Sapa - Colorful trip
Sapa - Arised long before tourism soared up in Vietnam, this is a name not to be missed in your trip to this Far East country.
More about this place?
Sapa was founded as a resort destination during the colonial time in Indochina. The French officials found this place alluring with the weather and the pure air up 1600m above sea level. The French started to explore this place late in the 19th century and hundreds villas as resorts for French officers came into existance in the periods after. This is now a moutainous city with 36000 people settle, they are of six different ethnic groups. Sapa serves as a place from which you can access the colorful tribal groups living around the city. The air, the moutainous sceneries, the colorful people are things that should not be missed while travel in Vietnam.
How to get there?
The most common way is to take an overnight train. The trains generally leave in the evening and arrives in Lao Cai (the province Sapa belongs to) in the morning. Not done yet. A bus ride close to one hour wil bring you up hill, reach a hotel, and then you’re in it - the City of Sapa.
Anyway, if you have more time, you may consider doing a circle trip, from Hanoi then along the West and Northwest, passing Mai Chau - Son La - Dien Bien…and reach Sapa. In this option, you can do biking, motorbiking or just bus rides.
Where to go from Sapa? Vietnam holiday
Again, Sapa is a city surrounded by tribal groups. This is the main reason, along with the moutainous sceneries that draws people. Some of the most common places to visit from Sapa are:
Cat Cat village: Only 2 kms from Sapa, you may consider reaching this Black H’mong communities on foot. This is most often the first place people check out when arriving in Sapa. A stroll around this village brings an idea of the life of the Black H’mong people, whose income relies a great deal on the purchase of their weaving products. Think twice when you want the whole trip to be done on foot, since going downhill is always easier than up.
Lao Chai village: Located in Muong Hoa valley, the 20 minutes drive here offers stunning moutainous sceneries with houses scatter on hill side. Another walk through another Black H’mong communities. Prepared to be warmly welcome and…followeed by the local H’mong people, their friendliness is to exchange for the purchase of their colorful bags, purses…But they do behave. Most of the time people have a walk from here to the close by Ta Van village.
Ta Van village: Home to the Giay people. Although outnumbered by the H’mong people (70% of the local population) but Giay is a far more developed society since this people has long been involved in tourism. Other than selling crafts, they offer homestays and the accompanied services. You may consider staying overnight here when thinking of living among the local.
Bac Ha Market
As always, market is the thing that reflexs a part of every community, and so does Bac Ha. 80km from Sapa city, this is a colorful market where people from some ten different ethnic groups, colorfully dressed up, come (mainly on foot and horses’ backs) to sell, buy, exchange merchandises and socialize. This is probably one of the most enchanting market in Vietnam. Once upon a time, this was romantically refered to as the “love market” by the Vietnamese, since a lot people find their partners for life here. Don’t forget that the market is only on Sunday, and don’t miss the chance of being surrounded by an ocean of colors.
Fanxipan - Peak of Indochina:
3143 meters above sea level - climbing this mount is the most adventurous experience that you can have during your stay in Sapa and of course, never do it on your own. Get a local guide and depends on your climbing level, do it in 2 days, 3 days, longer and easier or…(this guy must be nut) just one day. The best time to experience this is from September to November, this is a part of the dry season in Vietnam and it’s not yet chilly.