Located in northwest Vietnam, Sapa – a mountainous destination enjoys a mysterious beauty of nature and human beings. Feasting eyes on continuous mountain ranges half-veiled by floating cloud and admiring the elegant beauty of local ethnic minority people, visitors will be matter-of-factly enchanted during their Sapa tour.

As a mountainous town in Lao Cai Province, Sapa has a subtropical highland climate that is really different from other parts of the tropical country Vietnam. Lying at an altitude of 1500 – 1800 meters above sea level, the town with its temperate-like climate that is cool all year round, proves itself a wonderful destination for traveling. Especially during winter, snow falls in some years as the temperature decreases to around 0^oC.

Over this yearly period of time, from September to November, many a visitor flocks to Sapa and enjoys an excellent mosaic of nature and human beings. As geographically outstanding, the town retains awesome weather with honey sunlight during the day and slightly cold at night. Exclusively, catchy yellow hue of ripen rice dominates all over paddy terraces within the very course of time, which Sapa mesmerizes anyone from all walks of life, like headstrong photographers, naturalists or those who love natural beauty. And guess what? Snow in a tropical country like Viet Nam is phenomenal, isn’t it? Just wrap up and get your Sapa tour started at any time from December to February, you’ll sure have a terrific vacation ever in the mountain town.

Once setting foot on your Sapa tour, you’ll definitely be spellbound by a natural masterpiece of forested mountains. Standing on top of Mt Ham Rong (Núi Hàm Rồng or Dragon’s Jaw mount.) offers you an overall view downward Sapa town and its famous attractions, for example, Muong Hoa Valley (Thung lũng Mường Hoa), Ta Phin Commune (Xã Tả Phìn), and Sa Pả Commune (Xã Sa Pả), looming here and there through a thin layer of fog, which makes you feel as if floating in the midst of clouds. Furthermore, another attraction that captivates visitors is, of course, Fansipan Peak – the roof of Indochina. At the height of 3143 meters, Fansipan is the highest summit in Viet Nam as well as among the three Indochina countries, including Laos and Cambodia. Making it to the peakrequires a great deal of effort, but marks an unforgettable memory on your Sapa tour in return.

Wiggling through a labyrinthine way toward the Sapa Sky Gate, you’ll wind up letting your eyes roam over picturesque heaps of mountains, and a broad valley beneath with rice terraces mounted upon steep slopes that highlight some crooked paths around. All the stuff altogether frames an idyllic picture of Sapa in colors and emotions.

Beside majestic mountains, Sapa draws attention to its unique features of indigenous culture. Pay a visit to a love market in Sapa and you’ll see a stack of cultural earmarks of ethnic minority groups, especially of Yao people. The special market starts every Sunday morning; however, on Saturday young Yao couples often come to the market at dusk to meet up and together join several alluring activities such as tug of war, leaf-horn playing or Giao Duyen singing (hát giao duyên or dual love-song singing), and so on. Interestingly, some couples of man and woman joining this market came to get married afterward.

Not only is this very market impressive but Bac Ha Sunday market (chợ phiên Bắc Hà), one of the biggest in the northern highland, also lures visitors on their Sapa tour. Ethnic minority people from neighboring villages, gather here at dawn on Sundays to sell and buy a variety of goods, embracing maize, corn wine, farming stuff or animals, or to hang out and enjoy their lives. Certainly, you’ll find many catchy, beautiful things here to bring home as souvenirs for friends and family.

As a Jewish saying, “Go far, stay long, see deep.” Your Sapa expedition will be extravagantly fascinating as you “home stay” at a native family, try out indigenous cuisine and do some chitchat with little kids whose cheeks blush due to cold weather.

Last but not least, along with those aforesaid features, Sapa cuisine also contributes itself to the irresistible attraction of the quiet highland town. There are plenty of salads with fresh, ‘delish’ vegetables, including cauliflower, red turnip, chayote, etc., planted and prepared by the locals. Under a spell of cold weather, enjoying grilled food made from wild games such as wild pigs, chicken, tuna, sturgeons, or tubers like sweet potato and cassava, all definitely sends you to cloud nine. And if you feel homesick, stuff yourself with chargrilled Sapa black chicken, shiitake or boiling hot Thang Co (Thắng cố or horse meat), which will also save you from freezing as the cold air spreads over the tourist town Sapa.