In an old famous folksong of Vietnam, it is written that ‘Sapa
where the sky and the earth meet, where I found you and we feel in love’. Sapa
is truly a heaven for visitors to find out its rich ethnic minority people’s
cultures, beautiful and poetic mountainous landscapes as well as many other
great things and sceneries. It for many years has become one of the most
fascinating tourism attractions in Northern part of Vietnam
that it deserves the nickname of the heaven of Northern
Vietnam.
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| Sapa town, lake and mountain |
Located in the northwest part of the country and away 360 km
from Hanoi, Sapa is a mountainous town of Lao Cai province. It is
also close to the Chinese border. The town is about 1,5 km above the sea level.
Sapa is famous for its beautiful and rich cultures of ethnic minority groups.
Besides the Kinh people, who are the majority in Vietnam,
in Sapa visitors will have a great chance to find out more about the cultures,
traditions, costumes of H’mong, Day, Dao, Tay,
Nung ethnic people.
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| Colorful costumes of the ethnic minority people |
The beauty of Sapa was discovered by the French colonists in
1909 thanks to its moderate and cool climate and magnificent mountainous
landscapes. They built great deal of Western-style villas and residences that
now have become an interesting fact about the architecture of the town. Climate
is one of the most important factors attracting visitors worldwide. The weather
is much cooler in compared to other parts of the country with tropical hot
climate. Especially, in the winter there is snow and icebergs on trunks of
trees in Sapa and other few parts of Northern Vietnam.
This has attracted a great deal of tropical visitors all over the country. In
Sapa, you will see a great picturesque landscape of mountains, valleys, rice
fields and lakes. Biking and trekking are the two most popular forms to explore
Sapa. Getting along the small and sinuous paths next to the mountain cliffs by
bike or leg, opening your visions to the greatly beautiful terraced valleys of
green and yellow rice and corn fields, breathing the cool fresh air of the
mountainous areas, all of those are sure to blow your mind away.
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| Beautiful green and yellow rice terraced fields |
The rich cultures of ethnic minority people here are sure to
be the alluring factors to the international visitors worldwide. Traditional
habits, beautiful and delicate colorful hand-made clothes, dresses and handkerchiefs
of the ethnic groups will certainly stun you. Especially, visitors can enjoy
the home-stay service provided by these ethnic people to fully grasp their rich
and special ways of life.
