Sapa is a mountain town in northwest Vietnam, it is famous for its towering peaks, steep rice terrace and picturesque villages nestled between every breathtaking view. Great for people who love hiking and trekking.
We booked Sapa 3 days 2 Nights with Klook. The package inclusive of all meals, hotel accommodation, activities, and transportation from Hanoi to Sapa for both ways.
Day 1 the van picked us up at 7 am from our hotel. It took about 6 hours to reach Sapa and it made 2 stops for toilet break, be prepared for some small money for toilet entry.
At around 1-2 pm we reached Sapa. The hotel we stayed at is called Roxana Sapa Hotel. It is facing the mountain and 15 mins walk to Cat Cat village.
The hotel is about 3.5 star, it has all the basic facilities, hot shower and aircon, and towels. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were provided, most of the time we have our meals in the hotel.
Day 1 activity was visiting the Cat Cat village, an English-speaking guide was with us, there are about 20 of us together with other guests. The tickets were included in the package. The walk is about 15 mins and there are a lot of steps to walk down to Cat Cat village.
Along the stairs, there are shops selling all the souvenirs and rental shops for traditional clothing.
Cat Cat village is an ethnic village of the Hmong people. Hmong are subgroup of the Miao people. The Hmong people are indigenous people that mainly live in Southwest China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar. The Hmong people here are Black Hmong, there are also Green and White Hmong and it can be recognized from the clothing. The Hmong that I met is mostly Black Hmong.
There is a cultural performance start at 5 pm and at the end of the show, tourists are asked to join in the bamboo dance too. It was fun dancing together with the Hmong villagers and other tourists with a beautiful waterfall backdrop.
Day 2 was trekking with the Hmong guide and some villagers’ children. Sapa is one of the best places to do trekking. The valley floor is filled with rice terraces that change from bright green to yellow depending on the time of year that you visit.
The weather in Sapa is always wet, it was drizzling before we started our trekking. Luckily there are raincoats sold in the hotel. We get some raincoats and rented rubber boots. The rubber boot was not comfortable so please get your own trekking shoes. I got a plastic shoe protector from Ali Express so my shoes were not totally wet when I stepped on the mud and cow dung. It is best if you could get a high-cut plastic cover so that it can cover more of your shoes. It’s really helpful if you get a pair of plastic covers to wear on top of your trekking or sports shoes.
The wet season is from May to September, we were here in the month of June, it was pretty wet but the rice paddies have the brightest green.
We have about 10 people trekking together and a local Hmong guide was with us. She also brought along 10 other local teens to help her out. I wonder why there are so many locals following us.
The trekking wasn’t easy at all as the path are very muddy in some places, also there are uphill and downhill paths and mostly uneven. You need some assistance to hold your walk through the difficult obstacles.
I saw other trekkers’ shoes were wet from stepping on the muddy field. Luckily my shoes were still not so wet as I have the plastic shoe protector.
We had our lunch on top of the mountain, 3 dishes were served with white rice. After lunch, we continue our journey and it ends at around 2.3pm
The hotel van came to pick us up to go back to the hotel.
Fansipan Cable Car
We book the Fansipan cable car online with Klook. You can also book the ticket with the hotel and it is more flexible if you get the ticket from the hotel. If you booked with Klook online, the time cannot be changed. Cable car stop operating at 5pm so the latest you should go is by 3pm. It was quite rush for us because our trekking end at 2 plus.
Anyway the hotel to the Cable Car station is only 10 mins so we managed to go up and watched the scenery from the top.
It was very windy and quite cold in the month of Jun so be prepared with some jackets.
The cable car starts from Hoang Lien station which is located in the Fansipan Legend tourist area, 3 km away from the Stone Church in the center of Sapa town. A cable car can accommodate from 30 to 35 people and transfer 2,000 passengers between the 2 stations in 1 hour.
Ticket for Cable car is not cheap but I think it is still worth making a trip up.
After our cable car ride, we return back to Sapa town at around 5 pm and look for our dinner, it was hotpot since the weather is quite cooling. Sapa town is quite small and the main streets are mostly restaurants serving hotpot and BBQ.
On day 3 we still have the whole morning to explore Sapa before the van comes and picks us up at 2 pm.
Where we stay in Sapa : Roxana Sapa Hotel, Sapa, Vietnam
Final thoughts:
Sapa is one of the best places to do trekking with the local indigenous guide, the Hmong tribe. Most speak good English and along the way they talk about their culture and customs. Do bring along a good pair of trekking shoes and best if you could get shoe protectors, else your whole shoes may get wet as most of the paths in the village are very muddy and wet.
The weather is quite wet so get a raincoat. The guide made a stop in the village so you can get some drinks and snacks. The trekking that we opted for is 10km in the village so it is not as tough as mountain trekking. The only advice I can give is, go get the plastic shoe protector online before your trip to Sapa, you will thank me if you got one. Best if you go get the high-cut version!