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Lao Cai - Sapa
Lao Cai Province is located in the north of the country. It borders the provinces of Ha Giang, Yen Bai, Son La, and Lai Chau, as well as the province of Yunnan in the People's Republic of China.
Lao Cai is a mountainous region. In the northwest of the province is Phan Xi Pang (a.k.a. Fansipan), Vietnam's highest mountain. The province is bisected by the Red River, the most significant river of northern Vietnam, which flows out of China towards the capital Hanoi. Much of the province is heavily forested. The temperature generally ranges between 18° and 28°, although lowland areas tend to have less variation than mountainous areas.
The population of Lao Cai province includes a number of Vietnam's ethnic minority groups, with the Hmong, Tay, and Dao being the most noticeable.
1. Sapa
Visitor to Sapa in summer can feel the climate of four seasons in one day. In the morning and afternoon, it is cool like the weather of spring and autumn. At noon, it is as sunny and cloudless as the weather of summer. And it is cold in the evening. With no advance warning of a thunderstorm short and heavy rains may come at noon on any summer day. Subsequently, a rainbow appears, transforming Sapa into a magic land, which for years has been a constant source of poetic inspiration, lights up the whole region.
The best time to witness the scenic beauty of Sapa is in April and May. Before that period, the weather might be cold and foggy; after that period is the rainy season. In April and May, Sapa is blooming with flowers and green pastures. The clouds that settle in the valley in early morning quickly disappear into thin air.
Sapa has many natural sites such as Ham Rong Mountain, Silver Waterfall, Rattan Bridge, Bamboo Forest and Ta Phin Cave. Sapa is also the starting point for many climbers and scientists who want to reach the top of Fansipan Mountain, the highest mountain in Vietnam at 3,143m. Hoang Lien Mountain Range is also called the Alps of the North Sea area since Fansipan Mountain is not only the highest peak in Vietnam, but also in the Indochina Peninsula. The pyramid-shaped mountain is covered with clouds all year round and temperatures often drop below zero, especially at high elevations.
The first thing you notice when approaching the resort town are some detached wooden mansions and villas perched on a hill top or hillside, behind thick pine forests and almost invisible on this foggy morning. Old and new villas with red roofs now appear and now disappear in the green rows of pomu trees, bringing the town the beauty of European towns.
Fresh and cool air in Sapa is an idea climate condition for growing temperate vegetables such as cabbage, chayote, precious medicinal herbs, and fruit trees such as plum, pear…
Sapa is home to various families of flowers of captivating colours, which can be found nowhere else in the country. When Tet, the Lunar New Year Festival, comes, the whole township of Sapa is filled with the pink colour of peach blossom brought from the vast forests of peach just outside the town. Sapa is regarded as the kingdom of orchids. Here, orchid lovers are even amazed by the choice, when trekking in the forest filled with several hundred kinds of orchids of brilliant colours and fantastic shapes, such as Orchid Princess, Orchid of My Fair Lady's Shoe. Some orchids are named after lovely singing birds such as the canary, salangane's nest, and more.
Sapa is most beautiful in spring. Apricot, plum and cherry flowers are splendidly beautiful. Markets are crowded and merry, and are especially attractive to visitors. Minority groups come here to exchange and trade goods and products. Market sessions are also a chance for locals to promenade and young men and women in colorful costumes to meet, date or seek sweethearts.
Visitors to Sapa will have opportunities to discover the unique customs of the local residents.
2. Ham Rong Mountain - Sapa
Sapa itinerary varies in sites: ancient stone-fields, silvery waterfall, conquer of Fansipan peak, a visit to villages of Mong or Dao ethnic minorities... but most remarkable is Ham Rong Mount.
It's locally rumored that: once upon a time, there were a couple of dragons, so mad in love that while a biblical flood was rising but they didn't know. When awake, it's too late for them, so that they were washed away separately. Even now, turned into stone, but due to be natural instinct, the female always looks to her lover in the west, the Hoang Lien Son range.
Ham Rong Mountain lies close to Sapa Town, it's nearly 2,000m high and looks very much like the dragon's head in the clouds. A climb to the peak is an excitement for all visitors. Visitors start to walk on stone steps, a winding trail higher up will help to see small streams lazily run through bushy foliages. About mid¬way, visitors, taken by surprise, will be in orchid -gardens, more than 400 species are in colourful blooms. Then, visitors come to a mini plain of all flower (cam tu cau, trang phao, lay an and do quyen...)
If visitors come here in spring, the surprise will be greater to see blooming peach, plum, apricot garden. At midway upwards, there are ethnic cu1tural villages where visitors will enjoy art-performance by Dao, Mong or Sa Pho minority girls and boys. The sound of bamboo flutes by Mong minority boys echo far and wide, their dances, songs, folksongs sound strong and romantic that will leave unforgettable impressions. A little further will be a mini stone-forest where thousands of stone columns, pillars that surprisingly open visitors’ eyes. A stroll among these pillars seems to be a walk in the fairyland, then visitors proceed to the heavens gate, a beaten trail leads to the cloud-yard and a TV station. San May (Cloud Yard) is an ideal location to view the whole panorama of Sapa.
Poetic and grandiose Ham Rong is said to be a fairy of Sapa by its natural and cultural landscapes. Every morning, thousands of flowers are blooming; it's the fascination of Sapa. A visit to Sapa in summer is a good chance to view Sapa afloat in white clouds.
3. Hoang A Tuong Castle (Hoang Yen Chao Castle)
Every year when spring comes, the whole district Bac Ha, Lao Cai province, is coated with a white shirt of plum flowers. In the white background stands out a mansion complex of Hoang Yen Chao - Hoang A Tuong (father and son) in the greenery of boundless forests and mountains. For over 80 past years, moss-grown Hoang A Tuong mansion has become a destination for visitors far and wide.
The mansion was built in 1914 and completed in 1921, the owner is a governor - Hoang Yen Chao, father of Hoang A Tuong. Before 1945, Bac Ha was a semi-feudalist colony. Rulers were exploiter (like mandarins in the lowlands). Backed by the French colonialist, Hoang A Tuong and his father Hoang Yen Chao cruelly exploited the locals who were forced to work as servants and slaves and to hand in precious and valuable properties. Enriched, the ruler forced the locals to build his mansion, he paid for French or Chinese architects who directly designed and supervised the construction.
The mansion complex of Hoang A Tuong is a closed in compound, a good harmony of Asian and European architecture, two staircases lead to sitting-room, a large ground where celebrations or dances took place. The main mansion is two-storeyed on an area of 420m2. Doors were built in medieval European styles, different in heights and widths, each floor is 3-room, the side-rooms spared for family activities, the central room reserved for meeting or receptions. Interiors or exteriors were beautifully decorated, on both sides were two column-scrolls, characterising best withes and happiness and prosperities.. Further on either sides are subordinate houses, lower than the main one, close to the houses are two smaller and lower houses reserved for servants or watch-men. The mansion is surrounded by thick walls with 3-door gates (One main and two-side gates and fox-hole for security watch. Total area of the compound is 4.000m2. Building materials: steel, cement, bricks.. were produced on the spot under direct surveillance of the Chinese or brought from the lowlands. It's said that the plaster was a mixture of cement and honey that the rulers forced the locals to hand in.
A strict policy to protect and preserve the mansion-complex by Lao Cai People's committee and Department of Commerce and Tourism is underway to lure visitors to the region, to find out and to understand history of a prosperous but bygone era.
At present, this castle is put under a restoration scheme to better help tourists get insight into the changes of the local life.
4. The caves of Muong Vi
Caves and caverns of Muong Vi are 28km from northeast of the provincial capital of Lao Cai, in a valley ringed by mountains
Na Rin Grotto is nearly 1km long with many entrance-doors. In the grotto there are stalagmites and stalactites shining in dim lights and many magnificent figures could be imagined along the stream banks. It's also called Hang Tien (Fairy Cave). Legend has it that the Ruler of the Heaven, allowed his three beautiful fairy daughters to visit the Earth for a short spell. But it was a different kind of spell that overcame them as they gazed at the beautiful landscape and decided they didn't want to return home. Father was furious and ordered the god of thunder (Thien Loi) to bring them back by force if necessary and mete out due punishment to his daughters for their disobedience, but the fairies hid in a cave 200m above a river. Failing to find them, Thien Loi trampled down a spur of the mountain inside which the fairies were hiding. Seeing no hope of escape, they threw themselves into the river and drowned. Their bodies drifted downstream, and some villagers found and buried the beautiful dead. And on that spot in present-day, Bao Nai Commune there stands a temple called Ba Co (three ladies) in honor of the three fairies. People come here from all over the place to worship, pray and offer incense.
On the slopes of a tall mountain is a windy cave, called Cam Rang, where the stalactites are thick and colored. Thousands of bats live near the entrance, and inside is a fantasy world of limestone pillars and needles.
Cam Tam is also the name of a grotto at the mountain’s base. The crystalline rocks are 3m tall, and the stalactites and stalagmites resemble the tools and cattle that generous fairies (a separate bunch from the three mentioned above) brought for the local farmers.
It's unsurprising that Muong Vi has been given national heritage status by the Ministry of Culture and Information. The place is like a natural gift to the people of the land. If you chance to visit any part of Lao Cai, remember to pick up some Tam Hoa and Hau plums, Ban Pho and San Lung rice wine, medicinal plants, and the gaily colored ethnic fabric (tho cam) spun and woven by ethnic minorities of Thai, Dao and Mong.
5. Bac Ha – A Destination
Bac Ha (Lao Cai) is well-known for its naturally sub-tropical scenery. Tam Hoa plums are really a local specialty: sweet and fresh. This seems to be created by its own land, people and nature.
Average temperature here is 19°C and it's not so cold as in Sa Pa. Bac Ha is specifically identified by each mount, each house and naturally-made carpet of white plum-flowers in spring. There are 14 ethnic minorities and the Mong ethnics count for 47% then the Dao, Tay, Nung... Mountaineers take care of their horses as their properties, means of transport and close friends.
Besides plums, Bac Ha is reputed for its alcohol (made of maize). Maize is grown on high mountains, its low in productivity but high in nutrition. To make alcohol, it's fermented with Hong My seed (the local only plant). Bac Ha alcohol is well-known due to its source of water. So it's surely believed never to have faulted one in Bac Ha market. Visitors can see the locals selling their own alcohol without feelings to be cheated.
Brocades are for sales in the market or in shops or by street-vendors. There are hand-made or manufactured products. It takes a village-girl even half a month to make a brocade of 20cm long. Their skirts or costumes cost them long time to make. Their dresses express their patience, skills. Visitors can see the girls making brocades right in the market.
Traditional values and identities are well-maintained in the market. Such markets as Bac Ha, Coc Ly have really become rendezvous for visitors at home and abroad. There is almost no bargaining or competition here. Sales girls look quite naive, sincere. They go to the market mainly to meet people and exchange funs. Especially, there is a horse market in town-centre, each market-day there are almost 100 - 200 horses for sales or exchange.
Mong or Tay or Dao ethnics’ minority girls and boys, with their best dresses on, go to the market to relax and meet their friends. At sunset, they leave with a promise to see again.
Visitors to Bac Ha are opportune to understand the local traditions and customs, taste local specialties, meet nice people and know a land code-named: white plateau.
6. Trekking tour to Ho Village draws discovery lovers
On a beautiful day, Ho Village can be seen from a favourable position in Sapa Town but the itinerary from Sapa to the village is much farther and there is another life there…
It takes about seven hours to walk to the Ho Village; therefore, tourists have to set off in the early morning. The village, whose centre is Ban Den hamlet, is a meeting point of Muong Hoa and La Ve Springs. It has become an attractive destination for tourists, particularly foreigners.
Unlike the Muong Hoa Spring that brings water to tens of villages where it crosses, the La Ve Spring flows directly to the Ho Village from the high mountain. Perhaps, due to the reason, the La Ve Spring looks more beautiful, secret and transparent than the Muong Hoa.
It is tremendous to swim in the very cool stream flowing out of the rock mountain in the middle of the vast green colour of forests. Not only the La Ve Spring, has the nature given the Ho Village a series of waterfalls such as Ca Nhay (Fish Jumping) and Seo Trung Ho. The Seo Trung Ho Waterfall, over 100m high, looks like a white silk strip crossing halfway down the mountain.
Travelling to the Ho Village is not appropriate for those without ambitions of discovery or strong legs because it is really challenging to overcome kilometres of mountain and hill paths.
Ho villagers mainly belong to the Tay ethnic minority group, whose lifestyles are quite similar to the Kinh (Viet) people. However, they live in stilted houses.
The homestay tours have been attractions of the Ho Village. About 30 large and pretty stilt houses in the Ban Den hamlet are used to serve tourists. It costs a tourist only a dollar and a half to stay overnight in the stilt house.
Tourists have a chance to enjoy ethnic speciality dishes, fire dances and alcohol made of sticky rice or maize and will be waken up by wild birds to start a new discovery.
7. Sapa Ancient Rock Field
Sapa Ancient Rock Field is in Muong Hoa Valley, Hau Thao Commune, Sapa District, Lao Cai Province. This 8sq.km-area of remains consists of large multi-grade rocks engraved with ancient images.
Sapa Ancient Rock Field is between the terraced rice paddies of ethnic minority groups. The first exploration research, in 1925, recorded that there were 200 stones of various dimensions concentrated in the area. Hon Bo, which is 15m long and 6m high, is the biggest of theses rocks.
The engravings on the surfaces of the stone are either pictographic or decorative. Remarkably, among the engravings are drawings of humans, stilt-houses of the ethnic minorities and symbols believed to be a primitive form of writing. But their meaning has not yet been deciphered.
In addition, impressive images include a da chong (the husband stone), da vo (the wife stone), as well as stones that look like tigers and a stela with an incantation written on it by the carver to help his people defeat the tigers. The "da chong" (Stone husband) and "da vo" (Stone wife) tell the story of faithful love between a couple who overcame all difficulties to be together; even though they turned to stone, they are still dedicated to each other.
Archaeologists have proven that this area has been inhabited since ancient times. These fascinating Viet remains have drawn the attention of scientists and tourists.
8. Dancing in New Year Holiday of the Red Dao people
From the 1st to the 2nd day of the first lunar month.
Place: Ta Phin Commune, Sa Pa District, Lao Cai Province.
Objects of worship: Deities, ancestors.
Characteristics: Dancing (14 styles of dance), bathing ancestor’s statues.
Three big families of Ly, Ban, Trieu arranged Tet of dancing at the head of the family’s house. The main ceremony is the dances which are performed by small group of young boys and girls. There are many dance styles which are described the contexts of ancestor angel go down the earth to attend the Tet with offspring. After the dance ceremony is an ancestor’s statues procession and bathing ancestor’s statues ceremony. Next to it is a dance of offering red and yellow cocks... The flag dance is the end of the festival.
9. Fansipan Mountain
Geologists say the Hoang Lien Mountain Range, with Fansipan as its highest peak, did not emerge in the mountainous North West of Vietnam until the neozoic period (circ. 100 million years ago). Fansipan, a rough pronunciation of the local name “Hua Xi Pan” means “the tottery giant rock”. The French came to Vietnam and in 1905 planted a landmark telling Fansipan’s height of 3,143m and branded it “the Roof of Indochina”. Very few people climbed to the top of Fansipan at the time. Then came the long years of war and Fansipan was left deserted for hunting and savaging. The trail blazed by the French was quickly overgrown by the underbrush.
It takes six or seven days to reach the 3,143m summit, the highest peak of the Indochina Peninsula.
In 1991, Nguyen Thien Hung, an army man returned to the district town and decided to conquer Fansipan. Only on the 13th attempt did Hung, with a H’Mong boy as his guide, conquer the high peak by following the foot steps of the mountain goats. Scaling the height was meant to satisfy his eager will and aspiration to conquer the mountain without expecting that his name would be put down in the travel guidebook. After that the Sapa Tourism Agency started a new package tour there. It seemed the Fansipan Tour was meant only for those who wished to test their muscular power.
The summit of Fansipan is accessible all year round, but the best time to make the ascent is from mid-October to mid-November, and again in March.
Foreigners like best to book Fansipan tours between October and December, as this period is more often than not free from the heavy rains that obstruct the jaunt. But the Vietnamese prefer their tours to the peak of the mountain from February to April, as it is not so cold then. However, the best time for the trek to the mountain is from the end of February to the start of March, when the flowers all flourish and the climbers may behold the carpets of brilliant blossoms, violets and orchids, rhododendrons and aglaias.
Lao Cai is a mountainous region. In the northwest of the province is Phan Xi Pang (a.k.a. Fansipan), Vietnam's highest mountain. The province is bisected by the Red River, the most significant river of northern Vietnam, which flows out of China towards the capital Hanoi. Much of the province is heavily forested. The temperature generally ranges between 18° and 28°, although lowland areas tend to have less variation than mountainous areas.
The population of Lao Cai province includes a number of Vietnam's ethnic minority groups, with the Hmong, Tay, and Dao being the most noticeable.
1. Sapa
Visitor to Sapa in summer can feel the climate of four seasons in one day. In the morning and afternoon, it is cool like the weather of spring and autumn. At noon, it is as sunny and cloudless as the weather of summer. And it is cold in the evening. With no advance warning of a thunderstorm short and heavy rains may come at noon on any summer day. Subsequently, a rainbow appears, transforming Sapa into a magic land, which for years has been a constant source of poetic inspiration, lights up the whole region.
The best time to witness the scenic beauty of Sapa is in April and May. Before that period, the weather might be cold and foggy; after that period is the rainy season. In April and May, Sapa is blooming with flowers and green pastures. The clouds that settle in the valley in early morning quickly disappear into thin air.
Sapa has many natural sites such as Ham Rong Mountain, Silver Waterfall, Rattan Bridge, Bamboo Forest and Ta Phin Cave. Sapa is also the starting point for many climbers and scientists who want to reach the top of Fansipan Mountain, the highest mountain in Vietnam at 3,143m. Hoang Lien Mountain Range is also called the Alps of the North Sea area since Fansipan Mountain is not only the highest peak in Vietnam, but also in the Indochina Peninsula. The pyramid-shaped mountain is covered with clouds all year round and temperatures often drop below zero, especially at high elevations.
The first thing you notice when approaching the resort town are some detached wooden mansions and villas perched on a hill top or hillside, behind thick pine forests and almost invisible on this foggy morning. Old and new villas with red roofs now appear and now disappear in the green rows of pomu trees, bringing the town the beauty of European towns.
Fresh and cool air in Sapa is an idea climate condition for growing temperate vegetables such as cabbage, chayote, precious medicinal herbs, and fruit trees such as plum, pear…
Sapa is home to various families of flowers of captivating colours, which can be found nowhere else in the country. When Tet, the Lunar New Year Festival, comes, the whole township of Sapa is filled with the pink colour of peach blossom brought from the vast forests of peach just outside the town. Sapa is regarded as the kingdom of orchids. Here, orchid lovers are even amazed by the choice, when trekking in the forest filled with several hundred kinds of orchids of brilliant colours and fantastic shapes, such as Orchid Princess, Orchid of My Fair Lady's Shoe. Some orchids are named after lovely singing birds such as the canary, salangane's nest, and more.
Sapa is most beautiful in spring. Apricot, plum and cherry flowers are splendidly beautiful. Markets are crowded and merry, and are especially attractive to visitors. Minority groups come here to exchange and trade goods and products. Market sessions are also a chance for locals to promenade and young men and women in colorful costumes to meet, date or seek sweethearts.
Visitors to Sapa will have opportunities to discover the unique customs of the local residents.
2. Ham Rong Mountain - Sapa
Sapa itinerary varies in sites: ancient stone-fields, silvery waterfall, conquer of Fansipan peak, a visit to villages of Mong or Dao ethnic minorities... but most remarkable is Ham Rong Mount.
It's locally rumored that: once upon a time, there were a couple of dragons, so mad in love that while a biblical flood was rising but they didn't know. When awake, it's too late for them, so that they were washed away separately. Even now, turned into stone, but due to be natural instinct, the female always looks to her lover in the west, the Hoang Lien Son range.
Ham Rong Mountain lies close to Sapa Town, it's nearly 2,000m high and looks very much like the dragon's head in the clouds. A climb to the peak is an excitement for all visitors. Visitors start to walk on stone steps, a winding trail higher up will help to see small streams lazily run through bushy foliages. About mid¬way, visitors, taken by surprise, will be in orchid -gardens, more than 400 species are in colourful blooms. Then, visitors come to a mini plain of all flower (cam tu cau, trang phao, lay an and do quyen...)
If visitors come here in spring, the surprise will be greater to see blooming peach, plum, apricot garden. At midway upwards, there are ethnic cu1tural villages where visitors will enjoy art-performance by Dao, Mong or Sa Pho minority girls and boys. The sound of bamboo flutes by Mong minority boys echo far and wide, their dances, songs, folksongs sound strong and romantic that will leave unforgettable impressions. A little further will be a mini stone-forest where thousands of stone columns, pillars that surprisingly open visitors’ eyes. A stroll among these pillars seems to be a walk in the fairyland, then visitors proceed to the heavens gate, a beaten trail leads to the cloud-yard and a TV station. San May (Cloud Yard) is an ideal location to view the whole panorama of Sapa.
Poetic and grandiose Ham Rong is said to be a fairy of Sapa by its natural and cultural landscapes. Every morning, thousands of flowers are blooming; it's the fascination of Sapa. A visit to Sapa in summer is a good chance to view Sapa afloat in white clouds.
3. Hoang A Tuong Castle (Hoang Yen Chao Castle)
Every year when spring comes, the whole district Bac Ha, Lao Cai province, is coated with a white shirt of plum flowers. In the white background stands out a mansion complex of Hoang Yen Chao - Hoang A Tuong (father and son) in the greenery of boundless forests and mountains. For over 80 past years, moss-grown Hoang A Tuong mansion has become a destination for visitors far and wide.
The mansion was built in 1914 and completed in 1921, the owner is a governor - Hoang Yen Chao, father of Hoang A Tuong. Before 1945, Bac Ha was a semi-feudalist colony. Rulers were exploiter (like mandarins in the lowlands). Backed by the French colonialist, Hoang A Tuong and his father Hoang Yen Chao cruelly exploited the locals who were forced to work as servants and slaves and to hand in precious and valuable properties. Enriched, the ruler forced the locals to build his mansion, he paid for French or Chinese architects who directly designed and supervised the construction.
The mansion complex of Hoang A Tuong is a closed in compound, a good harmony of Asian and European architecture, two staircases lead to sitting-room, a large ground where celebrations or dances took place. The main mansion is two-storeyed on an area of 420m2. Doors were built in medieval European styles, different in heights and widths, each floor is 3-room, the side-rooms spared for family activities, the central room reserved for meeting or receptions. Interiors or exteriors were beautifully decorated, on both sides were two column-scrolls, characterising best withes and happiness and prosperities.. Further on either sides are subordinate houses, lower than the main one, close to the houses are two smaller and lower houses reserved for servants or watch-men. The mansion is surrounded by thick walls with 3-door gates (One main and two-side gates and fox-hole for security watch. Total area of the compound is 4.000m2. Building materials: steel, cement, bricks.. were produced on the spot under direct surveillance of the Chinese or brought from the lowlands. It's said that the plaster was a mixture of cement and honey that the rulers forced the locals to hand in.
A strict policy to protect and preserve the mansion-complex by Lao Cai People's committee and Department of Commerce and Tourism is underway to lure visitors to the region, to find out and to understand history of a prosperous but bygone era.
At present, this castle is put under a restoration scheme to better help tourists get insight into the changes of the local life.
4. The caves of Muong Vi
Caves and caverns of Muong Vi are 28km from northeast of the provincial capital of Lao Cai, in a valley ringed by mountains
Na Rin Grotto is nearly 1km long with many entrance-doors. In the grotto there are stalagmites and stalactites shining in dim lights and many magnificent figures could be imagined along the stream banks. It's also called Hang Tien (Fairy Cave). Legend has it that the Ruler of the Heaven, allowed his three beautiful fairy daughters to visit the Earth for a short spell. But it was a different kind of spell that overcame them as they gazed at the beautiful landscape and decided they didn't want to return home. Father was furious and ordered the god of thunder (Thien Loi) to bring them back by force if necessary and mete out due punishment to his daughters for their disobedience, but the fairies hid in a cave 200m above a river. Failing to find them, Thien Loi trampled down a spur of the mountain inside which the fairies were hiding. Seeing no hope of escape, they threw themselves into the river and drowned. Their bodies drifted downstream, and some villagers found and buried the beautiful dead. And on that spot in present-day, Bao Nai Commune there stands a temple called Ba Co (three ladies) in honor of the three fairies. People come here from all over the place to worship, pray and offer incense.
On the slopes of a tall mountain is a windy cave, called Cam Rang, where the stalactites are thick and colored. Thousands of bats live near the entrance, and inside is a fantasy world of limestone pillars and needles.
Cam Tam is also the name of a grotto at the mountain’s base. The crystalline rocks are 3m tall, and the stalactites and stalagmites resemble the tools and cattle that generous fairies (a separate bunch from the three mentioned above) brought for the local farmers.
It's unsurprising that Muong Vi has been given national heritage status by the Ministry of Culture and Information. The place is like a natural gift to the people of the land. If you chance to visit any part of Lao Cai, remember to pick up some Tam Hoa and Hau plums, Ban Pho and San Lung rice wine, medicinal plants, and the gaily colored ethnic fabric (tho cam) spun and woven by ethnic minorities of Thai, Dao and Mong.
5. Bac Ha – A Destination
Bac Ha (Lao Cai) is well-known for its naturally sub-tropical scenery. Tam Hoa plums are really a local specialty: sweet and fresh. This seems to be created by its own land, people and nature.
Average temperature here is 19°C and it's not so cold as in Sa Pa. Bac Ha is specifically identified by each mount, each house and naturally-made carpet of white plum-flowers in spring. There are 14 ethnic minorities and the Mong ethnics count for 47% then the Dao, Tay, Nung... Mountaineers take care of their horses as their properties, means of transport and close friends.
Besides plums, Bac Ha is reputed for its alcohol (made of maize). Maize is grown on high mountains, its low in productivity but high in nutrition. To make alcohol, it's fermented with Hong My seed (the local only plant). Bac Ha alcohol is well-known due to its source of water. So it's surely believed never to have faulted one in Bac Ha market. Visitors can see the locals selling their own alcohol without feelings to be cheated.
Brocades are for sales in the market or in shops or by street-vendors. There are hand-made or manufactured products. It takes a village-girl even half a month to make a brocade of 20cm long. Their skirts or costumes cost them long time to make. Their dresses express their patience, skills. Visitors can see the girls making brocades right in the market.
Traditional values and identities are well-maintained in the market. Such markets as Bac Ha, Coc Ly have really become rendezvous for visitors at home and abroad. There is almost no bargaining or competition here. Sales girls look quite naive, sincere. They go to the market mainly to meet people and exchange funs. Especially, there is a horse market in town-centre, each market-day there are almost 100 - 200 horses for sales or exchange.
Mong or Tay or Dao ethnics’ minority girls and boys, with their best dresses on, go to the market to relax and meet their friends. At sunset, they leave with a promise to see again.
Visitors to Bac Ha are opportune to understand the local traditions and customs, taste local specialties, meet nice people and know a land code-named: white plateau.
6. Trekking tour to Ho Village draws discovery lovers
On a beautiful day, Ho Village can be seen from a favourable position in Sapa Town but the itinerary from Sapa to the village is much farther and there is another life there…
It takes about seven hours to walk to the Ho Village; therefore, tourists have to set off in the early morning. The village, whose centre is Ban Den hamlet, is a meeting point of Muong Hoa and La Ve Springs. It has become an attractive destination for tourists, particularly foreigners.
Unlike the Muong Hoa Spring that brings water to tens of villages where it crosses, the La Ve Spring flows directly to the Ho Village from the high mountain. Perhaps, due to the reason, the La Ve Spring looks more beautiful, secret and transparent than the Muong Hoa.
It is tremendous to swim in the very cool stream flowing out of the rock mountain in the middle of the vast green colour of forests. Not only the La Ve Spring, has the nature given the Ho Village a series of waterfalls such as Ca Nhay (Fish Jumping) and Seo Trung Ho. The Seo Trung Ho Waterfall, over 100m high, looks like a white silk strip crossing halfway down the mountain.
Travelling to the Ho Village is not appropriate for those without ambitions of discovery or strong legs because it is really challenging to overcome kilometres of mountain and hill paths.
Ho villagers mainly belong to the Tay ethnic minority group, whose lifestyles are quite similar to the Kinh (Viet) people. However, they live in stilted houses.
The homestay tours have been attractions of the Ho Village. About 30 large and pretty stilt houses in the Ban Den hamlet are used to serve tourists. It costs a tourist only a dollar and a half to stay overnight in the stilt house.
Tourists have a chance to enjoy ethnic speciality dishes, fire dances and alcohol made of sticky rice or maize and will be waken up by wild birds to start a new discovery.
7. Sapa Ancient Rock Field
Sapa Ancient Rock Field is in Muong Hoa Valley, Hau Thao Commune, Sapa District, Lao Cai Province. This 8sq.km-area of remains consists of large multi-grade rocks engraved with ancient images.
Sapa Ancient Rock Field is between the terraced rice paddies of ethnic minority groups. The first exploration research, in 1925, recorded that there were 200 stones of various dimensions concentrated in the area. Hon Bo, which is 15m long and 6m high, is the biggest of theses rocks.
The engravings on the surfaces of the stone are either pictographic or decorative. Remarkably, among the engravings are drawings of humans, stilt-houses of the ethnic minorities and symbols believed to be a primitive form of writing. But their meaning has not yet been deciphered.
In addition, impressive images include a da chong (the husband stone), da vo (the wife stone), as well as stones that look like tigers and a stela with an incantation written on it by the carver to help his people defeat the tigers. The "da chong" (Stone husband) and "da vo" (Stone wife) tell the story of faithful love between a couple who overcame all difficulties to be together; even though they turned to stone, they are still dedicated to each other.
Archaeologists have proven that this area has been inhabited since ancient times. These fascinating Viet remains have drawn the attention of scientists and tourists.
8. Dancing in New Year Holiday of the Red Dao people
From the 1st to the 2nd day of the first lunar month.
Place: Ta Phin Commune, Sa Pa District, Lao Cai Province.
Objects of worship: Deities, ancestors.
Characteristics: Dancing (14 styles of dance), bathing ancestor’s statues.
Three big families of Ly, Ban, Trieu arranged Tet of dancing at the head of the family’s house. The main ceremony is the dances which are performed by small group of young boys and girls. There are many dance styles which are described the contexts of ancestor angel go down the earth to attend the Tet with offspring. After the dance ceremony is an ancestor’s statues procession and bathing ancestor’s statues ceremony. Next to it is a dance of offering red and yellow cocks... The flag dance is the end of the festival.
9. Fansipan Mountain
Geologists say the Hoang Lien Mountain Range, with Fansipan as its highest peak, did not emerge in the mountainous North West of Vietnam until the neozoic period (circ. 100 million years ago). Fansipan, a rough pronunciation of the local name “Hua Xi Pan” means “the tottery giant rock”. The French came to Vietnam and in 1905 planted a landmark telling Fansipan’s height of 3,143m and branded it “the Roof of Indochina”. Very few people climbed to the top of Fansipan at the time. Then came the long years of war and Fansipan was left deserted for hunting and savaging. The trail blazed by the French was quickly overgrown by the underbrush.
It takes six or seven days to reach the 3,143m summit, the highest peak of the Indochina Peninsula.
In 1991, Nguyen Thien Hung, an army man returned to the district town and decided to conquer Fansipan. Only on the 13th attempt did Hung, with a H’Mong boy as his guide, conquer the high peak by following the foot steps of the mountain goats. Scaling the height was meant to satisfy his eager will and aspiration to conquer the mountain without expecting that his name would be put down in the travel guidebook. After that the Sapa Tourism Agency started a new package tour there. It seemed the Fansipan Tour was meant only for those who wished to test their muscular power.
The summit of Fansipan is accessible all year round, but the best time to make the ascent is from mid-October to mid-November, and again in March.
Foreigners like best to book Fansipan tours between October and December, as this period is more often than not free from the heavy rains that obstruct the jaunt. But the Vietnamese prefer their tours to the peak of the mountain from February to April, as it is not so cold then. However, the best time for the trek to the mountain is from the end of February to the start of March, when the flowers all flourish and the climbers may behold the carpets of brilliant blossoms, violets and orchids, rhododendrons and aglaias.
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