Here are some tips for you to spend relaxing moments in the cool atmosphere of a sub-temperate country and explore the ethnic villages in the highlands.
Prepare
Because the weather in Sapa is quite cold in the early morning and at night, you should prepare a warm jacket. In addition, a pair of soft-soled shoes for climbing and boots in case of rain is very useful. In addition to a camera and phone for taking pictures, you can buy a map of Sapa in advance to know the route, avoid getting lost and allocate time reasonably.
You should prepare some snacks and bottled water to regain your strength on the way. Sometimes the candy packages you bring can be given as gifts to ethnic children. And it will not be redundant if you check the necessary documents such as driver's license, ID card... before going because they will be needed when renting a car or hotel room.
Travel
Train: Round-trip tickets are sold at Hanoi station, costing around 135,000 - 600,000 VND/person/way, depending on whether it is a seat, hard or soft bed, air-conditioned or not, 4 or 6-bed carriage. The Hanoi - Sapa route also has some luxury carriages (sleeper or seat) with wooden paneling, air-conditioned, spacious with prices ranging from 770,000 to 3.8 million VND/person/way.
Passenger trains usually leave in the evening, departing at 7:40 PM, 8:35 PM, 9:10 PM and 9:50 PM, taking about 8 hours to Lao Cai station. From here, you can take a bus for about an hour to Sapa town with a ticket price of 50,000 VND/way.
If you want to bring a motorbike, you can also send it by train, but only leave enough gas to get to the station because it will be drained when loaded on the train. The fee for sending a motorbike is 228,000 VND/bike.
Car: From My Dinh, Gia Lam, Giap Bat, Luong Yen bus stations, there are sleeper buses that take 8-9 hours to Lao Cai, with trips day and night. The price is about 200,000 - 280,000 VND/ticket/way. If you do not want to take another bus from Lao Cai to Sapa, you can buy a ticket directly from Hanoi to Sapa at some bus companies such as Sao Viet, Hung Thanh, Hai Van... for about 320,000 VND/person. You should book tickets in advance to get the best seats.
Motorbike: If you choose to go by motorbike, you can choose one of the following two ways:
- Route 1 via Lao Cai: Hanoi – Vinh Phuc – Viet Tri – Phong Chau – Doan Hung – Yen Bai – Lao Cai – Sapa (Total distance about 360 km)
- Route 2 through Lai Chau: Hanoi – Hoa Lac – Son Tay – Thanh Son – Along National Highway 32 – Sapa (Total distance over 420 km)
Compared to route 2, route 1 is closer and easier to go, but if you go through Lai Chau, you will conquer two of the legendary "four great passes" of the Northwest: Khau Pha and O Quy Ho.
Getting around Sapa: In addition to the tourist attractions in the town center that can be reached on foot, you should rent a motorbike for convenient exploration. The rental price is about 150,000 to 200,000 VND/day (gasoline included).
Accommodation
There are many options for overnight stays in Sapa. The most popular are 2-3 star hotels priced at 200,000 - 300,000 VND/room/night on Fansipan, Thac Bac, Cau May streets... If you want to relax, you can choose 4 star hotels located on Xuan Vien, Dong Loi, Muong Hoa streets, priced at 2-4 million VND/room/night. With homestays in Ta Van, Ban Ho, Ta Phin, Lao Chai communes..., you only have to pay 70,000 - 100,000 VND/person/night.
No matter which type you choose, you should book early, especially on holidays and Tet.
Playground
Ethnic villages: Cat Cat, Ta Van, Ban Ho, Ta Phin (8 to 20 km from the town center) are places where tourists can visit and explore the daily life and work of the people in the highlands of Sapa. With the pristine and charming mountain scenery, you will enjoy the fresh, cool air here.
Waterfalls: Silver Waterfall, Love Waterfall (12-15 km from town) are located quite close to the national highway, very convenient for tourists. From afar, you can hear the sound of the waterfall and the water gushing like a silver stream. In addition, the jumping fish waterfall in the middle of Ban Ho eco-tourism village is also very attractive when in the south wind season, schools of fish come here to lay eggs, jostling to jump up along the waterfall.
Cau May: About 17 km southeast of Sapa town, the bridge over the Muong Hoa River made of rattan is a very popular destination for many tourists. In addition to its wild beauty blending with the mountain and forest scenery, the bridge also brings a feeling of floating on clouds on foggy days.
Sapa Ancient Stone Field: This relic site is located in Muong Hoa valley, in the area of three communes Hau Thao, Su Pan and Ta Van, Sa Pa district. The stone field covers an area of 8 square kilometers with nearly 200 blocks of stone with strange patterns. This is a legacy of the presence of prehistoric people in Sapa.
Heaven's Gate: About 18 km north of Sapa town, this is the highest road in Vietnam that can be reached to admire Fansipan peak. Not only is it a beautiful viewing spot, the road to Heaven's Gate is also impressive as it winds between the mountainsides with long, hidden shadows of sunlight appearing and disappearing.
Fansipan: With an altitude of 3,143 m, known as the "Roof of Indochina", Fansipan is the destination of many young people who love to conquer. You can climb to the top of Fansipan on 2 routes: Suoi Vang - Tinh Yeu tourist route and the climbing route from Tram Ton to the top of Fansipan. Currently, other tourist routes in Hoang Lien National Park have temporarily stopped licensing and selling tickets.
In town: Sapa Lake, Ham Rong Mountain, Stone Church, Night Market,... are tourist attractions not to be missed when visiting Sapa town.
Eat, drink, relax
Grilled food: In addition to the specialties of grilled armpit pork, beef rolled in cabbage, grilled corn and potatoes, Sapa also has many delicious and unique grilled dishes such as grilled eggs, grilled intestines, grilled stomach, grilled chicken, grilled purple potatoes, chicken eggs, grilled duck eggs...
You can enjoy these grilled dishes on Ham Rong street along the stone church, Sapa lake area or in any small corner in town, even tourist spots such as Love waterfall, Muong Hoa valley.
Other dishes: Sapa is also famous for dishes made from salmon, sturgeon, black chicken and vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli, red radish, chayote, mustard greens... All can be combined into a hot pot with the typical Sapa flavor that cannot be found anywhere else. Don't miss out on sticky rice, thang co, apple wine, Ban Pho corn wine... when you come here.
Sapa food market, restaurants on Xuan Vien street, Cau May, Thac Bac... are places you can stop by to choose specialties for lunch and dinner.
Coffee: Coffee shops in Sapa are quite popular, with many beautiful views, including Cau May Street with its romantic European style. Enjoy a cup of hot coffee in the cool mist, you will feel the unique and interesting sound of highland life.
Bar: If you like something more lively, you can visit some bars such as Tau Bar, Delta Bar, Royal Bar, Valley View Bar in Cau May, Bamboo Bar, Mountain Bar & Pub, H'mong Sister Ba in Muong Hoa, Gecko Sapa Bar in Ham Rong...
Dao leaf bath: The cost of the leaf bath service is about 200,000 VND/time. In addition to the Dao leaf bath facilities in Sapa town, many tourists also go to the Sa Pa Red Dao Cooperative, Ta Phin commune (12 km from town) to get this service.
Shopping
Peaches in baskets: A famous specialty as a gift, Sapa peaches have a sweet and sour taste. Besides Sapa market, you can buy peaches in baskets on motorbikes, sidewalks along the roads inside the town or from Sapa to Lao Cai. You should buy a basket to put the peaches in as a gift instead of a plastic bag because it can cause the peaches to be crushed.
Brocade: These can be decorative brocade panels or brocade patterned items such as scarves, bags, backpacks, pillowcases, skirts, shirts, blankets... Some shops selling brocade on Cau May street: Ms. Nguyen Lang Van's shop, Hue Silk shop, Sapa Mountain Town brocade shop, Sapa Forest Lan brocade shop... In a small corner on the 2nd floor of Sapa market, there are also many types of brocade of ethnic people with many patterns and motifs of the Mong people.
Tobacco, traditional medicine: In addition to some medicinal herbs such as licorice, atractylodes, acanthopanax, lotus seeds, lotus heart, notoginseng, angelica, ligusticum wallichii, atractylodes macrocephala, dodder seed... you can also buy them at the market or traditional medicine stores in Sapa: hawthorn, wild honey, lingzhi mushroom...
Souvenirs: You can buy some jewelry made from gold, silver, handicrafts as gifts at shops on Cau May, Muong Hoa, Fansipan streets such as Viet Silver, Muong Hoa shop, stone art shop, Sapa silver, Woodcarving shop...
Activities at Sapa Cultural Tourism Week 2014:
- Opening ceremony: 8:00 p.m. on April 30 at Sapa District Stadium.
- Festival in the clouds: 9:30 a.m. on May 2 at Ham Rong tourist area.
- Mong Cat Cat village cultural festival: 9am on May 1st at Cat Cat village, San Sa Ho commune.
- Program "A day as a Sa Pa farmer": 9am on May 3 at Ta Phin commune.
- Red Dao's initiation ceremony: 9am on May 3 at Sapa town's courtyard.
- Artistic photography exhibition "Colors of Sapa": 9am on April 30 at Xuan Vien park, Sapa district.
There are also other activities such as: performing folk songs, folk dances and folk games at Ham Rong Mountain Eco-tourism Area; Highland food fair at the Information and Tourism market; Displaying flowers, ornamental plants and typical products of 6 ethnic groups at the central park of Sa Pa town; Love market night at Thac Bac, Cau May, Ham Rong, Xuan Vien streets; 7th Fansipan Open Tennis Tournament at Sapa District Tennis Court.
