Sa Pa

Overview

Sapa - A small town in Lao Cai province bordering with China to the North. Located at an altitude of 1700m above the sea level, Sapa has a cool climate all year round. In recent years, Sa pa even has snow, a phenomenon that is considered rare in tropical regions such as Vietnam.

                               

Sa Pa is also known as a cultural and adventure tourism since 1990s, after Vietnam to open tourism for foreign visitors. With beauty and unique indigenous culture, Sa Pa fast becoming popular tourist destinations in Vietnam.

Going to Sapa, people are more thinking of the minority people, there are many ethnic groups such as H'mong, Red Zao, Xa Pho, Man ... in which the Hmong and Red Zao majority of all. The daily activities of people still take place regularly everyday, although more or less affected by tourism, but generally Sapa still regarded as one of the raw place to explore.

First of all, Sapa need at least 3 days 3 nights to travel from Hanoi. It takes you 2 nights on the train already. Make sure you manage your time well in advance in case of miss to see things after a long trip to get up here.

People used to take a long ride from Hanoi to Sapa in the past, trip takes more than 10 hours with bad road condition. Now, it's much easier for travelers from Hanoi. There are number of overnight trains to Sapa, depart from Hanoi around 9pm and arrive in Lao Cai next morning at 5am. 

From Lao Cai, you have options to take local bus up to Sapa which takes 1 and half hours. Trip cost around few dollars. Someone call their hotel or travel agency for transfer service. That will save time and make your trip a bit easier. 

What to see in Sapa?

It just take couple of hours to explore all conners of Sapa town. However, the charming of Sapa is villages in surroundings. People could have a long hiking along river to further villages upto 50km away from Sapa town or simply visit Cat Cat or Ta Phin village which doable in few hours. Here are our suggestion list:

Cat Cat Village

The nearest village to Sapa town, it is home of Black H'mong people. Cat Cat in H'mong language means 'Waterfall', the one that you can see when you walk down to the end of Cat Cat village. French built a Hydro electricity in Cat Cat to supply to Sapa town in early 1930s. It is easy to find and you can walk there by your own. From Sapa market, there is the one and only way to go down to Cat Cat. Cat Cat is must see village absolutely worth for few hours.

Ta Van Homestay

Homestay is best way to understand local cultures. There are number of sites in Sapa have lisence for this service. However, Ta Van village is good place to experience. Ta Van located on the bank of Golden River, back to Hoang Lien Son mountain range. It is nice position gains Ta Van a stunning view down to the valley. 

Thac Bac (Silver waterfall) 

12km from Sapa, Silver waterfall is a highest waterfall in Sapa at 200m high. It combines with forest and hairpin road underneath that make a nice scenery for visitors. Travel further up, you will reach to Heaven Gate, the highest point in Sapa - 1900m. People often hire a Jeep or catch a motor taxi to those places.

Fansipan Mountain

The loop of Indochina at 3143m above the sea level, the recommended trip for adventure travellers. You must get a lisence for climb that can be arranged at Sapa tourism administration or local agency in town. There are 2 routes to summit the roof, one depart from Cat Cat village that takes 4 days all together, other from Heaven Gate just take 2 days trip in total. 

Viet Value Travel arranges trips to Sapa with packages from Hanoi including Bac Ha sunday market, Fansipan Mountain trek, homestay and surrounding areas.