, the bigger bag you may need. This bag will be taken care by Lotussia support team. We usually use motorbike to transport this bag from one village to another. Before your daily departure, please put everything that you will not need during the day hike in this bag. Our support motorbike will transport the bag to the place where you will spend the night. The number of motorbike that will be used is up to group size. We usually use one motorbike for every two people.

Day bag:

Please put in this bag what you will need during the day such as your first aid kit, insect repellent spray, camera… This bag should be small and light. So that you can focus on the trek and enjoy the scenery.

2 - Homestay:

Staying overnight in a village-house is very exiting, but rather basic and simple with an earthen floor and an open fireplace. You will share the house with family with private bedding setup. Soft mattresses, mosquitoe net and sleeping bags are provided either by the local host or Lotussia Travel.

Sometimes we offer the opportunity to sleep in a camping tent at night. If camping is provided on the tour, our local porters will raise this on the spot.

3 - Porters:

We use a Vietnamese tour-leader and local porters on multi-day trek. The number of porters is up to group size. The bigger the group is, the more porters there will be.

The porters carry all the trekking equipment and most of the personal baggage. So that you will only need to carry a small rucksack with the things needed during the day and can concentrate on enjoying the trek and the beautiful scenery.

Most of the porters are from the local tribe, and through the years we have established a close relationship with several of them.

4 - Food:

We bring a cook along, all the way. It is amazing what he can produce over a small fire. You should expect good homemade Vietnamese dishes, where rice and noodles are the main ingredients, supplemented with meat, fresh chicken and vegetables. Lunch is mainly homemade soup, produced on the spot. We attempt that all food is made of fresh ingredients, and as varied as possible. And in our opinion, a tablecloth and a bit of style does not spoil a good experience!

5 - Environment:

We put an emphasis on protecting the local environment (nature, local traditions and values) as much as possible. This is to the benefit of all, including us and who follow, and can be epitomized in the concept of Minimum Impact Tourism.

Campfires and the use of wood as fuel, no matter how cozy it is, is thus avoided, and we use transportable field-kitchens. Likewise, by using ceramic water-filters we avoid the problem of empty drinking-water bottles left in nature. This way we get purified drinking water and protect nature at the same time. Naturally, no garbage is left anywhere.