Hanoi - Sapa Valley
Nestled in the far north-western mountain ranges of Vietnam, Sapa Valley
remains as one of the last regions where the indigenous way of life
continues to flourish within the country. While the doors to international
tourists was officially opened here in 1993, tourism seem to have taint very
little of the way people lived at this highland destination in the last 18
years.
Infrastructure and attempts at urbanisation remain unpolised and many of the
native population still don their traditional costumes, which has a certain
blast-to-the-past charm for a seasoned city-dweller like me.
A former French military debarkation center in the late
1880s for the colonists to escape the heat of the lowlands, Sapa
Valley is an important town of the Sa Pa District in Lao Cai
Province. Its inhabitants are dominated by descendents of the Black Hmong
tribe with the Kinh (the majority ethnic group in Vietnam) and a few
other smaller ethnic minorities making up the local demographics. It is a quiet
little town linked by a few dirt roads to the surrounding farmlands.
Due to its cool weather and winding country terrains cutting
across photogenic rice terraces and rustic villages, Sapa Valley is fast
becoming a hotspot for trekkers. I signed up for this trip with SGtrekker
following the lead of my photography kakis without knowing what I'm
in for. I thought it was just Hanoi and when I saw Sapa Valley in
the itinerary closer to departure, I wasn't prepared that we had to
take an overnight train to get there.
I can't remember when was the last time I took a train, let alone an
overnighter. So, how was the experience? Can one actually sleep on the
metallic speed worm? Was it any fun?
Getting to Sapa Valley from Hanoi
To get to Sapa Valley from Hanoi, we took a train at Đường sắt Việt
Nam Railway Station (Ga Ha Noi) to Lao Cai followed by a minibus bus
ride to the highland destination. Lao Cai is the gateway to the Sa Pa
region and also Bac Ha Market.
Hanoi ---> Lao Cai (9 hours train ride) ---> Sapa
Valley (1.5 hours minibus ride)
SGTrekker organised the whole trip so I do not have actual unit price info. All
the costs I listed here are what I managed to piece together from online
searches.
Several train companies offer sleeper rides from Hanoi
to Lao Cai. We took the Livitrans Express Train with 4 berths / beds
and our train departed from Hanoi at 8:35 pm and arrived in Lao Cai at
5:00 am. The trains depart on time so be sure not to be late.
If there are less than 4 of you travelling and you find empty beds in your
cabin, don't start extending your sleeping territory as yet. There are
several stops along the way and the train could pick up more passengers that
could be your cabin mate/s.
The 4-berth cabin is comfortable enough but if you're an insomniac like me, the constantly rocking will make falling asleep rather difficult. And pray your cabin mates don't form a nocturnal cacophony. I couldn't sleep the whole ride from Hanoi to Lao Cai despite me staying up the previous night too before coming on the trip. So by the time I reached Lao Cai, I had not slept for 2 days.
It's a bad thing Sapa is at the border of China. I was worried they mistake me for an escaped panda. However, I slept like a baby on the train going back to Hanoi. I was really tired out. Onboard the train, there is a toilet at each end of a carriage unit and a shared vanity top for washing up.
Sapa Budget Tours
- Sapa Day Tours - Sapa Day Excursions - Day Trips Sapa Vietnam
- Sapa Walk and Bac ha Market
- Sapa Hard Trekking Two
- Sapa Hard Trekking One
- Sapa Medium Trek Two
- Sapa Medium Trek
Sapa Trekking and Adventures
- Fansipan peak conquering VIP tour (3 days - 2 nights)
- Fansipan peak conquering VIP tour (2 days - 1 nights)
- Fansipan peak conquering Deluxe tour (4 days - 3 nights)
- Fansipan peak conquering Deluxe tour (3 days - 2 nights)
- Fansipan peak conquering Deluxe tour (2 days - 1 nights)
- Fansipan peak conquering Standard tour (4 days - 3 nights)
Sapa Cycling Options
- Sapa - Binh Lu - Lai Chau(with biking)
- Sapa - Lao Chai - Ta Van - Ban Ho
- Sapa Biking Tour - Ban Ho Village
- Sapa Biking Tour - Binh Lu - Lai Chau
- SaPa - Bac Ha Market with biking
- Pedalling The Remote Sapa\'s Northwest
Sapa Luxury Holidays
Traditional Minority Discovery Packages
- Green Sapa bus (Hanoi – Sapa)
- Eco Sapa Limousine Van (Hanoi – Sapa)
- Private car Hanoi Sapa
- Hanoi Sapa Private Cabin bus
- Coc Ly market with boat trip
- Cao Son market -boat trip on Chay river- Sapa Tours
Sapa Classic Trips
Northern Mountain Discovery Packages
Topas Ecolodge Sapa tours
- Topas Ecolodge and Market Package 3D/4N
- Topas Ecolodge and Market Package-2D/3N
- Topas Ecolodge and Victoria Sapa Package – 4D/5N
- Topas Ecolodge and Victoria Sapa Package – 3D/4N
- Topas Ecolodge Package – 3D/4N
- Topas Ecolodge Package 2D/3N
Top hotels in Sapa
Vietnam Top Hotel
