Sapa, Vietnam

Sapa is a town in northwestern Vietnam well known for its famous rice terraces, mountains and communities of ethnic minorities. Trekking is one of the main reasons why travellers visit Sapa.

From Lào Cai to Sapa

The bus station to take a public bus from Lào Cai to Sapa was just outside Ga Lào Cai (Lao Cai Station). According to the bus timetable displayed, the buses from Lào Cai ran from 0530 hours to 1600 hours and the fare was 40,000 VND. The journey took slightly over an hour.

Arriving at Sapa

The common reference point in Sapa is the Notre Dame Cathedral.

The name may sound familiar and yes, you are right. Ho Chi Minh City has a cathedral by the same name as well but they differentiated by naming it Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon.

In and Around Sapa

Sapa is quite a touristy town. Streets like Fansipan, Cau May, Thach Son and Xuan Vien are lined with cafes, hotels, restaurants, shops selling winter wear and shoes, etc.

The main activities that you can do are hiking to see the rice terraces and villages, and going to Fanzipan mountain.

If you are willing to travel around, you can visit Cầu Kính Rồng Mây (Dragon in Cloud Glass Bridge- about 17 km from Sapa town), Love and Silver Waterfalls, Ta Phin Village where there is a small cave, Sapa Lake and Swing Sapa.

When I visited in December 2022, it was winter.

My itinerary for the morning was to visit Fanzipan mountain. As I wanted to catch the first funicular railway up, I bought the Sun World Fansipan Legend Ticket from the Klook mobile app in advance so that I could proceed to the railway queue immediately.

The funicular railway took me from Sapa Station to Ga Mường Hoa (Mount Hoa Station) at the foot of the mountain where the cable car station was, for my transfer to the top, well almost, of Fanzipan mountain. To get to the peak, I had to climb the stairs or take another funicular railway, which was one-way. It was quite strange why the transfer was one-way as after the funicular railway sent passengers up, it would have to come down to pick up another load of passengers. Yes, I had to take the stairs down after visiting the peak, to take the cable car back to the foot of the mountain for the return funicular railway trip back to Sapa station.

As it was a foggy morning, it was white all over at the peak and I just took a few photos of the peak marker before descending all the way down and back to my accommodation.

After Fanzipan mountain, I hired a driver with a car to take me around Sapa. As my time at Sapa had to be reduced due to the delay at Y Ty, I could only select certain places to visit.

The weather was uncooperative and unkind. As the car took me out of Sapa town, the entire scenery outside was white, not because of snow but fog! 🥺

My silent prayers for the fog to disappear before I arrived at Cầu Kính Rồng Mây (Rong May Glass Bridge) were unanswered.

Upon arrival at the entrance of Cầu Kính Rồng Mây where the welcome arch was, my transport could not proceed further as a shuttle van service was provided to bring visitors up to the arrival centre to buy tickets. After buying tickets, visitors proceeded to the side of the building to take the shuttle van up the slope to a large parking area where there were shops at the side and a lift at the opposite corner to take visitors to the visitor centre. After walking through the visitor centre, there was a lift lobby where the lift would bring visitors up a transparent lift shaft up to the bridge.

On a clear day, one would be able to see the mountains and valleys on the way up and at the glass-floored bridge but when I was there, it was all white. Walking on the glass bridge was like walking on white glass as all was white below my feet. 😭

I moved on to the Silver waterfall after that and as a consolation, it was not as foggy and I managed to see the waterfall and climb up the flights of stairs to the bridge at the top of the waterfall to see it from another point of view.

As sunset was at about 5+, I quickly left the area to visit Lao Chải and Ta Van villages, to walk around and take in the breathtaking views of the rice terraces from a bird's eye view as well as from the foot of the terraces.

Food and Beverage

Dishes to try included bánh cuốn (steamed rice rolls), cơm lam (fried rice in bamboo tube), mầm đá (a kind of vegetable), mèn mén (rice made of corn), salmon hotpot, seven-color sticky rice, thắng cố (dish made from horse), thịt lợn cắp nách (free-range pig) and thịt trâu gác bếp (smoked buffalo meat).

I tried grilled sturgeon, smoked buffalo and pork at A Quynh Restaurant (15 Thach Son Street) for dinner after I arrived from Lào Cai.

I had bánh cuốn (steamed rice rolls- 40,000 VND) for breakfast and coffee (10,000 VND) before going up Fanzipan mountain.

After your meals or after your adventures, you can get a cup of coffee or ice-blended drink and chill at one of the many cafes. Personally, I prefer those with window seats on the upper floors where I can see the happenings below.

If you are adventurous, you can buy instant bubble tea mix from a convenience store to make and enjoy in the comfort of your room.

Departing Sapa

As I was heading back to Lào Cai for my train ride back to Hà Nội, I opted to take the public bus. The bus would be waiting at the bus stop near the Notre Dame Cathedral.

It was cramped full of passengers when I took it. There were even stools to create additional seats for folks to sit at the already-so-narrow aisle!