Shock, horror, and a definite intake of breath—I have just read a disgruntled traveler’s review of Sapa in the north of Vietnam. According to the review, the town is overrun with tourists and scarred with unsightly construction. Heaps of trash litter the roads, and the food served at the restaurants is labeled as a 'foodies hell.'
This differs from the Sapa I remember from years ago when it was a stunning landscape of ribboned rice paddies hugging hillsides and a quaint village where I didn't have one bad meal. As with many destinations, Sapa may have become a victim of its beauty. Hordes of tourists equate to economic progress in poor, remote areas. But there's a fine line when a lack of planning impacts a tourist experience. If the article is believed and there’s no reason why it wouldn’t be true, rather than giving Sapa a wide berth while in Vietnam, my advice is to stay outside of the town where you can still fall in love with its breathtaking landscape of ancient rice terraces that have been farmed for centuries. Or, if you are like me and the mayhem of development doesn't bother you, stay in town: whether it's good or bad—that’s travel.
Sapa is a market town, its locals include the ethnic minorities of the Hmong, Dao, Giay, Xa Pho, and Tay. It’s perched in one of the highest valleys in Vietnam, where ancient carvings on boulders, thought to be from 2,000 years ago, lay in the shadow of the highest peak in the country, Fansipan.
A hiking mecca for the outdoor enthusiast, Sapa sits 1.560 meters above sea level, up in the clouds. Getting there is an adventure as there's no airport in its remote location in the northwest mountainous Lao Cai Province. You can experience the incredible landscape flitting by when you get a train from Hanoi—8 hours—then it’s a tortuous bus ride along a road with perilous drop-offs into white nothingness. It's a continuously winding and narrow road for an hour from the train station to the streets of Sapa. A new expressway now allows tourists to grab a bus from Hanoi to Lao Cai that will only take 5 hours—if you are in a hurry. For the brave soul who knows how to expertly ride a motorbike with an international motorbike permit, it's a case of rug-up against the cold and being taken on a magical journey with gob-smacking views for about ten hours.
A carpet of bright wildflowers and cherry blossoms smothering roadsides and fields will greet you during the spring months of March to May, with April being the month of unique and traditional festivals. Waterfalls are gushing, and dirt roads become muddy rivers during the wet summer months, June to August. The spectacular rice terraces form silky weaving stripes of gold during the harvesting months of autumn, September to November. While the bitter cold of winter when pea-soup fog descends over the dramatic landscape and temperatures drop to freezing—December to February—should be avoided unless you like wearing five layers of clothing and sitting by a fire sipping Vietnamese coffee.
The tourist drawcard is the spectacular backdrops of rugged green mountains, gushing rivers crowned with frothy white water, and rice terraces cascading down high slopes hiding small ramshackle hill-tribe villages. The charm of Sapa hides in its quiet rural countryside, where some fantastic luxury accommodation options have sprung up. Ville de Mont Mountain Resort is a boutique hotel focused on indigenous architecture and nature conservation. A striking vision with French nuances, it sits in an old samu pine forest with villa balconies overlooking the Muong Hoa Valley and the iconic Fansipan peak in a ‘sea of clouds.' Topas Ecolodge, clinging to a mountain hillside about 45 minutes outside of Sapa town, is another outstanding accommodation option. Minimalistic in style, there are only 49 bungalows of understated elegance, allowing the startling raw beauty outside to dominate the views.
For those who love the influences of the French colonial days in Vietnam, Hotel de la Coupole, sitting in the middle of town, is draped in the elegance of the 1920s and 1930s Indochine era. Every corner of this decadent hotel is awash in a sophisticated bohemian vibe where the luxurious French panache meets hill-tribe influences. Opened in December 2018, here you can wallow in elegance before an outdoor fireplace as you sip French bubbles in the Absinthe bar perched on the rooftop overlooking the haze of cloudy mountains.
Sapa is not just about red mud and misty mountains: explore the Ancient Stone Field in the Muong Hoa Valley, marvel at the Silver Waterfall gushing from the height of 200m into the valley below, gape at the grand panoramic view over the countryside from the Sky Gate, and above all, poke your nose around in childish wonder inside the Cave of Fairies.
Gail Palethorpe, a self proclaimed Australian gypsy, is a freelance writer, photographer and eternal traveller. Check out her website Gail Palethorpe Photography and her Shutterstock profile.
