Sapa Tavan Village

Ta Van is a small village set within a picturesque valley not far from the Northern Vietnamese mountain resort of Sa Pa. A stay with one of the farmer families here will give you a close-up experience of the life-style and culture typical of the area.

Ta Van village information
Location: Next to Lao Chai on the same side of Muong Hoa River is Ta Van village where the Zay and H’mong ethnic people live together. Ta Van is located in Vietnam in the northern province of Lao Cai, about 5 kilometers from Sapa, at an altitude of 1, 816 meters. This province borders the province of Yunnan in south-west China, and the indigenous people here share many cultural features with their Chinese neighbors.
Also located in the valley of Muong Hoa, Ta van is a village of Giay people, who look more like the traditional Viet living the Red delta. This village is normally a combination in the visit to Lao chai village on the trek to Muong Hoa valley.

It is also a popular stop for those who would like to experience an overnight home stay with a family of Giay people here, sharing dinner with them as a member of their family.

Convenient to the town center, this popular day Trip from Sapa is a good chance to traipse around the rice terraces and experience a bit of rural village life. Hire a car or motorbike for the 9km (5 1/2-mile) road down the valley from Sapa to the Hmong village of Lao Chai (some folks even walk it); it’s a nice ride in itself, with great views of the lush terraces. From there, you’ll just follow the valley for a few miles to the next town of Ta Van . Along the way, you’ll walk through terraced rice fields and among some picturesque villages, and experience a bit of rural life. (I even had the chance to help with some rice threshing — a process by which grains are separated from harvested stalks; you whack a handful of shoots, using a wooden holder, against a bin and loosen the grains onto a mat for collection.)

Ta Van is a small village set within a picturesque valley of Muong Hoa . A night stay here will give you a close-up experience of the life-style and culture typical of the area.