Sapa: Silver Falls - Thac Bac

Eight miles (13km) from Sapa is the Thac Bac Water fall (the one in the picture). You can get here easily on a motorbike.

This is one of the region's major attractions. It is possible to climb to the top of the waterfalls. From there, there is an excellent view of the waterfalls.

If you come here, follow the road and you will get to the Tram Ton pass.

Sapa: Trekking in the mountains

For the ones really fit, I recommend the three day trekking to the Fan Si Pan mountain.

Mount Phan Xi Pang, as locals call it, is a 3500 yard high peak (3143 m). During the trek you will have the chance to see how locals live. And even sleep in a local home. You will need special permits to do a home stay. For this reason I recommend reserving one of the trekking tours in Hanoi or Sapa.

The best season to do this trekking is in summer. In Winter conditions may be too tough.

I did not do this trekking, so I cannot give you my personal impressions. All I can say is that if you like the picture on this page, you will love the Farsipan trek.

Sapa: Tram Ton Pass

In this picture you can see a view from the highest mountain pass in Vietnam, the Tram Ton Pass (Heaven's Gate).

While traveling around this zone, you can experience big weather variations. On one side of the mountain it might be cold and foggy, while on the other side the sun may shine, and the temperature may be warm.

To visit the area you can rent a motorbike in any agency in Sapa. Ask your hotel for more information. Riding a bike in the Northeast region is quite easy. Traffic is almost non existent. You do need to have some experience ridding bikes, though. If you do not feel comfortable riding a bike, book a jeep tour.

If you rent a bike, check it out before departing. Most of the bikes for rent are Chinese replicas of Japanese bikes, and may give you a surprise before the end of your trip.

Sapa: Local fields

If you come to Sapa you do have to do some excursions. There are three possibilities. You can do the excursions on a four wheeled vehicle, on a rented motorbike and on foot.

One of the shortest trekking is the HamRong mountain. In a two-three hour hike you can get to the top of this 2,000 yards (1750m) high mountain. From there you have an excellent view of the Sapa valley.

If you want to do a longer trekking, visit the Tavan. You have to take a jeep to get to Laochai, and from there in a 8 miles (12km) trek, you will get to Tavan. Where you can see many local people dressed in their traditional clothes.

Sapa: Hmong girls

In this picture you can see a group of local girls trying to sell something to a tourist.

When I saw these young girls harassing the visitors, I had a mixed feeling. Tourism is bringing money to these people. This money will change the life of the local people. Quality of life of the future generations will be much better, but at the same time many traditions will be lost. I guess this is the price they will have to pay. The same happens with Sapa landscapes. In order to accommodate tourists, new hotels are being built in and around Sapa. Some of these hotels respect the local building techniques, but most of them don't. I wonder what will locals sell to the visitors, once part of their scenic views are not here anymore.

Weather in SaPa

The region of Sapa has two seasons, summer and winter. The summer season goes from April to November -- July and August are the hottest. If you are visiting Sapa during this season, bring t-shirts and a pullover for the day, and a jacket for the nights.

In winter it gets really cold here, sometimes (December-January-February) it freezes. Snow is not a common phenomenon.

If you are going to do some trekkings, bring all kind of clothes. I was told that not far from Sapa is the coldest place in Vietnam, and not far from there the hottest. And do not forget your hikingboots!

Itinerary from Hanoi to Sapa

You can get to Sapa on train or on bus from Hanoi. The train is more convenient. There is even a luxury train departing every evening to Lao Cai from Hanoi's main station. If you are traveling in a normal train, buy the soft sleeper tickets.

You get to Lao Cai at first time in the morning -- mostly before dawn. From there you get on a minibus, and in a couple of hours you are in Sapa. The views from the road are awesome.

Most of the times, you will have to wait till 12 to check into your hotel. Meanwhile you can go for a walk in the town center, have a good breakfast, and relax in one of the terraces. Once your room is ready, you can have a nap, take a shower and eat something. In the afternoon, you can visit the town in the valley down Sapa.

Sapa: Traditional saturday market

70 miles (110 km) from Sapa sits a town that you should not miss, Bac Ha. In this town takes place another famous local market every sunday. This market is less touristy than the one in Sapa.

In the market of Bac Ha you will have the chance to see more ethnic minority groups than in Sapa, but the infrastructure is not as good. For this reason I recommend staying in Sapa, and leaving early in the morning. You can get to Bac Ha on a mini bus or on a 4 wheeled vehicle from Sapa. Many of the tours that you can reserve in Hanoi offer the possibility to visit the two towns and their markets.

I was told the saturday market in Sapa was just a tourist attraction. I expected to find more foreigners than locals. But to my surprise, this was not the case. Of course there are tourists in the local markets, but most of the people I found were locals wearing their traditional clothes.

If you want to visit the market you have to come here on a weekend. The market is not difficult to find, just follow the people and you will get to the open air market. Once there you will see two big buildings. Inside one of them you will see plenty of souvenirs, on the second floor. In the other market you will find the local version of a mall. It is here where locals buy their clothes and appliances.

Bargaining and talking with sellers is part of the fun while in Sapa. Most of the hill tribe people I found, specially the young ones, spoke perfect English. The local's language skills were much better than in the other cities I visited in Vietnam.

Sapa, Black Hmong mother

One of the largest ethnic minorities in Vietnam is the Hmong Tribe. Hmong originally means "free people". They came from China, and now live in different regions throughout Vietnam.

The Hmong minority is divided in several subgroups. It is very easy to identify them, looking at the color of the clothes they wear. In the picture you can see a mother with her child. She belongs to the Black Hmong tribe.

By the way, when you come to Sapa, bring an empty bag. I am sure you won't resist the temptation to buy some of the handmade souvenirs on sale in the shops. You will find silver bracelets, clothes, pillows, blankets, hand bags ... at an exceptional price. You will also find Sapa souvenirs in every major town in Vietnam. When buying souvenirs made of fabrics look for imperfections. These are the ones made by local people. The souvenirs "too" perfect are produced in industries somewhere else (China).

Sapa, Dzao girls

Although you need to do a trekking to the mountains to see the "real Life" of the ethnic minorities, you can see people belonging to many tribes in the streets of Sapa.

The Red Dzao is one of the ethnic groups that live in the region. They are called Red Dzao because they always use red to decorate the clothes they wear. There are two curiosities about this tribe. The first is that you can know how rich a woman is by the size of her hat. the other is that the local canon of beauty says women have to shave their hair and eyebrows. Can you see the girl in the background? She shaved her eyebrows.

The Red Dzao live, mainly, in Tam Doung and Dong Van.

Sapa, Thai ladies

There are many reasons to come to Sapa. The two main are: to see how local minorities live in Vietnam, and to go on a trekking on the mountains.

People who live in the region still use their traditional clothes (young and old). They also speak their own languages -- each tribe speaks it own. The tribe people belong to a different ethnic group than the rest of the Vietnamese people.

Although the development of tourism is bringing a lot of money to the region, many locals still live a very basic life. Most of them spend all day long working on the fields. They sell what their families do not need in one of the weekend markets. And with the money they make, they buy something else. It is what experts call a subsistence economy. No luxuries here.

Sapa, view from Hotel!

The first thing you need to know is how to get here. You can come to Sapa on an organized tour or on your own. To book a tour, look for tourist agencies in the center of Hanoi. If you want to come to Sapa by yourself, the best option is the overnight train from Hanoi. It stops in Lao Cai, from where you can take a minibus to Sapa.

The length of your stay will depend on what you want to do. If you only want to visit the town and its surroundings, a couple of days will suffice. If you want to go on some trekkings you will need more days. The longer you stay in the area, the more unspoiled towns you will be able to visit. It is up to you.

The offer of accommodation in Sapa is quite varied. If you did not book in advance, go to Sapa center and look for a place to stay. It should not be difficult, unless you come on a weekend (the market day).

In the picture you can see the views from the hotel I stayed.

Welcome to Sapa!

Hello, welcome to my Sapa online presentation. Sapa is a town on the hills, 250 miles (390 km) northwest from Hanoi, very popular among foreign tourists due to its saturday market. On this day traditional people who live in the surroundings go to the market to interchange their goods. Tribe people still go to the saturday market, but today they are more interested in selling souvenirs to foreign tourists.

Although some guides say tourism has developed so fast in the region that the town of Sapa has lost part of its interest, I disagree. I really enjoyed my stay in Sapa, and I do recommend visiting it. Especially if you like trekkings. The mountainous region of Sapa is the perfect destinations for hiking.

If you want to see some of the traditional people who live in the area, want to know which excursions one can do from here, and want to see some nice pictures of the landscapes in the region, stay with me. I will try to show you all that on the following pages.