Sapa

In Northern Vietnam, the mystical city of Sapa sits in the heart of mountain ranges where rice terrasses offers fantastic panoramas

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Updated:

October 30, 2017

Flying Sardines

We had left you on a rather wet note in our last publication. So we were on our return to Hanoi to catch a night bus to the northwest toward the popular town of Sapa.

Located at the altitude of about 1400 meters, surrounded by mountains including Mount Fansipan, Vietnam’s highest peak with its 3143 meters, Sapa is known for treks that can be done in the surrounding rice fields. Sapa is also the city under construction in the clouds, this is how Pierre and I have named it. Everything started with our first taxi adventure. The taxi driver had not put his counter at zero. So we began our race at 30,000 VND, equivalent to 1.50$ Pierre and I have advised him to put it at zero but he made a sign that everything was okay. Since he didn’t want to listen to us, we opened our doors of the taxi still in mouvement. The driver stopped the car and we got out, leaving the suitcases the trunk, good thing that the driver finally complied and we finaly left with a counter at the 0.00 mark. After the mattress on the floor in the May Châu homestay and the uncomfortable night in the night bus from Hanoi and Sapa, we were so happy to have a great room at the Black H’mong View hotel.

Again, the temperature is not on our side, we had almost not seen blue sky during our 5 days in the area. Despite Mother Nature, we still went to visit the Ham Rong Park. The park is located on a mountain in the middle of Sapa town. We visited beautiful gardens and took several pictures of the spectacular views of the surroundings. This really is a park not to be missed despite the 70,000d per person for the access. It’s huge and we spent at least 2 hours getting lost in this beautiful place in the middle of Sapa.

We could not miss a hike in the rice fields. Even with the strong presence of the clouds that morning, we decided to go anyway. It was very slippery but our H’mong guides, agile as mountain goats with their rain boots and a baby on their back, could help us so we didn’t have our butt in the mud. These little women held us, Pierre and I, as champions. With the clouds, the rice fields were splendid landscapes, the combination of fog and clouds made the landscape look a little mystical. It gave us, in the end, beautiful photos. We had a lunch in an ethnic village with great people from Italy and Germany and after we ate, we were on our way back to Sapa.

For our third day, we decided to rent scooters and go to the Tram Ton pass. How lucky we were, we even had a little bit of sunshine. Tram Ton is known for its breathtaking sceneries. It is located between Sapa and Lai Chau, on the north slope of Fansipan. The pass is located at an altitude of 1900 meters. This is the highest pass in Vietnam. Little funny fact: Sapa is the coldest place in Vietnam, they even have snow every winter, and curiously, Lai Chau is sometimes one of the hottest. We also had a stop at the Love waterfall. We had to go down lots a stairs to see that beautiful waterfall. We had been told that the Silver waterfall were not that great, so we past on that one.

Sapa gave us good dining experiences. The small and cozy restaurant, Little Sapa was so good that we went back 2 times. We discovered there the Lau (hotpot). It is like a fondue where we cook meat, noodles and vegetables in a delectable hot broth. It was simply delicious, a bit off-budget, but it was worth the the extra money. We also tried one of the BBQ restaurants. We choose meats and vegetables and they grilled it on the BBQw. Good and cheap, we loved it. Do not miss the H’mong Sisters bar. Nice atmosphere, good choice of music and they offer “happy hour”. The place to go in Sapa to have a drink, play pool or watch a football game.

Don’t go to Sapa to discover a magnificent and picturesque mountain town because you’ll be disappointed. It is a touristic town, but it is well situated for many activities in the countryside and surrounding villages. (picture of people in sapa)

Following the recommendations of a friend (thank you Mélissa), after Sapa, we headed further north to see the city of Ha Giang. And from there, maybe, make the loop in scooter towards the hinterland. On the bus to Ha Giang, we met a French couple (hello and thanks to Charlotte and Simon) and they gave us the last push needed to go on the adventure of the less crowded northern roads.

So after the two nights in our honeycomb hotel (www.ongvang.com) we left for a 5 days trip exploring this area still well kept tourists.

We use different websites and phone apps for our hotel, hostels, homestay, apartment or house reservations. Very convenient and often cheaper than in person at the location. By clicking on the icons below, you’ll get a discount on your next booking and at the same time, we will also receive a discount of our own.

WHAT A DEAL, NO?