Search for Sapa and you’ll see images of cascading rice terraces of various shades of green against the backdrop of misty mountains, effervescent waterfalls, and smiling minority tribeswomen in traditional dress. Such scenes are stuff of travel dreams but in Sapa they really do exist.
After an 8 and a bit hour train journey from Hanoi, our minibus wound its way from Lao Cai train station into the mountains towards Sapa, revealing more and more of the breathtaking view with every turn. I was later happy to find the same stunning display from the balcony of our guesthouse room. On day two, the fog crept in, shrouding the town in a dream-like haze. The view was gone but Sapa retained its magic.
The secret ingredient came in the form of a Black Hmong girl called Yen. With baby Ma tied to her back, she approached us when we got off the minibus and helped us with directions to our guesthouse. Conscious of the fact that so far in Vietnam we’d only been offered help in return for monetary rewards, I offered her some Vietnamese dong which she politely refused but said that if we saw her around town we would be welcome to approach her for any help, local knowledge, and so on. At our request, Yen agreed to take us on a trek to her village, Bac Thao, 12 kilometers away from the centre of Sapa, the following day.
The following day we found Yen, with baby Ma and her sister in law, along the main street, lined with shops and cafes. She bought some food from the market for our lunch and the five of us set off to Bac Thao. Up the hill, through the tropical foliage and out onto the mountainous terrain with more beautiful views, which unfortunately for us, were veiled in fog that thickened and receded but never fully went away. Luckily, we didn’t have to look far to be impressed, as we passed through tiny settlements that felt like ghost towns, locals tending to their crop, buffalo, piglets and other livestock roaming in the greenery, and countless bamboo – enormous and dense – a constant reminder of our proximity to the jungle.
The path wasn’t hard to navigate and seemed to be a well known route amongst the local tour guides – we met a couple of other tourists with their guides along the way; however, I wouldn’t recommend attempting the trek on your own – we saw no signage, found no clear maps and google maps isn’t much help in this remote part of Vietnam. Go with a local guide – not only will you not get lost but you’ll also have great company and learn something along the way. Yen entertained us with local knowledge and gave us a real insight into the real everyday life of the Black Hmong in Vietnam, which made the experience so much more memorable and interesting.
Yen learned to speak English from tourists but spoke much better than the majority of Vietnamese people we had met up and down the country. Her simple way of life was at the very extreme of what we’d seen, yet her personality, attitude and way of communicating felt so much more comfortable and familiar. It seemed unbelievable that having spent two weeks traveling from Ho Chi Ming City to Hanoi, it was here – in the minority tribe community of Black Hmong, in the mountains of Sapa – that we would find a local whom we felt we could relate to and be so much at ease with.
Sapa was without a doubt the highlight of our trip to Vietnam and I just wish we’d had time to see more of the area, particularly Bac Ha and the colourful markets. If I am ever to return to this country, it will be to the beautiful mountains in the North and its kind and welcoming minority tribes people.
TRAVEL TO SAPA
Getting to Sapa is not difficult. Get on an overnight train (approximately 9 hours) from Hanoi to Lao Cai and then a minibus from Lao Cai train station to Sapa town centre. For detailed information on train travel visit Seat61.com Vietnam – Hanoi to Lao Cai
SLEEP IN SAPA
Dampness is ubiquitous here so as far as guesthouses go the drier the better. I stayed in Family Guesthouse (28 Muong Hoa Street, Sapa) which offered clean rooms, some with fantastic views. Staff were friendly and the accommodation cheap. They will also arrange minibus transport back to the train station in Lao Cai (50,000 dong per person).
Guesthouse accommodation was cheaper than the bigger cities in the rest of Vietnam. Make sure to see the room before agreeing to it, to check for visible dampness or go for a higher standard of accommodation if affordable.
EAT IN SAPA
The Village Noshery (42 Cau May Street, Sapa). Delicious food, both Western and Vietnamese, in a stylish setting, tastefully decorated with local handicrafts. This place is cosy, warm and offers free Wifi so we came back more than once.
TREK
Once in Sapa, it’s easy to meet a local tour guide as the minority tribes women are adept at approaching tourists. I would of course recommend to get in touch with the knowledgable and welcoming Yen whom you can reach on her mobile: (+84) 01626 397 635.
NEARBY
You don’t have to go on a long trek or hire a motorbike to discover Sapa’s surroundings. Cat
Cat Village is within walking distance (3 km downhill from Sapa). There’s an entrance fee and it certainly has a commercial feel, almost as if it was constructed solely for tourists, but once you get past the souvenir stalls, there is plenty of Vietnam’s natural beauty to be experienced.
HEALTH IN SAPA
The hypochondriac in me came close to excluding Sapa from my Vietnam itinerary, for its status as a high-risk malaria area but with a backpack full of malarone I braved it into Northern Vietnamese mountains. As it turned out, we saw a maximum of 2 mosquitos over 3 days in Sapa, in the middle of April.
