Sapa Culture Guide

Red Dzao girls Sapa

Although you need to do a trekking to the mountains to see the “real Life” of the ethnic minorities, you can see people belonging to many tribes in the streets of Sapa.

The Red Dzao is one of the ethnic groups that live in the region. They are called Red Dzao because they always use red to decorate the clothes they wear. There are two curiosities about this tribe. The first is that you can know how rich a woman is by the size of her hat. the other is that the local canon of beauty says women have to shave their hair and eyebrows. Can you see the girl at the background? She shaved her eyebrows.

The Red Dzao live, mainly, in Tam Doung and Dong Van.

Thai ladies Sapa

There are many reasons to come to Sapa. The two main are: to see how local minorities live in Vietnam, and to go on a trekking on the mountains.

People who live in the region still use their traditional clothes (young and old people alike). They also speak their own languages — each tribe speaks it own. The tribe people belong to a different ethnic group than the rest of the Vietnamese people.

Although tourism is developing fast in the region, many locals still live a very basic life. Most of them spend all day long working on the fields. They sell what their families do not need in one of the weekend markets. And with the money they make, they buy something else. It is what experts call a subsistence economy. No luxuries here.

Black Hmong mother Sapa

One of the largest ethnic minorities in Vietnam is the Hmong Tribe. Hmong originally means “free people”. They came from China, and now live in different regions throughout Vietnam.

The Hmong minority is divided in several subgroups. It is very easy to identify them, looking at the color of the clothes they wear. In the picture you can see a mother with her child. She belongs to the Black Hmong tribe.

By the way, when you come to Sapa, bring an empty bag. I am sure you won’t resist the temptation to buy some of the handmade souvenirs on sale in the shops. You will find silver bracelets, clothes, pillows, blankets, hand bags… at an exceptional price. You will also find Sapa souvenirs in every major town in Vietnam. When buying souvenirs made of fabrics look for imperfections. These are the ones made by local people. The souvenirs “too” perfect are produced in industries somewhere else (China).

Traditional Saturday Market Sapa

I was told the saturday market in Sapa was just a tourist attraction. I expected to find more foreigners than locals. But to my surprise, this was not the case. Of course there are tourists in the local markets, but most of the people I found were locals wearing their traditional clothes.

If you want to visit the market you have to come here on a weekend. The market is not difficult to find, just follow the people and you will get to the open air market. Once there you will see two big buildings. Inside one of them you will see plenty of souvenirs, on the second floor. In the other market you will find the local version of a mall. It is here where locals buy their clothes and appliances.

Bargaining and talking with sellers is part of the fun while in Sapa. Most of the hill tribe people I found, specially the young ones, spoke perfect English. The local’s language skills were much better than in the other cities I visited in Vietnam

Red Dzao women in the market

Sapa is also famous for its love market, which takes place on saturday evenings. The love market of Sapa used to be the place to find a partner to get married. With the tourism, the real love market does not take place anymore.

Currently you can only see a representation of the love market. Do not miss it anyway if you are staying here a saturday night. Young Red Dzao hill tribe used to come to Sapa to sing songs to the opposite sex. Girls sang the songs hidden in the dark, when a boy found them, and if they matched together, they disappeared into the forest for three days. Some of them got married after that. Currently you may spot some young locals singing in the dark, but they are not looking for a partner, they are looking for you. They will sing a song, and ask for a tip afterwards

Local people Sapa

70 miles (110 km) from Sapa sits a town that you should not miss, Bac Ha. In this town takes place another famous local market every sunday. This market is less touristy than the market in Sapa.

In the market of Bac Ha you will have the chance to see more ethnic minority groups than in Sapa, but the infrastructure is not as good. For this reason I recommend staying in Sapa, and leaving early in the morning. You can get to Bac Ha on a mini bus or on a 4 wheeled vehicle from Sapa. Many of the tours that you can reserve in Hanoi offer the possibility to visit the two towns and their markets.

Local old women Sapa

You can get to Sapa on train or on bus from Hanoi. The train is more convenient. There is even a luxury train departing every evening to Lao Cai from Hanoi’s main station. If you are traveling in a normal train, buy the soft sleeper tickets.

You get to Lao Cai at first time in the morning — mostly before dawn. From there you get on a minibus, and in a couple of hours you are in Sapa. The views from the road are awesome.

Most of the times, you will have to wait till 12 to check into your hotel. Meanwhile you can go for a walk in the town center, have a good breakfast, and relax in one of the terraces. Once your room is ready, you can have a nap, take a shower and eat something. In the afternoon, you can visit the town in the valley down Sapa.

Hmong girls Sapa

In this picture you can see a group of local girls trying to sell something to a tourist.

When I saw these young girls harassing the visitors, I had a mixed feeling. Tourism is bringing money to these people. This money will change the life of the local people. Quality of life of the future generations will be much better, but at the same time many traditions will be lost. I guess this is the price they will have to pay. The same happens with the Sapa landscapes. In order to accommodate the tourists, new hotels are being built in and around Sapa. Some of these hotels respect the local building techniques, but most of them don’t. I wonder what will locals sell to the visitors, once part of their scenic views are not here anymore.

Local fields Sapa

If you come to Sapa you do have to do some excursions. There are three possibilities. You can do the excursions on a four wheeled vehicle, on a rented motorbike and on foot.

One of the shortest trekking is the Ham Rong mountain. In a two-three hour hike you can get to the top of this 2,000 yards (1750m) high mountain. From there you have an excellent view of the Sapa valley.

If you want to do a longer trekking, visit the Tavan. You have to take a jeep to get to Laochai, and from there in a 8 miles (12km) trek, you will get to Tavan. Where you can see many local people dressed in their traditional clothes.

Traditional ethnic people

Two and a half miles (4 km) from Sapa is the Catcat village. This is a traditional Hmong people town. You can get here on a jeep and/or on a motorbike.

Another nice town to visit is the Tafin village, nine miles (15km) from Sapa. you can get here by car or motorbike. In this town live Red Dzao and Black H’mong people.

Somewhat farther is the Binh Lu market, 30 miles (50km). This is one of the most picturesque places in the region. Diverse ethnic minorities inhabit the area. Do not miss the opportunity to visit a cave close by.

About Sapa

About Sapa

The Queen of the Mountains, Sapa sits regally overlooking a beautiful valley, lofty mountains towering over the town on all sides. Welcome to the destination in northwest Vietnam, gateway to another world of mysterious minority cultures and luscious landscapes. The spectacular scenery that surrounds Sapa includes cascading rice terraces that spill down the mountains like a patchwork quilt. The four springs clouded town, the prototype of many paintings has won international awards. Beyond the terraced fields is the golden harvest; on the left, Ban Ho as a mirror of the sun, dark red in the noon.

Located in Vietnam’s remote North West Mountains, Sapa is famous for both its fine, rugged scenery and also its rich cultural diversity. Its lush, deep river valleys, in the shadows of Vietnam’s tallest peak Mount Fansipan, are home to Blue H’mong and Red Dao communities, who continue to maintain their strong traditions and warmly welcome visitors to their homes.

Despite its commercialization during the last seven years, Sapa is still a must-see on any northern Vietnam itinerary. On a clear day you will treated to views of steeply terraced rice fields, towering verdant ridgelines, primitive mud-thatched villages, raging rivers and astounding waterfalls.

The climate of Hoang Lien Nature Reserve is unique to Vietnam. It is highly seasonal, with a subtropical climate in the summer and a temperate climate during the winter. Mean annual temperature for Sa Pa town is 15.4°C, with a maximum of 29.4°C and a minimum of 1°C. The warmest months are July and August, and the coldest months are December and January. Snow falls in some years on the highest peaks.

In common with the rest of northern Vietnam, Hoang Lien Nature Reserve experiences a marked wet season from May to September, with the heaviest rainfall occurring in July and August. Mean annual rainfall is 2,763 mm, with a high of 4,023mm and a low of 2,064mm. Humidity ranges from 75 to 91 percent with a yearly mean of 86 percent.
Climate varies considerably within the nature reserve. The prevalent wind direction for most of the year is west to east, leading to cloud formation on the upper slopes of the Fansipan massif. These high-altitude areas are covered by cloud most days of the year and have very high humidity. Cloud also penetrates into the valleys but these areas are usually less humid than the mountain slopes. In the extreme east of the nature reserve, around Ban Ho village, mean temperatures are considerably higher due to the lower altitude of these areas.

The Hoang Lien Mountains lie at the southeastern extent of the Himalayan chain. The nature reserve is located on the northeast flank of these mountains and includes Vietnam’s highest peak, Fansipan, at 3,143 m (see map). The lowest point is 380 m but most of the nature reserve lies above 1,000 m. The flanks of the mountains are very steep and many areas are almost inaccessible on foot. Between Fansipan Mountain and Sa Pa town, lies the Muong Hoa valley, which has been terraced for wet rice agriculture. This valley becomes wider towards the east of the nature reserve.
Nestled high in the Tonkinese Alps near the Chinese border, Sapa was built as a hill station during French colonial days, to serve as a respite from stifling Hanoi summers. These days, weekends are still the biggest draw in this crumbling hill-tribe center. Visitors from the capital flock to Sapa for a glimpse of the famed “Love Market,” a trek to local hill tribe villages, or an ascent of Vietnam’s highest peak, Fan Si Pan.

Some eight ethnic groups inhabit Lao Cai province: Hmong, Dao, White Thai, Giay, Tay, Muong, Hao and Xa Pho. The most prominent in town are the Red Dao, easily identified by the coin-dangling red headdresses and intricately embroidered waistcoats worn by the women, and the Hmong, distinguished by their somewhat less elaborately embroidered royal blue attire. Groups of ethnic Hmong youngsters and women can be seen hauling impossibly heavy, awkward baskets of wood, stakes, bamboo, bricks, mud and produce. Deep in the valleys surrounding Sapa, the Muong Hoa River sluices a wild, jagged course among Giay, Red Dao and White Thai settlements, their tiny dwellings poking out of the neon rice fields like diamonds on a putting green. The Kinh (lowland Vietnamese) never originally colonised this highest of Việt Nam’s valleys, which lies in the shadow of Phan-Xi-Pǎng (Fansipan, 3143 meters), the highest peak in the country.One- to four-day treks are offered by a handful of outfitters. Guests sleep in tents or in the homes of villagers, their gear hauled by Hmong porters. Be warned: Despite what the local innkeepers will tell you, both the Hmong and the Dao really do not enjoy having their photographs taken unless they’re paid for it. It’s a certainty that any brochure you see of smiling, care-free ethnic hill people was shot under a Screen Actors Guild contract.

It was only when the French debarked in highland Tonkin in the late 1880s that Sa Pa, or Chapa as the French called it, began to appear on the national map. In the following decade, the future site of Sa Pa town started to see military parties as well as missionaries from the Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris (MEP) visit. The French military marched from the Red River Delta into the northern mountainous regions as part of Tonkin’s ‘pacification’. In 1894-96 the border between China and Tonkin was formally agreed upon and the Sa Pa area, just to the south of this frontier, was placed under French authority. From 1891 the entire Lào Cai region, including Sa Pa, came under direct colonial military administration so as to curtail banditry and political resistance on the sensitive northern frontier.

The first permanent French civilian resident arrived in Sa Pa in 1909. With its attractive continental climate, health authorities believed the site had potential. By 1912 a military sanatorium for ailing officers had been erected along with a fully fledged military garrison. Then, from the 1920s onwards, several wealthy professionals with enough financial capital also had a number of private villas built in the vicinity.

Sa pa is famed for its “Love Market” – sort of a cross between a peacock mating ritual, a Middle Eastern arms bazaar, an Amish square dance, a bad Pavarotti concert and Bangkok’s Patpong (except here the people wear clothes). On Saturday nights, Red Dao hill tribe youths of both sexes congregate in a weekly courting rite, singing tribal versions of Loretta Lynn love songs to woo the opposite sex. The songs are highly personalized and boast of the composer’s physical attributes, domestic abilities and strong work ethic. While Dao women are indeed highly industrious, the men, it seems, prefer to spend most of their time drinking, smoking opium or sleeping, only occasionally slapping the rump of a lethargic bovine moving more slowly than they are. Few of their songs, though, are about drinking, smoking opium, sleeping or slapping rumps.

Topping out at 3,143 meters, Fan Si Pan has become the Mount Everest of Vietnam, with queues of yuppie trekkers in their latest TravelSmith “totally-packable” rainwear forming mountaineering traffic jams at base camps. Footprint Travel can arrange guided ascents.

Sapa itself is a somewhat bedraggled village meshing crumbling, mildewed French colonial architecture with the pencil-thin, brick-and-concrete mini-hotels that have become so ubiquitous in recent years all across Vietnam. This neglected, cultural mishmash would be an eyesore in any place less spectacularly scenic than Sapa. Because of its Shangri-la-like setting, Sapa actually seems quaint – a tranquil, restful village. Which is, of course, what the French originally intended the place to be. Amenities are limited unless you choose to stay at the Four Star Victoria Sapa, a sprawling alpine campus nestled discreetly into a hillside in the center of town.

The best times of the year to visit Sapa are in the spring and fall. Summers tend to be rainy and muddy, while winter temperatures can drop to the freezing mark (Sapa ushered in 2000 with snow!). Weather really does make a difference here, because the spectacular scenery is all but blotted out when there is cloud cover and rain. Ignore the other Nikon-toting tourists in the villages and get out into the countryside, where you just may still catch a glimpse into hill-tribe life of a couple of centuries ago.

Sapa Trekking 5 Days/6 Nights

Sapa Trekking 5 Days/6 Nights

At a elevation of 1600 meters, Sapa is a delightful old French hill station situated in the mountainous region of Vietnams’ northwest, close to the Chinese border. The region is home to many ethnic minorities groups all wearing their traditional and colourful attire. This trip includes a 4-day trek through the hills and valleys in the Sapa region. Average walking time for each day is around 6 hours, passing through H’mong, Day, Tho, Tay, Nhang, and Red Dao communities. Three nights are spent in these minority villages so be warned, you will have to do without some modern comforts on this one. Often there is no electricity or running water and bedding can be a layer of straw covered with a mat in some cases. The apparent hardships are worth it though as we walk through some of the most spectacular scenery that Vietnam has to offer.

Tour Highlight

• Night train soft sleeper 4 beds with AC to Sapa
• See Vietnam’s most intriguing ethnic minorities
• Relax or wandering around Sapa town,shopping in Sapa market

Detailed Intinerary

Night 1 : Hanoi -Laocai ( Overnight on the train )

Our car pick up you from your hotel to Hanoi Railway Station for the night train to get to Laocai Station. Sleep on the train.(4 people/cabin or 2 people/cabin on request).

Day 1:Sapa -Lao Chai – Ta Van. (B,L,D)

Picked up at Laocai Railway station early in the morning by bus. Arrive at Sapa round 8:00 AM. Breakfast and relax. Walk around Sapa and then start trekking from Sapa at 10:00 AM to visit a village of the Black H’mong (LaoChaiSan). Go though hillsides along MuongHoa river. Cross the river by a suspension bridge to reach LaoChai village. Take the paths across the paddy fields to get to the 3rd village of the Dzay minority (TaVan) and stay the night at a Dzay family in this village. Picnic lunch on the way and dinner at the family.

Meals : Breakfast, Luch, Dinner

Day 2:Giang Ta Chai – Su Pan – Ban Ho.(B,L,D)

Breakfast with the local family and then get to a village located at the foot of HoangLienSon range via bamboo forests. Visit a waterfall and a rattan bridge. After the village, get down to the river, cross it and keep going to SuPan village for 2 minorities – The H’mong and the Red Dzao. . Get off the road to go down hill to BanHo village. Overnight at Ban Ho with a Tay family who have houses on stilts. Picnic lunch on the way and dinner at the family

Meals : Breakfast, Luch, Dinner

Day 3: Nam toong – Thanh Phu – My Son .(B,L,D)

Get up early in the morning for fresh air and peaceful daily life of the people. Breakfast and leave the village for a hard day. Walk uphill to a smallest and almost untouched village of the Red Dzao (Namtoong). Go further to another village on the same side of of the mountain range to see the XaPho ethnic group in NamKen. Get down to the river and go up to MiSon to visit the XaPho again. Spend the night in ThanhPhu village at a Tay family. Picnic lunch on the way and dinner with the local family.

Meals : Breakfast, Luch, Dinner

Day 4: Thanh Phu – Sapa.(B,L,D)

Breakfast at ThanhPhu village. Walk back to SuPan village where to take a jeep back to Sapa. On the way back, visit the ancient stone circle (stones decorated with ancient car or vanvings which are said to have described the life of the people lost in the mists of prehistory) Check in hotel. Lunch at SuPan and dinner in Sapa.

Meals : Breakfast, Luch, Dinner

Day 5: Sapa – Hanoi (B)

Breakfast, free to go around and explore the town .Leave sapa for laocai Station by Vietnam TripAdvisor’s bus in the afternoon. Dinner on your own at Lao Cai Station , get the night train to Hanoi.

Meals : Breakfast

Day 6: Hanoi arrive

Arrive in Hanoi early morning,taxi to hotel on your own.Tour ends.

Class	2	3 – 4	6 – 8	Single Sup
Superior3*	240	215	200	30
Deluxe 4*	300	280	265	85
4* on weekend	325	305	290	85

Accommodation	Mid-range (3*)	Superior (3* + )	Deluxe (4*)
Sapa hotels	Bambo Hotel ,Royal View Hotel, Holiday Hotel	Chau Long Hotel	Victoria Sapa

Trip Included :

• Private car pick up from your hotel to Hanoi train station.
• Returns train tickets in 04 berths canbinet, A/C Wooden Softsleeper
• Local English speaking guide, Other languges upon your request
• Twin /Double sharing Room at hotel in Sapa
• Meal as mentioned in program ( B= Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner )
• Sightseeing fees
• Purified water and wet towel
• Transport as programe
• Taxes

Trip Excluded :

• Insurance
• Personal expense (drinks, telephone…)
• Tips and gratuities

What to bring :

• Sun Block
• Wide brim hat
• Camera + Film
• Comfortable shoes
• Rain gear
• Warm clothes
• Insect Repellent
• Original Passport