Introduction
Sapa is a highland town and a famous resort of Sa Pa
district, Lao Cai province. It hides many wonders of nature, natural landscapes
with topography of hills, green tree that create a harmonious picture
associated with poetic and attracting scenery in the mountainous northwestern
region.
Geography
Located in the northwest of Vietnam, Sapa is at an altitude of
1,600 meters above sea level. It is far from Lao Cai City 38 km and 376 km from Hanoi. Sapa
is an incredibly picturesque town that lies in the Hoang Lien Son mountain
range near the Chinese border in northwestern Vietnam, known as "the
Tonkinese Alps". Sapa and its surrounding region is host to many hill
tribes, as well as rice terraces, lush vegetation, and Fansipan, the highest
peak in Vietnam.
History
Sapa (or Chapa from Chinese Xa Pa - the
“sandy place”) first appeared in Vietnam
national map in the late 1880s when the French disembarked in highland Tonkin. In the following decade, the future site of Sa Pa
town started to see military parties as well as missionaries from the Société
des Missions Etrangères de Paris. The first permanent French civilian resident
arrived in Sapa in 1909, and by 1920, there were a number of villas being built
in this area by prosperous professionals. Going through many ups and downs,
nowadays, Sapa is the prominent holiday destination, favored by both locals and
foreign tourists.
Population
Many ethnic minorities live in and around Sapa.
Excluding the Kinh people or ethnic Vietnamese, eight main ethnic minority
groups are found in Sapa: H'mong (pronounced Mong), Dao (pronounced Yao), Tay, Giay
(pronounced Zai), Muong, Thai, Hoa (ethnic Chinese) and Xa Pho (a denomination
of the Phu La minority group). However, the last four groups comprise less than
500 people in total. The population of the district is estimated at 52,899
(2009) of which 51,65% are H'mong; 23,04% are Dao; 17,91% are Kinh; 4,74% are
Tay; 1,36% are Giay and 1,06% Xa Pho; the other ethnic minority is 0,23% .
Around 7,300 people live in Sapa town, the remainder are peasant farmers
distributed unevenly throughout the district.
Sightseeing
Lying
on the national road 4D is O Quy Ho pass. This is the longest pass in the northwest mountain
with nearly 50 km in length. O Quy Ho is a dangerous road and is a challenging
with drivers because of escarpments in a side and gulfs in other one.
However, when you conquer it, it really
a unforgettable destination as its temperate climate and vivid scenes.
Silver Fall which has a height of over 200
meters, is the upstream of the Muong Hoa stream, lies at the foot of the O Quy
Ho Pass. But it is located at San Sa Ho village, Sapa district, Lao Cai
province. From the high canyon, roaring
waters pours down so the foam comes white as the flowers so the people called it
as Silver fall. It has a cool fresh air throughout the year in here, thus you
can relax comfortable and certainly, take the most beautiful photos.
Go through Silver waterfall
2km, you continue to pass over a pass named Tram Ton. The habitants call its peak ‘Cong Troi’- the
highest peak of roads in Vietnam
(2,000 m over sea level) and is the boundary between two provinces Lao Cai and Lai Chau. Tram Ton Pass likes a long sinuous snake creeping
between the majestic Hoang Lien Son range.
Fansipan which is located
in Hoang Lien Son range, is far from Sapa town about 9 kilometers to the
southwest. It is bordered by two provinces Lao Cai and Lai Chau. Moreover, it is
the highest mountain in the Indochina, at
3143m above sea level; therefore, it is known as ‘the Roof of Indochina’. Conquest
of Fansipan is dream of many professional climbers as well as adventurous
travelers when they come to Vietnam.
The ethnic market which is celebrated in the sunday - Bac Ha market. This market is very famous because
it is used for trading a lot of mountainous
animals such as cattle, horses, dogs, cats, chickens ... In addition,
this is also a place where happens the exchange of goods between the Dao,
Hmong, Tay…Especially, Bac Ha market is the best dating site for men and women
after a hard working week.
Nestled in a beautiful valley about three kilometers from Sapa Town
is Cat Cat
village. It was formed in 19th century by the gathering of some
families belonging to some ethnic groups living in mountainous areas of
northern Vietnam,
especially Black H’Mong. They lived next to each other along the mountain side
and cultivated surrounding their home. Rice and corn were grown in terraced
fields, while traditional handicrafts such as twisting flax and weaving fabric
have been well-kept. Through times, Cat
Cat Village
has transferred to one appealing feature of Sapa’s tourism. Moreover, the
village is within easy walking distance from any hotel in downtown Sapa.
Therefore, it attracts tourists from all over the world.
Located
about 17km in the west of Sapa, Ta Phin is
a village of Red Dao’s people possessing a rich
culture that has not been damaged by the modern life. Ta Phin is the nearest village of Red Dao’s ethnic group within the area
of Sapa district. From Sapa, it will take about 30 minutes to reach here by
motorbike. Coming to Ta Phin, you will immediately catch sight of groups of Red
Dao’s women gathering together, keeping inside their hands colorful reels of
thread and cloths. They sew continuously, even when offering the goods to the
customers. Amazingly, most of them can speak quite well, some use Vietnamese
less than English. Since 1998, Ta Phin has officially become the “brocade
village”, where tourists can find the distinctively hand-made brocades made by
ethnic people. All of the products are eye-catching with numerous bright colors
and patterns, ranging from bag, scarf, purse, to skirt, and even backpack and
coat. Ta Phin is also the main supply of brocades for shops in Hanoi
and Ho Chi Minh City,
and the products are exported to foreign countries as well.
Being
shaped like a dragon’s head dimly looming in the thin veil of the early
morning, Ham Rong (Dragon Jaw) Mountain that is fine
combination of man-made and natural landscape is an attractive tourist area in
the center of Sapa town. Ham Rong is home to numerous kinds of flowers and
orchard gardens. Wandering stone paths leads tourists to wild peach forest,
then orchid gardens with more than 6000 orchid plants belonging to 194 kinds.
Besides, there are a lot of indigenous and exotic flowers grown along the paths
like Lily of the Nile, hydrangea, geraniums, ox-eyed daisy and cheery blossom.
Mountain fruits like peach, plum, and pear are also found here. The scenery
hidden in the fog and echo sound from bamboo flute of Mong minority boy change
this place into a heaven on the earth.
Gastronomy
Sapa has 4 distinct seasons so there are many different vegetables and fruits in
each season. The delicious specialty of
Sapa is a wide range of sub-tropical vegetables such as white cauliflower, red
beet, or chayote… Each year, Sapa ships
thousands of tons of chayote to all regions all around the country. But it is
still rumor that eating boiled chayote in sapa is the best. In addition, Sapa is also famous for ‘lon cap nach’ - pig carried under armpit, which are home pigs
but are raised in the field or forest. Although, it is a mountainous district,
it is known as food that made from fish. The fishes are
taken from rivers or streams or are grown in the artificial lakes. The
inhabitants can make lots of foods from fish especially is grilled fish.
Normally, in the cool weather, they also grill corn, sweet potatoes, dumpling,
bamboo-tube rice, or even eggs as well. Nevertheless, tourists can try many
other local foods like purple sticky rice or “thang co”- horse meat right in
Sapa market.
Climate
Located in the north of Vietnam, Sapa has a subtropical
climate but due to lying at high altitude, it is cool throughout the year. In
summers’ days, the weather in town has four seasons: the morning weather is
similar to the spring one; the noon likes the weather in summer (mild sunny,
balmy climate), in the afternoon clouds and mist fall that induce the cold
fresh feeling as the autumn air and the night is the cold of winter.
An
overview of Sapa’s climate and general weather patterns is shown in the table
below:
Get in
-
Most
tourists arrive in Sapa by a combination of trains and buses. From Hanoi it is a 9-hour train journey to Sapa. Daily
trains from Hanoi
arrive in Lao Cai station early in the morning and from there, it is another
hour bus ride to Sapa. That gives your eyes a massage with the endless blue sky
and colourful terraced paddy field. The road is curved around the mountain and
you will just go from one surprise to another. The further you go, the closer
you are to the sky and to nature.
-
If you are an adventurous person and confident of your motorbike skills, you can rent one and
ride from Hanoi.
It usually takes 8 hours to arrive so start your trip early. The road condition
is generally acceptable, but the traffic is unpredictable.
