Sapa is a northwestern mountainous district  of Vietnam, which is located about 376 km from Ha Noi capital and 38km from Lao Cai city. At the height of 1600 meters above the sea, Sapa has unique climate and sight. Sapa is cold in winter and cool in summer with the average temperature from 15 to 18oC. Visitors can feel the climate of four seasons in one day if they go to Sapa in summer. The best time to view the charming beauty of Sapa is in April and May. In these period of time, Sapa is blooming with flowers and green meadows. It is very cold in Sapa in the winter, the temperature drops to about 1 to 2oC. Thus, sometimes snow appears in Sapa, which is rare in tropical countries.  Come to Sapa, tourists can’t close the eyes to some great and famous destinations such as Love Waterfall, Ta Phin Village, Cat Cat Village, Sapa Market… Sapa is famous for not only its nature but also its people. However, if you want to take photos of the ethnic group, you must ask them for permission. The life of ethnic minorities in Sapa change so much now, but they still have unique habit and culture.

Love Waterfall

One of the most attractive place of Sapa is Love Waterfall. Love waterfall is situated in San Sa Ho commune, about 4km to the Northwest of Sapa town. To get here, visitors have to go through a red dirt road. Walking on that road, you can witness variaty kinds of beautiful jungle flowers, the rustle of tree leaves and the singing birds. Come to Love waterfall, visitors not only can enjoy fresh and cool atmosphere but also can explore the legend of a intent love story. The story was a long time ago, the fairies from heaven chose this waterfall as a place to bath. One day, a fairy was impressed by flute sound of a young boy near the fall. From that day, she came here every night just to listen to those melodies. A short time later, her parents knew the secret, and prohibit her coming back to the fall. But the fairy really missed the boy and his melodies, so she transformed herself to a bird and flew around the peak of the mountain, as a matter of fact, she could live with her love forever. From then on, the name Love is born. Love waterfall is charming with fresh water falls from the height 100 meters. It looks like a glitter grand water pillar, which makes people amazed.

Taphin

Taphin village, which is about 17 km far from Sapa, is a very strange name to visitors. This village belongs to Red Dao people, who posess a rich ethnic culture. Ta Phin is the nearest village of Red Dao’s ethnic group in the area of Sapa district. It takes only about 30 minutes from Sapa town to Taphin by motorbike. It may be difficult for cars to move because of the mountainous terrain, so visitors can hire a “xe om” (motorbike taxi). The driver will take you to right place with a reasonable price. Additionally, on the way there, he will give you some of useful advices and tips. First come to Taphin Village, you will see groups of Red Dao’s women sewing continuosly with colorful reels of thread in their hand. They even sell goods to customers and sew at the same time. The native people can speak English quite well, some of them may invite you to their house to show their family, their living, their special culture. Come here, you will fall in love not only with Red Dao’s particular traditional cultupare but also the hospitable Red Dao’s people.

Cat Cat village

Cat Cat Village is located at the bottom of the Muong Hoa Valley, about 1km from Sapa town and near Cat Cat Waterfall. This is a longstanding village of HMong ethnic group having unique habits and routines. To visit village, you have to walk through Sapa Market down the valley. When you get out of the crowd, you'll be shocked by the beauty of nature: over-3000-meters-high mountains of and the lime rice terraces dropping nearly 1000 meters below. Visiting Cat Cat Village, tourist can be in awe of an beautiful but simple picture. A normal family is doing their normal things. A women carefully dye a plain brocade, children play around with pets, rocks and dirt. The architecture of HMong’s house is also appealling. Their house often has three rooms with po mu wood roof, the walls are made from sawn timber. Some other essential parts of the house are as altar, kitchen, places for keeping food and sleeping, etc. Beside things mentioned above, one of the mosst attractive things in Cat Cat Village is the custom of “pulling wife”. If you are curious, come here and see.

Sapa Market

Market in Sapa is always crowded and busy. Everyday, there is a market sessions within Sapa’s surrounding area. Some famous markets are Coc Ly, Cao Son, Sin Cheng, Lung Khau Nhin, Tam Duong Dat, Can Cau, Bac Ha market. Those market is for trading many kinds of goods such as brocades clothes, animals, accessories, food… Likewise, Sapa markets are opportunities for friends and relatives meet each other. A very special market in Sapa is “love market”. In the past, the custom of “pulling wife” took place here. Nowaday, this is the place for young boys and girls to seek for sweethearts. After the sunset, the H’Mong and Red Dao young people get together in groups, wandering and looking for lovers. They sit beside, sing and talk together through the night. If they like each other, they may exchange gifts and apoint for see each other again in the following market sessions.

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