Sapa Travel Guide

Many ethnic minorities live in and around Sa Pa. Excluding the ethnic Vietnamese Kinh people, eight different ethnic minority groups are found in Sa Pa: H'mong (pronounced mong), Dao (pronounced yao), Tay, Giay (pronounced zai), Muong, Thai, Hoa (ethnic Chinese), and Xa Pho (a sub-set of the Phu La minority group). However, the last four groups comprise fewer than 500 people in total. The population of the district was estimated at 31,652 (1993) of which 52% were H'mong, 25% were Dao, 15% were Kinh, 5% were Tay, and 2% were Giay. Around 3,300 people live in Sa Pa town, while the remainder are peasant farmers distributed unevenly throughout the district.

Many older women in particular make items such as ethnic-style clothing and blankets to sell to tourists. Striking up a conversation with them can be very rewarding and their spoken English is impressive. Sadly, however, doing this in Sa Pa town itself will sometimes lead to a scrum as a multitude of vendors taste a potential sale.

Children from these ethnic minorities often help support their families financially through selling trinkets to tourists. They peddle small metal or silver trinkets, embroidered pillow cases and friendship bands in the main town, and often walk for several hours from their villages to reach town, perhaps skipping school. At the end of the day, some take a motorbike ride back to their village, some walk home and some sleep in the market. Do not encourage this by buying from children. Buy from adults.

Girls and boys marry young (around 15–18) and often have two children by the time they are 20 years old. Poverty has led to a great number of girls leaving their villages each day to go selling in Sa Pa town, and depending on their luck, may only have one meal per day.

Weather
In winter (the four months from November to February), the weather in Sa Pa is invariably cold, wet and foggy (temperatures can drop to freezing and there was snow in 2011). Travellers have rolled into town on a gloriously clear day and then spent a week trapped in impenetrable fog. When it is like this there really isn't very much to do. Also the rice paddies are brown and empty (they are planted in spring), the paths very muddy and slippery and the glorious vistas of summer are completely hidden in the mist. If you choose to visit in winter, take along warm clothes or prepare to be cold and miserable as many hotels do not have efficient heating in their rooms. During that time, the more upmarket hotels that do have heating fill up quickly, so make advance reservations if you can afford not to freeze.
 It rains often during the month of August, especially in the mornings.
However, if you choose to come in summer, say in May, then be prepared to sweat. Hostels may not have air-conditioning so check them out first before making your booking. If you have come to see the rice terraces, you will be disappointed as you would not be seeing beautiful, green rice terraces as the local farmers would have just started to work on the field.
If you do not intend to hike in the countryside around Sa Pa on your own, you can join a tour or arrange a private guide who will take you to visit the sights. Your hotel should be able to assist. If you do not feel up to hiking all the way, arrange to hike out of Sa Pa and return by Jeep, minibus or motorcycle, or pick a tour that provides transportation all the way.
Admission fees are required to visit most of the villages. One popular, if rather touristy, tour visits two villages near Sa Pa, Lao Chải and Tả Van, including a lunch stop (admission fee: 40,000 dong in August 2012). Tả Giàng Phình and Bản Khoang are less touristy but much further away from Sa Pa. Other villages worth visiting include Sín Chải (20,000 dong in August 2012), and Má Tra and Ta Phìn (30,000 dong in August 2012 for both).
    

•    Cát Cát (A few kilometres' walk from Sa Pa. You're not likely to get lost. Just walk down the road out of Sa Pa, which should be marked on maps, and after a while you'll find a path which descends the hill to your left. This path runs through the village before climbing another hill back to the road.). This walk provides a good chance to observe Vietnamese farming and farm animals, and there are excellent views. The walk back up can be difficult (it is steep in parts), but once you get back onto the road there are plenty of enterprising locals ready to take you back to Sa Pa on motorbikes (40,000 dong per person per bike). Walking down you will see a few cottage industries like weaving, carving, and art shops. In the middle of the trek, you come to a rest stop, with a so-so waterfall, and a supposedly minority village which is a block of dwellings with no sign of any activity. A nice stroll if you have a morning or afternoon free. Persons of limited mobility should skip this hike. Admission: 40,000 dong (Aug 2012).
    

•    Love Waterfall and Silver Waterfall (Thác Tình Yêu; Thác Bạc) (30 min drive from Sa Pa). Love Waterfall (Thác Tình Yêu), which lies within Hoàng Liên National Park (Vườn quốc gia Hoàng Liên; declared an ASEAN Heritage Park). It takes 30 minutes to walk from the entrance of the park to the waterfall. The path is paved with flat but slightly uneven stones and has many steps going up and down. Silver Waterfall (Thác Bạc), regarded by some travellers as less picturesque than Love Waterfall, is alongside the road between Sa Pa and the entrance to Hoàng Liên National Park. Love Waterfall: 35,000 dong; Silver Waterfall: 10,000 dong (Aug 2012).
    

•    Massage. Numerous shops along Cầu Mây Street, the town's main street, provide foot and body massages. Many hotels also offer in-room massages.
  

 •      Phan Si Păng (Fansipan). At 3,143m (10,312 ft), Phan Si Păng or Fansipan is the highest mountain in Indochina (Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam), and lies within the Hoàng Liên National Park (Vườn quốc gia Hoàng Liên). Hikes to the summit lasting from 1-3 days can be arranged from tour companies in Sa Pa. Most of them recommend taking the 2- or 3-day options; few guides will take tourists on the round trip in a single day. A very small village offering accommodation and food is around 1,500m (4,920 ft), and there is an overnight camp at 2,800m (9,190 ft). Most booked trips will include the use of these facilities in their price should they be required. You should be fairly fit to attempt the ascent. 150,000 dong (Aug 2012).
  

•    Sa Pa Lake (5 min walk from the church). At the lake you can rent a pedal boat for 40,000 dong for 30 minutes, or 80,000 dong for an hour. Pedal boats are available only on weekends and when the weather is good.
    
    

•    Attire. Bring along a poncho and/or an umbrella. You can also buy cheap ones in the many shops around. Rubber boots and trekking shoes can be rented from some shops or perhaps borrowed from your hotel. Sizes may be limited.
  

 •    Cash. It is possible to change money, travelers' cheques, and get cash advances on credit cards at the bigger hotels in Sa Pa. Furthermore, there are ATMs on the main street that now accept all major cards such as Visa, MasterCard, or Maestro. If you intend to change foreign currency, make sure the notes you bring to Sa Pa are as new and crisp as possible. It is very hard to obtain local currency with tatty notes; some hotels will reject them. There have been reports of shops taking customers' crisp notes, switching them with cut and taped-up ones, and insisting that were the ones the customers gave them.
  

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Photography. Bear in mind that some of the minorities do not wish to have their photographs taken. Ask permission beforehand.