Hi everybody!
How are you today? Do you have any plans this weekend?
Wishing you all a very pleasant weekend!
Today, in this article, I will introduce to you a town in my country, and it is very famous both in the country and among foreign tourists, a town known as the mist town, it's Sapa town. This is a small town in the high mountains of Vietnam and what I introduce below is a small corner of this town.
Located in the northwest of Vietnam, Sapa is a highland district of Lao Cai province, a land full of mysteries and wonders of nature. This place was created based on the combination of human construction hands and the majesty of the mountains and forests. With mountainous terrain, with steep slopes, winding along the hillside, there is a small town, called Sapa, located right on the top of the hill and along that hillside, creating a unique place. Especially, it is mysterious and magical, a picture of nature lovingly. Sapa is blessed with a fresh and cool climate, with many diverse nuances of the Northwest region. Located at an average altitude of 1500m - 1800m, Sapa's climate is more temperate, with an average temperature of 15-18°C.
Sapa town was discovered by the French in the early years of the 20th century, because the climate here is fresh and cool, similar to a temperate climate like in Europe, and the roads from the lowlands are known as built so they can get to this place. Large mansions and resorts were built such as Pennequin villa, Margin villa, Cha Pa Hotel, ... to serve the resort needs of the army and the French, and they also brought pine trees to Sapa to plant along the roads. So this coniferous plant appears in this land, like a miniature Europe here. The old French works are now almost gone, due to time and war, only Sapa Stone Church still exists, the materials are hewn stones, bonded with molasses and lime, works in the style of Roman Gotic architecture. Today, the Stone Church still exists and is restored, preserved by the people as part of a memory that has existed until now. And it has become a symbol that only Sapa has, and it is located right in the center of town, so when traveling here you can easily visit and check in this place.
The town is growing, based on the number of tourists coming here more and more, leading to more restaurants and hotels being built and invested, and especially a number of hotels are designed Western-style design, at first glance like this is a scene of the real West Street. This also contributes to the unique character of this small hilltop town.
Because Sapa is a town located right on the top of a hill, in the early morning and evening, the whole town is covered with a layer of fog. And here It has long been called by tourists with a loving name that is "fog town". And thanks to this feature, Sapa not only attracts domestic tourists but also foreign tourists, Sapa was voted by the foreign press as one of the 50 most attractive destinations on the planet. The beauty of Sapa is fanciful hidden in the mist and majestic mountains, interspersed with small villages around this town, with simple rustic people. Sapa is home to 6 ethnic groups: Kinh, H'Mong, Red Dao, Tay, Giay, and Xa Pho. H'Mong ethnic group accounts for over 50% of the population in Sapa.
The town's night market is a place you can't miss in the evening when you come here, where there are stalls of ethnic minorities, accessories, and souvenirs made by the people here and sell them to tourists. Children here work very early, in addition to helping their parents with household chores, at night, they are also seen at stalls like this. The children look very pitiful, but most of the children here are like that because, in addition to farming, this is a job that can earn income for the family. The children are innocent and carefree in traditional costumes of the splendid H'Mong ethnic group, and it seems that they really want to go to bed early like other normal children, but because of the family's livelihood, they have to do this job. This shows the hard work of the people here, just for making money to cover their lives.
At the night market, you can also visit the outdoor dining area, with specialties such as grilled meats and vegetables. The meat here is skewered into skewers, you want to eat whatever dish you want, and then the owner will grill it and bring it to your table. In addition to the outdoor dining area, Sapa also has many restaurants, with specialties such as Thang Co hot pot (horse meat hot pot), sturgeon hot pot, and salmon. These are the 3 most famous specialties of Sapa that you must try 1 of them. My favorite is sturgeon hotpot because this fish can eat bones because its bones are cartilaginous, served with vegetables only available here. In the evening with cold weather, enjoying a hot pot together with a few glasses of apple cider with friends, which is also a specialty of Sapa, could be more wonderful and delicious.
In the evening, Sapa has a lot of things for you to explore. From food to souvenir stalls, to the square right in front of the Stone Church, this is also a place with a large concentration of young people and tourists. Here in the evening, there are often music programs, cultural exchanges organized by the town's cultural department. Going along the main road, you can see coffee shops decorated with gorgeous electric lights, you can choose one and drink a cup of coffee, watching the bustling street. Then you can stroll to the shore of Sapa lake, this is called Eye Ngoc Lake. Although this lake is not a natural lake, it is also a very elaborate work of the people to bring to this small town. And thanks to that, Mat Ngoc lake becomes the soul of the town and attracts tourists to come here to check-in. Around the lake are planted to decorate the lakeshore, in addition, there are tall willow trees that drooping shade, at night the lights are decorated on sparkling trees creating an extremely impressive scene.
Early in the morning, we walked along the steep hillside road to a coffee shop located on the side of the hill. There are many coffee shops and homestays here, the hotel has a very nice view, overlooking the mountains on the other side, the valley below, or the terraced fields on the opposite hillside. The coffee shop I chose also has a pretty good view. Because there is a construction work in progress ahead, it's still not perfect. But from here, I could see the clouds floating in front of me, then the passing fog that covered an area. And when you walk in the middle of the fog, or sit and enjoy a cup of coffee between them, you can feel that this is Sapa, the foggy town. It is a very enjoyable feeling, a little cold mixed with the humid and fresh air here, and enjoying a cup of hot coffee, everything seems to melt together, leaving an indescribable feeling in the mind. each person's mind.
This is just a small corner of Sapa town, where earth and sky intersect, in the highland district of Northwest Vietnam. And it is shown through my photos during my trip to discover Vietnam. I have had the opportunity to go to this place 3 times, each time I come, Sapa puts on a new look, a new beauty, with more developed infrastructure, the number of tourists coming here is more and more crowded. This proves that this is a town with potential for further development in the future, and it also contributes to improving the living standards of the ethnic minorities here, which is a thing of pride for us. people of Sapa town. Sapa has many places to explore, with the wild beauty of the mountains, especially going deep and in the villages of the people living, it is a great experience that you should try once, to can explore, learn more about the culture of the indigenous people.
Thank you for following my post today.
See you with Sapa again in the next articles.
Have a nice weekend!