What To Do In Sapa?
Consider trekking, visiting ethnic villages, trying herbal bath and street food for a start
As one of the most prominent tourist destinations in Vietnam, Sapa offers travellers various choices of activities, depending on your hobbies and budget. Here are some for you to consider:
Trekking
For trekking lovers, Sapa is absolutely the best choice as there are several trekking routes from easy to hard level in this area for you to try. Tourists can spend a few hours wandering through tribal villages along the mountain sides such as Cat Cat or Ta Phin, Ta Van Village, or three days conquering Fansipan Peak- “The roof of Indochina” at the height of 3143m. The breathlessly stunning untouched nature of beautiful valleys, high mountains, waterfalls, terraced fields will surely impress you. Trekking tours are available at almost every hotel and travel agency in Sapa.
Read more about Trekking in Sapa.
Visiting An Ethnic Village
Sapa is also the center where a few ethnic minorities groups such as Yao and Hmong trade, as they live in tribal villages in surrounding mountainous regions. Tourists can integrate their trekking tour with cultural traveling to discover the natural and historical wonders at the same time. You can also choose to stay a night or a few days at local home, living with ethnic people to understand more about their daily life, customs, gastronomy and even handicrafts and architecture as well.
You can choose to visit villages such as Cat Cat or Ta Phin.
Photo: buiquyet.com - catcat villages
Photo: mytour.com
Taking Dzao Herbal Bath
The Dzao people in Sapa have been famous for their secret herbal bath therapy. After long days of sleeping on the train and bus, trekking through forest and mountains, you can totally relax and enjoy Sapa’s experience with a couple of hours soaking in the Jacuzzi. Medicinal herbs that can only be found in mountainous areas are carefully selected, mixed in unique way for specific kind of illness, typically about 12-14 herbs for each herbal remedy and then boiled in 3 or 4 hours to extract essence. Herbal bath will help reducing stress, tiredness, bringing peace of mind, releasing muscles, and total relaxation all over the body.
Photo: Internet
Sampling Street Food
If you are seeking for special food, Sapa will not let you down. Both Vietnamese and western dishes are served widely in every restaurant and hotel in town. Moreover, there are great local foods sold in Sapa’s wet market and along every street. Nothing is better than some hot barbecued chicken, pork, fish, mushroom and grilled eggs in the cool weather of Sapa. Besides, there are some specialties such as “thang co”- horse meat, five-color sticky rice, local wine that also attract tourists.
Photo: toplist.vn
Trekking in Sapa - A Starter's Guide
Mountainous area of northern Vietnam is among the best places all over the country for trekking. Depending on their trekking skills and ability, tourists can choose the trekking route which is most suitable, as Sapa offers a wide range of trekking spots from easy to hard level.
Fansipan Mountain Hike
There are three popular routes to conquer Fansipan, with the starting point is Tram Ton pass, Cat Cat ethnic village or Sin Chai; in which Sin Chai route is said to be the most beautiful but the most dangerous also.
Nightlife in Sapa
Sapa is a beautiful, mountainous town in northern Vietnam.