Discover Sapa, nestled in Vietnam’s northwest, renowned for its majestic mountains, terraced rice fields, and cultural richness. Ride the iconic Fansipan Cable Car, visit Notre Dame Cathedral, stroll around Sa Pa Lake, and explore the fascinating Sa Pa Museum.
Indulge in local delicacies like Thang Co and Com Lam, unique to the Hmong and Thai tribes. Plan your trip with insights into transportation, weather, and attractions, ensuring a memorable experience in this scenic destination.
Exploring Sapa: Vietnam’s Alpine Gem
Sapa is a district of Lao Cai Province, lying northwest of Vietnam. It is surrounded by high beautiful mountains and green terraced rice fields. Sapa also houses the 3,143 meter high Fansipan mountain, dubbed the roof of Indochina.
Sapa has something for everyone visiting here.
Things to do in Sapa:
1. Fansipan Cable Car Train:
Fansipan Cable Car Train is one of the major attractions of Sapa. Two Guinness World Records is registered in its name. This cable car will take you to the top of the 3000-meter-high mountain.
This cable car station is located in the Fansipan Legend tourist area, about 13 km away from the center of Sapa. Each cable car can accommodate about 35 people. The overall journey lasts 15 minutes.
You can buy cable car tickets directly from the station. The tickets will be valid for one day only. For adults, the ticket costs about 700,000 VND and for children, it costs 500,000 VND. The station opens every day from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm.
2. Notre Dame Cathedral:
The French built Notre Dame Cathedral in 1895 to serve their religious life. They designed the structure and architecture of the roof, bell tower, and arch of the church in the Roman-Gothic style.
Inside the church, one can find seven large rooms, each approximately 500 square meters in size. The church also features a 1.5-meter tall bell tower, whose sound carries over a distance of about one km.
Builders constructed the church of stone and covered it with a mixture of sand, lime, and molasses.
3. Sa Pa Lake:
It is an artificial lake located in the center of the town. In the past, locals noticed that there was cool water flowing out of the Hoang Lian mountain, which was very suitable for the construction of the lake there.
Then, the locals built an artificial lake on the mountain to enhance the beauty of Sapa and to attract the tourist from all around the world. Mountains surround this lake, and it features wide sidewalks where you can stroll.
You will also find plenty of restaurants and cafes around the lake where you can try the traditional food.
4. Sapa Museum:
Sapa Museum is located opposite the Stone Church and hallway between Fansipan and silver waterfall. It is worth visiting on your trip to Sapa.An attractive slit house houses this museum, with an exhibit located upstairs.
This museum serves as the house for about 200 precious objects. In this museum, you can learn a lot about cultural life, religious values, and community activities, and unique ancient outfits.
This museum opens every day from 7:30 am to 11:30 pm and then from 1:30 am to 5 pm. Entry to this museum is free, but inside the museum, you will find few stalls selling handmade items.
Food to try in Sapa:
1. Thang Co:
Thang Co is horse meat soup. It is a traditional dish of the Hmong people. It is very popular among the locals and tourists because of its extremely unpleasant odor.
Thang Co combines meat, bones, blood, and organs of a horse with 20 botanical herbs such as cardamom, citronella, ginger, salt aniseed, cinnamon twig, and the Thang Co plant.
Locals specially serve this dish on the Vietnamese New Year. You must try Thang Co at A Quynh Restaurant.
2. Com Lam:
Com refers to rice and Lam is a word used by the Thai Tribe, meaning fried. It is not a basic fried rice dish. This is special because rice is fried in bamboo tubes. To prepare Com Lam, the tubes are stuffed with salty sticky rice and water and then capped with banana leaves.
The bamboo tube is then fried on fire. Com Lam is served with roasted sesame, grilled pork, or chicken skewers. You Must try this dish at Sapa Grilling Area at Cau May Street, Sapa Town.
How to reach Sapa:
1. Reach Sapa by flight:
Sapa does not have an airport. You first have to the airport located in Hanoi and then you can travel to Sapa either by road or train. The journey will cost you about $42.
2. Reach Sapa by Train:
The most convenient way to reach Sapa is by train. You can easily get a train from Hanoi to reach Sapa. The train will drop you at Lao Cai railway station. The journey will take about 9 hours. The journey will cost you $36.
3. Reach Sapa by Road:
Traveling to Sapa from Lao Cai or Hanoi by road will be costly in comparison with traveling by train or bus. You can book private cabs from Hanoi to reach Sapa. The journey will cost you $120.
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