Trek Fansipan Sapa

Nestled among the Hoang Son Lien Mountains, Sapa is an excellent gateway to the H’mong and Dao villages that dot the landscape of Vietnam

The first thing travelers should know about Sapa is that it is one of highlands in Vietnam – 1,600m above sea level. That means a leisurely stroll to the nearest tribe village is more like an hour-long trek up and down some steep slopes. It is not a destination that travelers should tackle without some mental and physical preparation.

Having said that, Sapa is a sight to behold. The Hoang Son Lien range of mountains, which dominates it and includes Fansipan – Vietnam’s highest peak at 3,143m – is the eastern extremity of the Himalayas.

Travelers to Sapa in summer can feel the climate of four seasons in one day. In the morning and afternoon, it is cool like the weather of spring and autumn. At noon, it is as sunny and cloudless as the weather of summer. And it is cold in the evening.

The terraced fields in Sa Pa

With no advance warning of a thunderstorm short and heavy rains may come at noon on any summer day. Subsequently, a rainbow appears, transforming Sapa into a magic land, which for years has been a constant source of poetic inspiration, lights up the whole region. [...Read more]

Imaginative travellers looking to head to south-east Asia might want to make Vietnam a priority stop-off, as a website has provided tips on how to survive a stay in the country.

Ha Giang Province Vietnam

Suite101 has reported that following the culmination of war in recent years, the nation’s economy has started to “boom” and visitor numbers are on the increase.
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The mountainous town offers a glimpse into a world of mysterious minority cultures and luscious landscapes. The Red Dao, named for their colorful headdresses, take a break during the long trek to the market.

The Queen of the Mountains in Vietnam, Sapa, overlooks a beautiful valley with lofty mountains towering over the town on all sides. The spectacular scenery surrounding Sapa includes cascading rice terraces which spill down the mountains like a patchwork quilt. The mountains are often shrouded in mist that rolls back and forth along the peaks, offering tantalizing glimpses of what lies in wait on a clear day. The valleys and villages around Sapa are home to a host of hill-tribe people who wander around town buying, selling and trading.

Trekking in Sapa, Vietnam

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Temperatures in Sapa, the most famous tourist site of northern Vietnam, are less than 4oC, but the town is very crowded with foreign and local visitors who come to celebrate Christmas. VietNamNet reports in photos:

Despite the cold spell, ethnic minority girls still travel to town from their far-away villages.

The cold doesn’t stop visitors.

All hotels decorate their entrances to welcome Christmas.

Hoang Manh Dung, Director of the Sapa Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, told VietNamNet that the number of foreign visitors for Christmas has risen sharply in 2009.

The town’s church in fog.

Source: PV/VNN

Recommendation for Trekking Fansipan , Vietnam:
Sapa Travel Guide
Trekking Travel Guide
Trek Fansipan Tours

Bac Ha fair opens every Sunday in Bac Ha district, the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai. The fair is known for its cultural identity of ethnic minority people.

The fair attracts not only domestic tourists but also many foreigners who come to look for colourful brocade, skirts of Mong ethnic minority people and specialities of the mountain region.

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Editor’s Note: This is the second installment focusing of Cheryn’s travels in Vietnam. Be sure to read Cheryn’s other blog post about Hanoi’s old quarter.

Sapa field, Vietnam

We arrived at the train station in the city of Lao Cai and boarded a bus to Sapa. An hour later, the landscape changed from flat to mountainous and the views became dramatic, with terraced rice paddies trickling water from one to another and colorful hill tribe people on the side of the road, carrying baskets of leaves on their backs or selling veggies and fruit from roadside stalls.

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Guide for traveling around Sapa. You can trek Mt. Fansipan – the highest peak in Vietnam, trek to Cat Cat, Ta Phin, Ta Van, Sin Chai villages,  or visit the incredible Tram Ton Pass. Check the article out for more details.

The easiest trek in town is to follow the steps up to the Sapa radio tower (admission 15,000) for killer views of the valley.

Montagnards from surrounding villages don their best clothes and go to the Sapa market  most days. Saturday is the busiest day, and town is choking with tourists as the evening “love market” is a big magnet for organized tour groups from Hanoi, lf you’d rather enjoy Sapa at a more sedate pace, avoid the Sat market.

The love market is speed dating minority style. Tribal teenagers trek into town to find a mate. It’s all very coy, but unlike many of the more remote love markets in the region, it has become very commercial in recent. These days there are more camera – toting tourists than love-sick Montagnards, as a smattering of opportunist prostitutes on the scene.

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I still can’t believe I did it (because everyone said the weather was too bad) but I did, I climbed Mt Fansipan… and when I say climbed, I seriously do mean CLIMBED because it certainly wasn’t like any other walk I have ever done!

It’s supposed to be the highest peak in Indochina at a height of 3143m and to get to the top usually takes 3 days, unless you are in incredibly good shape, lacking time and want to put yourself through hell and do it all in 2 days. So I thought I’d do it in 3 – on the first day this involved hiking to a base camp at 2000m, the second day was the ascent to the summit – going straight up 1000m – and the third day was easier, just involving hiking out of the jungle.

So from my first day in Sapa I was looking out for people to do the trip with me, which was harder than I expected. Sapa is a really beautiful town which feels just like the Alps, it is really relaxing, and I guess most travellers aren’t on holiday, especially during the rainy season, wanting to do a really tough climb! But I met an Israeli guy (Raz) who had just spent 4.5 years in the army who was interested in the climb, and then the next day we met Selyf (from Wales), who had climbed many mountains in the UK, so we booked the trek together. We did meet a few people who had come back, some having been turned back due to the bad weather, and no one was recommending the trip, everyone was saying it was too tough!!

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