Sapa

Sapa is an attractive mountainous town in the northwestern Vietnam where is endowed by picturesque mountains and rice terraces. 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. Sapa is famous with  authentic rugged scenery, mild weather and rich culture diversity. 

Sapa was found during the inspection about the hill tribes under the French colonial period. The first exploring group came to Lao Cai on 1898. Main hill tribes in Sapa are H’mong, Tay , Dao Do , Giay, Xa Pho. And now, Kinh people moved there a lot for doing business as Sapa is on development as a special tourist attraction. Sapa surrounds by Hoang Lien Son mountain range and the famous Fansipan summit that creates very nice climate around the year. It is Spring in the morning that is around 15^oC, warmer at noon as Summer with light sunshine and breezes , foggy in the evening as Fall and Winter season at night. Sapa is one of very rarely places in Viet Nam where it was snowing sometimes. 

Sapa means sand village and is located at the height of 1,500 meters on the mountainside of Lo Suay Tong. From the top of this mountain, we can see the southeast of Sapa with the height of 2,228 meters. So, Sapa is cool around year and cold in winter. Visiting Sapa in summer, you can feel four seasons in one day. In the morning and afternoon, it is cool like weather of spring and autumn. At noon, it is sunny as the weather of summer. It is cold as the weather of winter in the evening.

Because of the cool weather, there are many kind of flowers in Sapa that cannot be found anywhere in Vietnam as peach, apricot, plum, cherry, and orchids. Sapa is the most beautiful in spring when many kind of flowers are blooming with different colors.

Sapa has many natural landscapes as Ham Rong Mountains, Silver Waterfall, Rattan Bridge, Bamboo forest, Ta phin Cave, etc. Sapa is also famous with people love trekking and climbing to reach the top of Fansipan Mountain, the highest mountain in Vietnam at 3,143m.

Besides, Sapa is home to many ethnic minority groups livning around Sapa such as: H’mong, Dao, Tay, Giay, Muong, Thai, Hoa, Xa Pho, etc. The two biggest ethnic minority groups are Red Dao living majority in Ta Phin village  and Black H’mong in Cat Cat village. Some ethnic minority groups have an unique embroidered technique. Therefore, you can buy some item embroidered products made by local ethnic people such as H’mong, Dao.  

In addition, there are many kind of flowers that cannot be found anywhere in Vietnam as peach, apricot, plum, cherry, and orchids. Sapa is the most beautiful in spring when many kind of flowers are blooming with different colors.

Sapa is known as for some unique festivals such as: Roong Pooc festival of Giay Ta Van people, Sai san festival of H’mong people, Tet Nhay festival of Red Dao people, etc. The most famous market in Sapa is love market where people sing many folk song of H’mong people and the sound of flute of Dao people.