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.

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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