SAPA - BAC HA

At the height of 1.600m above sea level, Sapa is an interesting venue for you to choose on your holiday. The first thing you notice when approaching the resort town are some detached wooden mansions and villas perched on a hill top or hillside, behind thick pine forests and almost invisible on this foggy morning. Old and new villas with red roofs now appear and now disappear in the green rows of pomu trees, bringing the town the beauty of European towns. View Larger Map

TIME OBJECT DAY 1  20:30  Pick up at Ha Noi, and depart for Lao Cai 21:15  Train to Lao Cai departs DAY 2  06:00  Arrive in Lao Cai. Breakfast at local restaurant 07:00  Transfer to Sapa Central 08:00  Visit for visiting Ta Phin village on the route, meeting with Dao People, Black H'mong 09:15  Cont. departing for Sapa 09:45  Arrive in Sapa, Check in hotel. Self-discover Sapa 12:00  Lunch at local restaurant in Central of Sapa 14:00  Explore the terrace rice fields in Ta Vang 16:30  Back to Sapa, visit Stone Church. Time at leisure 18:30  Dinner at local restaurant DAY 3   07:30  "After breakfast, check out hotel and proceed to Lao Cai. On Sunday, you can also visit Lao Cai market" 10:00  "Arrive in Bac Ha, here you can witness the many ethnic people gathering together, namely: Thai people, Red Dao People,�cmeeting each others and doing commercial,�c" 12:00  Lunch will be served at local restaurant 13:30   After lunch, depart for Ban Pho village to have a meeting with local Mong people 14:00  Take the train from Bac Ha to Lao Cai, view Vietnam and China border on the way 16:30  Take a rest at the restaurant near the station, free time 18:30  Dinner at local restaurant 20:30 Take the train from Lao Cai to Ha Noi DAY 4  04:30  Arrive in Ha Noi, take taxi to your hotel. End of services.        Terrace rive field                                     Moutain City

Sa Pa District is located in Lao Cai Province, north-west Vietnam, and 350 km north-west of Hanoi, close to the border with China. The Hoang Lien Son range of mountains dominates the district, which is at the eastern extremity of the Himalayas. This range includes Vietnam's highest mountain, Fan Si Pan, at a height of 3142m above sea level. The town of Sa Pa lies at an altitude of about 1600 m. The climate is moderate and rainy in summer (May?August), and foggy and cold with occasional snowfalls in winter.          Sa Pa is a quiet mountain town and home to a great diversity of ethnic minority peoples. The total population of 36,000 consists mostly of minority groups. Besides the Kinh (Viet) people (15%) there are mainly 5 ethnic groups in Sapa: Hmong 52%, Dao 25%, Tay 5%, Giay 2% and a small number of Xa Pho.              Approximately 7,000 live in Sapa, the other 36,000 being scattered in small communes throughout the district.Most of the ethnic minority people work their land on sloping terraces since the vast majority of the land is mountainous. Their staple foods are rice and corn. Rice, by its very nature of being a labour intensive crop, makes the daily fight for survival paramount. The unique climate in Sapa has a major influence on the ethnic minorities who live in the area.                With sub-tropical summers, temperate winters and 160 days of mist annually, the influence on agricultural yields and health related issues are significant.The minority people can only yield one crop of rice annually, which leads to food shortfalls in many communes at specific times. This shortage of food contributes to malnutrition and other related health problems. The climatic conditions also contribute to many health issues including coughs, colds, and bronchial and respiratory problems that are commonplace throughout the community.The geographical location of the area makes it a truly unique place for many interesting plants and animals, allowing it to support many inhabitants. Many very rare or even endemic species have been recorded in the region. Terrace rive field Moutain City Going to the market ethnic kids Hanging bridge