Vietnam: Finally Sapa

Sapa first got on our radar when we were in Hanoi in 2002. Since then we had traveled much in the area in China, right north of Sapa. I was happy to finally be in Sapa, though I am fully aware Sapa is nothing like the town it was in 2002. This place must have one of the highest concentrations of hotel beds in the world. Actually the same might be true for the whole country, making Vietnam one of the most accessible countries in terms of cost. Geographically Vietnam is already well positioned for the millions of eager tourists from East, Southeast, and South Asians, benefitting from weather differentials.

Vietnam's highest peak Fansipan (3147m) now has a funicular/cable car system to wisk people from Sapa (~1500m). I read there used to be 2000 people a year that reached the top, now 2000 people can summit in one hour. Thankfully the system was down for a month of maintenance, saving us much calculation and analysis. Given the foggy rainy weather, the return on the overnight trek would not be worthwhile.

We did have two reasonably good days for some walking in the countryside to see rice terraces which is really what attracted me to Sapa. I am a junky for rice terraces. Might my remote ancestors have worked them? One day we walked to the southeast, the second day to the north. We mostly used the trails that are already marked on OpenStreetMap, as we do everywhere else we go, while most other tourists were "trekking" with local guides.

Over the last week, I realized that we hadn't returned to Vietnam earlier because the last time it seemed that in 90% of the transactions we were being cheated, or at least made uneasy. This time the ratio has reversed - less than 10% are questionable. A lot of the time we are still paying more, but they are all written down, e.g. a menu translated in English, maximum bus fare posted. Most of the time people are genuine, kind, and helpful. I am treated as a fellow human being, not solely as an economic opportunity.

Let's get right to the food. We ate well in Sapa. The Saparis Hotel provided an awesome included breakfast buffet (1st below), and we ate at least 4 times at Thong Dong (2nd and 3rd below), a vegan restaurant just 10 meters from the hotel. We also ate several times at random restaurants that served meat but had vegan or vegetarian items on the menu; tofu with tomatoes (4th below) being a Vietnamese specialty and our fav.








The view from our hotel room balcony on a clear day (1st below) and when the clouds roll in (2nd).




Sa Pa may be the world's capital for cymbidium orchids. W e first saw them on the bus ride up to Sa Pa (1st below), and there are ambulatory vendors around town (2nd).




We started our rice terrace walk to the southeast on the main road (1st below) and soon had a great view (2nd), no guide needed.




Then we headed down a muddy track into the terraces and came across a slew of guided trekkers with their guides and followers; that is, local women hoping to sell small souvenirs they carry in baskets.








We continue by ourselves for an hour (1st below), then run into the guided trekkers again at a viewpoint with a restaurant/cafe (2nd below and more, in which we eat fried bananas).










The Sa Pa Catholic Church, focal point of city center, was built in 1895.


The 2nd sunny day (1st below) we walked north from town through rice terraces. The local farmers had just started to flood their fields in preparation for planting rice. While walking up one flight of terraces, it was as if the fields were filling up right in front of our eyes.


















Turning around we headed back to Sapa via a sleepy village that grew artichokes, and a tiny hamlet where not much was happening.






Bonus "Fog Rolling In" video