Out of Norm Travels - March 2015 Trip down to Sapa, Vietnam

Sapa, is a frontier town and capital of Sa Pa District in Lào Cai Province in northwest Vietnam. I had the privilege to spend 3 days 2 nights at this location which can be reached via Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam (where international flights connect into the country).

I heard that there is a new highway that was recently built that links Hanoi to Sapa which takes a mere 5 hours (and at less expense). But for my trip, I took the longer route (and to me, more authentic way of travelling within Southeast Asia i.e. by train) which required 8 hours train travel from Hanoi to Lao Cai.

For the way down to Sapa, I took the Livitrain Express Train that departed from Hanoi at around 9p.m. before reaching Lao Cai at 5.30a.m. For the train ride back from Lao Cai to Hanoi, I took a different train service which is the Sapaly Express Train that departed at 8p.m. and reached Hanoi around 4a.m. I will highly recommend the Sapaly Express Train as it wins hands down even though it’s slightly pricier at USD46 (vs. USD39 for the Livitrain Express Train). I do believe the extra money is value for money to travel in style and comfort – to me, Sapaly Express still eludes the elegance of train travel of yesteryears.

On arrival at Lao Cai train station, it will normally take around 1 hour to reach Sapa. But since I was there during the weekend, my 1^st stop was to Bac Ha Market, which was around 1.5 hours from Lao Cai. This meant that I was travelling in the opposite direction of Sapa and meant that it took 3 hours or so for me to reach Sapa that afternoon after the trip to the market.

What’s so special about Bac Ha Market? Well, it is a market where several ethnic minority groups in the area such as Flower Hmong, Red Dao (Yao), Black Dao (Yao), Giáy, Pho Lu, and Tay ethinic groups dressed in their traditional finery congregate and gather to make their purchases for the week. I was blissfully taking over 500 shots just for that market alone before the heat got to me. I love just sitting down somewhere and observing the energy and vibrancy of the market that sold everything from the quintessential sugarcane bargains to the black pigs and buffalo for farming and dog as pets.

That evening was spent resting before the 2^nd morning in Sapa started with a trek that started after breakfast and ended in late afternoon. I covered both Cat Cat village and Sin Chai village in that trek. After some 16,000 steps taken over endless winding terrain, I was exhausted by the end of the 10km walk. Cat Cat village is quite touristy simply because of its proximity to Sapa town where the hotels/ B&B are located (about 2km away). The folks there are reasonably mild mannered and prepared to walk away when you express no interest in their wares. I trekked down to Sin Chai village which is located at the foot of Fansipan Mountain, also known as 'the roof of Vietnam and Indochina'.

After a well deserved overnight rest, I headed down to Lao Chai Village and Ta Van village for a morning stroll before bidding Sapa goodbye in the evening. Lao Chai Village is where the black H’mong people are living. From a high point of the main road around 8 Km from Sapa town, I had a fantastic view of the whole village offering expansive panoramas of scenery of the village in the foreground with high mountains in the background. Villagers in traditional garb greet us along the way with traditional wares like purses and bags up for sale.

At the time of my travel, USD1 is about VN20,000- 21,000. Although weather in Sapa was to be a cool 18-22 degree Celsius, I felt warm throughout my stay there so I was comfortable with cotton / dry-fit T-shirts throughout my stay in March except for a wind breaker for the evening.

Here are my collection of shots taken for this trip....

Till the next time, onto the world and beyond!