Sapa Things to Do

If you are a real coffee-addicted, don't miss to visit a small but very assorted and strangely furnished coffee shopin Sa Pa, just in the centre of the town. Its name is NGQOC VINH COFFEE QUAN, in Day NHA THO. Nice orchid garden, wooden carvings and 8 types of coffee. Try the nr.8...and then ask how it is made.

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Cat Cat waterfall and nearby water power station was built by French in the early 20th century. This waterfall was built together with proper stairwell and stairway. It made it easy for us to walk to another side of the mountain. This was a good stop to visit the waterfalls.

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Cat Cat Village is located at the bottom of the Muong Hoa Vally, with short distant to Cat Cat waterfall. Walking down from Muong Hoa Vally to Cat Cat village, we passed by local houses, and many of these houses have transformed to tourist retails to sell handicrafts including brocade fabrics, gold and silver jewelry, maps, postcards, clothing, and etc. Anyway, the views surrounding the areas were stunning.

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We continued our journey from Muong Hoa river to Ta Van village. We crossed a bridge to reach an area with paddy and terraced fields. It was winter during our visit, so the paddy fields were rather muddy with no crops. We managed to visit some local houses to see the activities inside their households. There is a school that was built by the local and the Japanese volunteers. We were lucky enough to see school children playing and studying in a classroom. Tan Van villages has mostly the Giay people. They share some similar culture features with their Chinese border neighbours.

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After visiting Y Linh Ho and Lao Chai Village, we continued our journey walking along Muong Hoa river. Overall, this is the most beautiful scene walks in Sapa, even though the tracks are not easy to walk. It was a after raining day, the tracks were very muddy and slippery. There were no proper man-made tracks, but walked along the terraced fields and rocks along the river. The stunning scenery had paid off the whole experience of walking on a rough tracks, well worth it.

We stopped by an open restaurant near the river looking over the mountains for lunch. The lunch was okay. After lunch, we continued our journey to Ta Van Village.

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We first walked on a muddy road to the Y Linh Ho Handicraft Center. On our way there, there were many young children, H'mong, accompanied our walk and talked to us. We were not sure what to react as they were many innocent children trying to sell us something. We just followed our tour guide continue walking toward Muong Hoa river.

These are mostly handmade handicrafts made by the local, H'mong. If you see something nice, you can bargain the price with them. But be nice, as it takes long time for them to make those handicrafts.

If you only have half day left in Sapa, and downtown is too small for you....
There's a place called "Dragon's Jaws Mountain" (Ham Rong) just about 400 meters away from the Tourism Info Center. This walking trail leads you to the mountain top, with a myriad of indigenous typical plants that could only be found in Northwest Vietnam.

But...you have to pay some bucks gettin' up there

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For around $5 per day you can hire a 125cc motorbike and explore the mountain roads of the district around Sapa.
But take care and dont speed as the roads can be pretty poor condition and you will meet all sorts of obstacles along the way such as water crossings, pot holes large enough to park a bus, domestic pigs and water buffaloes and the occasional truck as well as heaps of other motorbikes loaded to the hilt with all manner of things. Just go with the flow and you'll be right. An extra warning about water crossings, they may contain hidden submerged rocks. View this video to see why.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZlwxHlSEGo