Sapa is a small town in the northern mountainous region of Vietnam Located in the heart of the Hoang Lien Mountains Here You can climb to the roof of Indochina at Fan Si Pan Peak Overlooking the spectacular terraced fields Covering the misty mountains You can also visit traditional villages And experience the diverse culture of the ethnic minorities Departing from Hanoi to Sapa Takes about a 5-hour drive Typically, a 2-3 day itinerary is arranged If you arrive late on the first day You can stroll around the town first Sapa town is centered around Sun Plaza and the adjacent church Hotels closer to Sun Plaza are more convenient Several places worth visiting in the town include Sapa Church Sapa Lake, Sapa Market All within walking distance from the town center The most bustling during the day is the town center at Sun Plaza In front of the plaza You often see People in ethnic minority costumes shuttling and selling Street performances are also common in front of the plaza Sapa Church is a small stone church built by the French The church is right in front of the plaza And is still a central landmark of the town Open on Sundays and specific evenings For masses and prayers Sapa Lake is a 5-minute walk from the church One of the main attractions of the town To enjoy Sapa from the water You can also rent a boat for a lake tour Sapa Market is the best place to buy souvenirs Where you can find local handicrafts, various goods from north to south Prices can be very reasonable But bargaining is a must At night, The area around Sun Plaza is brightly lit The nearby Hot Pot Street is a great place to dine Although hot pot is not a traditional local dish Due to Sapa's high altitude The weather is relatively cold Therefore, hot pot has become very popular since its introduction to Sapa And has become a local specialty Lamb, beef, pork, and fish Are common choices in Sapa hot pots Paired with fresh local vegetables and spices The taste is unique In Sapa, we have tried several good hot pot restaurants Details are provided in the link below The next day, we headed to the must-visit Fan Si Pan Peak in Sapa The journey began with the first segment on a monorail train The station is located inside Sun Plaza It's easy to find the signs to the station after entering Sun Plaza There are plenty of train services Waiting time doesn't exceed 15 minutes The train goes from the town center to Muong Hoa Station The ride actually takes only about 5 minutes From the train, you can see the valley And Sapa's famous terraced fields If you like hiking You can actually spend two days trekking up the mountain But the traditional trekking route Is now served by Sun World's cable car Taking us up the mountain in just 5 minutes You get off at Muong Hoa Station for the first leg Here we'll transfer to the cable car Passing by some small shops and galleries Soon arriving at the cable car station in the same building Once on the cable car The cable car cabin is quite spacious Fitting a dozen or so people With glass on all sides There's often heavy fog in the mountains Especially during winter But when the clouds clear, the view is quite clear This cable car ride is a major highlight for many tourists Over a 6-kilometer-long route The scenery is absolutely beautiful With vast rice field landscapes The cable car gradually ascends the mountain Part of the journey is completely enveloped in clouds Continuing upwards, breaking through the clouds Reveals a breathtaking sea of clouds The Fan Si Pan journey takes about half a day Including cable car and entrance ticket packages Which can be purchased online Entry is through scanning a QR code Refer to the link below for details Refer to the link below for details Hello everyone, After getting off the train, we actually went through A street similar to A food street of sorts Then took an elevator And now we've come out Apparently, the station is in this direction After going up the mountain, It's quite cold We're heading up the mountain first To find the monorail station Walking up the stairs, we'll pass some temples Which we can skip for now On the way down, We'll pass them again Everyone, we finally found the train station It's still shrouded in mist The monorail station here has small carriages So it's the station with the longest wait Out of the three train segments We waited about 10 minutes to get on the train The ride actually lasts only 2 minutes If you're lucky And the fog is less This ride also offers the best view of the big Buddha Alright, we have now arrived, we've reached the summit Although we got here by monorail and cable car And then, the top looks like this It's quite crowded And there's a viewing platform over there Hopefully, we'll encounter clear weather soon Fan Si Pan Peak is the highest peak in the Indochinese Peninsula Known as the 'Roof of Indochina,' it tops the Sapa tourism list The reason is the spectacular view from the high mountains Overlooking the entirety of Sapa When the clouds clear, The scenery from the summit's viewing platform is unsurpassed The summit is quite crowded We reached the top easily by taking the transport Hiking up the mountain would mean a strenuous climb of 600 steps Here you can see a flagpole Marking the summit's location This flagpole is claimed to be the highest in Indochina The base is decorated with intricate reliefs Featuring things like Cham towers, stilt houses, etc. Representing the essence of Vietnamese culture We bought a one-way ticket for the uphill train For descending from the mountain, we need to walk down 600 steps This staircase is quite steep If you have knee problems, You can also buy a ticket to take the train down Along the way, you'll pass several new attractions of Fansipan Legend Including temples and gardens Such as the Guanyin statue Bao An Zen Monastery, the Great Buddha, the Bell Tower, and the Stupa The temples including the Great Buddha are open for visits On a clear day, They also add a nice touch to the mountain scenery Next, you can head to Cat Cat Village Cat Cat Village is located at the base of Muong Hoa Valley It's a downhill walk from Sapa town Accessible on foot We chose to walk for half an hour To enjoy the scenery along the way Entering Cat Cat Village requires a ticket You can buy it at the entrance before entering the village There's a map at the village entrance Listing the main attractions The main attractions are on the dark blue route After passing the ticket-checked village entrance Walk down the old street Cross a bridge and pass through the valley Making a full circle Walking leisurely, the visit takes about half a day After buying the ticket, enter the old street Where you can visit along the way Cat Cat Village was established in the mid-19th century And is home to the Black Hmong people The scenery is quite beautiful Even just a simple walk Can be relaxing Like visiting an art gallery There are many scenic spots in the village With photo platforms set up everywhere The village is surrounded by mountains From the village's viewing platforms, you can see the terraced fields And Fan Si Pan Peak My first impression of Cat Cat Village was actually its old street Which is quite commercialized In the early 20th century, The French discovered this village And developed it into a holiday resort Later it became one of Sapa's Most representative ethnic minority cultural attractions So now Cat Cat Village, apart from natural scenery, Also has many homestays, small shops, Where villagers display and Sell various local handicrafts Some tourists Like to rent traditional costumes in Cat Cat Village As part of their cultural experience Here you can also see the traditional houses of the Black Hmong Try ethnic minority cuisine, and so on There's also a waterfall in the village Named Cat Cat Which is actually the origin of the name Cat Cat Village Then you will reach the center of the village The scenery is still very beautiful No wonder the French chose Cat Cat Village to develop Into a holiday resort In the village center, there are regular Black Hmong dance performances The performance lasts about 25 minutes After passing the Love Bridge, you can reach the performance site After watching the performance, It's a good opportunity to enjoy the scenery of the valley along the river Walking all the way to exit through Cat Cat Bridge If you want to call a car on the way back, There are many motorbike taxis soliciting business on the roadside When we were there, most of them were asking for about 50K per trip And you can bargain If you like to deeply explore culture And immersive experiences with spectacular mountain scenery, Finding a favorite trekking route in Sapa To admire the beautiful terraced fields and mountain views And visiting ethnic minority villages is a must The Sapa area is rich in ethnic minority cultures Including several different groups Each group has its own unique language, clothing, and traditions This time we chose A less touristy trekking route in Muong Hoa Mountain Passing through Hang Da Village and Muong Hoa Village The whole trip takes about 5 hours Covering approximately 12-15 kilometers The initial part of the mountain trail is quite steep, But we brought along trekking poles And were fully prepared, So it was a relatively easy ascent In about an hour, We reached the mountain top The summit offered beautiful sea of clouds When the mist cleared, We could see the border between Vietnam and China, and the peak of Fan Si Pan Hiking and taking the Fan Si Pan cable car up the mountain Offer different experiences Hiking feels closer to nature This is the path we took up In the distance, somewhat faint, is Fan Si Pan Mountain Continuing forward, We arrived at Hang Da Village, A Black Hmong village The Black Hmong are the most populous ethnic minority in Sapa Typically, Hmong villages are self-sustaining with farming And you can see various animals like cattle, sheep, chickens, and pigs around We had lunch here The advantage of being in a small group is the freedom to choose our meal We asked our guide To order some typical Hmong home-cooked dishes for us The dishes included tomato with tofu, stir-fried cabbage, Carrots stir-fried with pork, Spring rolls, vegetable soup, stir-fried chicken, etc. The flavors were different from typical Vietnamese cuisine And were more reminiscent of Taiwanese home cooking The afternoon route was set to pass through farmlands Local crops Because it's quite cold in Sapa, Aside from rice, The main fruits grown are peaches, pears, etc. The most common crop we saw was bananas The Hmong use local plants To make dyes And weave bags Using materials found locally Here, the main staple food is rice The planting starts in April, and the harvest season is in August and September The rice fields of Sapa are beautiful To see the most beautiful terraced fields, One should come during the harvest season in August To see the golden rice fields We visited in December And saw the fields in their fallow period We saw some little lambs Grazing in the fields They were eating grass We were halfway through our walk And enjoying the beautiful sky Then we saw a cow blocking the path "Hi, hello" "Hey, hi" There were more below "Hi" Hello everyone, we are now walking through the village In the middle of Muong Hoa Valley They have built a bamboo house here With a platform on top To view the terraced field landscape It's very spectacular And you can also see the town center of Sapa below We crossed the ridges Heading towards Muong Hoa Village in the valley At the end of the journey We visited gardens in the village, had tea And learned about the Hmong lifestyle The people here Still live a simple rural life Growing their own vegetables and busy with farming Many Western tourists enjoy this atmosphere And arrange two-day, one-night stays To stay in the village And spend the evening chatting and drinking tea With the local ethnic minorities Finally, a motorbike taxi took us back to the hotel Concluding our journey More information can be found in the description section If you enjoyed our video, please subscribe to @travelhackfun YouTube channel!
