SAPA
v 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.
v 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.
v 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.
v 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.
v 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.
v 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.
v 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.
v 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.
