Topas Eco Lodge is about 18km from Sapa, and about one hour car driving. But it seems to be another world. It is different from the modern life. It was constructed since 2003 and opened since 2005.

Two hard years with rainy and foggy days and weeks. All of 25 small houses are built with local white granite marble and palm tree covered bought from Van Ban. All the rooms are decorated simply with wood, bamboo to have a friendly feeling to nature. Especially, the restaurant and bar are built in a stilt house bought in Van Ban. It was unmatched and moved here along the Red River before transported to this place by buffalo cart.

Designers of this ecological tourism area have put a special concern to the nature and lives of local people. All the houses use the energy from solar. In order to prevent the effect to the water resources, the water is taken from a private stream of 4km far from the place. The water is managed and treated by a special filter system. The waste water is also treated. You will have a chance to use a special kind of shampoo and bath gel to prevent environmental effect.

Each of the house have direct view to the valley, where you can sit and read in the middle of the space of wind and mountain. Sky high and valley deep. Such a spectacular feeling.

If the water allows, there are lots of interesting destinations around Eco Lodge. You can visit Ho Village, Thanh Phu, Thanh Kim villages by jeep car, by bike or on foot.

The Ho Village is located right under the Lodge. There are about 100 houses along a stream. The area will be covered by a thin fog in the afternoon.

The Eco Lodge night is miracle beautiful. The wind blows, the roof rustles. We can hear the stream and forest sounds while sitting in the lobby, not to mention the sky of star. Until you feel cold by the fog, you can come inside to have peaceful sleep.

In this peaceful area, people can lose track of time. There is no date, just morning with sun rise, noon with wind and afternoon. If you wake up early in this beautiful day, you can witness the sun rises around 6 a.m. The wind starts to blow near the noon. And if you stay in the room, you can feel the wind until afternoon.

The weekend flew, and when we left Thanh Kim in the late afternoon to catch the train to Hanoi, the sun start to set behind the mountain ranges. The Mong families along the streets waved a goodbye to us with their hands.

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Rain, rain, rain – it always rains

If you are a unlucky guy coming to Sapa in the middle of storm rain or after a rainy week, then you are in the major. The muddy paths made everyone fell down at least once, and our luggage were sent quite a lot of souvenir from mud.

The extraordinary Sapa landscape

Seems like being aware of this, the stalls in the villages offered most of the things to prevent slipping in every kind of terrain. The sellers are quite smart ladies, and especially when you are buying in the tough weather, the price would be indefinable. A raincoat and a pair of rain boot would be the salvation even in just two days.

Do not leave out homestays

Every visitors to Sapa should spend a night or two at homestay, for not only experience the local life experience but also come into the rural life and visit the beautiful places ofo the land. The further the land is, the more beautiful the landscape. And the homestay will let you see those landscape.

Most of the homestay is a spacious house with sleeping rooms being built next to the main house. People say only those who stayed for two nights could experience the traditional house in the second one. However, after six hours of experiencing, the most expectation for the pervasive numbness is a fare hot shower with common conveniences.

A homestay in Sapa

In the whole or part of the journey, all of the experiencers are followed by the sellers in the village in the hope of selling something. These local ladies became the sufficient supporters when they showed us which way to go, holding our hand to “saving” us from falling down.

In general, Sapa is a perfect destination for coming after a hard rain with every conditions of muddy marshy land that you could ever imagine. However for me, I wish I had known how the trip was to prepare myself more carefully and save some cloths for becoming clouts because of mud. I will definitely not prevent anyone from traveling to Sapa in the rain weather, but I would love to suggest them to prepare well. You will not regret.

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The range of sakura trees which were planted many years ago in front of Sapa People’s committee is also an attractive sight for local people and visitors to come visit and take pictures.

Mr. Ma Quang Trung (M.A), Director of Agriculture and Rural Development department, ex-secretary of Sapa district, said that these sakura trees are in the 100 precious trees gifted by Vietnam – Japan Diplomatic Union when Sapa was 100 years old in October 2003.

People in Sapa also said that the flowers of these tree will be fresh until the full moon of the first lunar new year. There are two destinations that have the beautiful flowers in this area, those are the front of People’s Committee head quarter and in the European garden in Ham Rong ecological area.

In this time of the year, the ancient peach trees of tens of age also give the best pink flowers.

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Located in the height of 1600m above the sea level, Sapa is such a Dalat (a cool temperate climate city in central highland) in the north of Vietnam. Since 1930s, Sapa was chosen by the French colonists to be the vacation destinations with the luxurious villas and stone caved roads in the middle of the peach gardens in spring. However, Sapa is just really in its time after the 38-km asphalted road connecting Lao Cai city to Sapa was renewed.

Eventhough Sapa is a foggy city all year round, the fog is even thicker in Sapa in winter to make the land more mysterious and vague. The dew spread the city like a thin grey veil. The dew hides under the pickle pine tree line over the two street lines.

The antique castles beside the modern villa along the bendy roads both exist. And when the warm sunlight of the winter comes, the dry trees will be filled with the beautiful sparkle flower bunches.

Though Sapa is cold and wet by dew, the Sapa market is still crowded. The Vietnamese and international visitors are in the streets and many Hmong, Red Dao people are in the market. The white H’mong wear colorful costumes, while Red Dao girls wear pleiad scarf, etc. They come to the market to sell products and embroidery and buy the needies.

Located in Muong Hoa valley, not far as 10km from Sapa town, Cat Cat village is a lively picture of culture of Mong people. The houses in the villages are all roofed with pomu lumber planks. The front room also used to sell embroidery and souvenir.

Being not similar to dry Silver waterfall in the winter, the Cat Cat waterfall in Love Valley still throw its water from tens meter high in the somber dew. In the stream, the round stones are taken by the girls doing the washing. The small hydroelectric station built by the French 30 years ago still imposing stands.

Ham Rong ecological area is like a winter sleeping princess. She is pretty and mysterious. Wandering in the small bending roads among the different shapes of stones, watching the peach and apricot trees, the visitors can feel they are lost in the dew. Not all the flowers are hidden from the winter. The white apricot still unevenly fluttered in front of the wind. The chrysanthemum is still yellow. And the bunches of orchirds still blossom with stirred beauty. In the warm stilt house in this place, visitors will have chance to watch the special ethnic show.

The Sapa church is plunged into the dew. Though being more than 100 years, the stones of it are still firm and being the time challenge. In the yard, many visitors are sitting around the specialties of grilled dishes of Sapa: sweet potatoes, chestnut, eggs, sugar-cane, etc. Visitors also want to enjoy the warmth from the oven.

It is spectacular that in the middle of freezing Sapa of wind and dew, visitors still have warm stop like this. Sitting around the boiling pot, visitors can leisurely pick up the vegetable to eat. Sipping a spoon of hot “thắng cố” (a dish made from bowels of horse), the freezing cold seems to sudden disappear.

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Seven most beautiful terraced fields in Vietnam are: Banaue (Philippines), Yuangyang (Yunnan – China), Ubud (Bali – Indonesia), Annapura (Nepal), Mae Rim (Chiangmai – Thailand), Sapa (Lao Cai – Vietnam) and Long ji (Qulin – China).

Introducing about terraced field and famous Sapa tourism area of Vietnam, Travel and Leisure wrote: “With the spectacular landscape like the ladder to the heaven of the terraced fields, Sapa is one of the most attractive destinations in Vietnam.”

Visitors could join the journey by train from Hanoi to Lao Cai city, then catch the bus/van from railway station to Sapa town before watching the harvesting fields with friendly H’mong and Dzao girls in their colorful custumes.

Being the semi-climate subtropical area, and it needs to wait for the rain to be able to cultivate in May or June. This is the time for best scenes in summer of terraced fields in Sapa high mountains, Bac Ha, Bat Xat, Xi Ma Cai.

Terraced fields in Lao Cai have been made for hundreds of year and by the skilful hand of Dzao, Hmong, Ha Nhi, Giay, Tay, Xa Pho, etc people. The terraced fields are not only the masterpiece but also the mobilizing basket of seed of the mountainous people. This is the effective way of cultivating and help in producing the tourism products for Lao Cai for many years.

The terraced field in Lao Cai is also an interesting destination of international visitors and south Vietnam’s visitors everytime they come to South West area. The purposeless lines of Sapa “artists” have attracted many visitors.

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The train to Lao Cai province started around 9:45 p.m, and it reached Lao Cai station at 6 or 7 a.m. However, after you wake up at about 5 a.m, you will be announced that the train would reach Lao Cai after an hour.

You will think about coming out to the lobby to enjoy the fresh air from the window. And you would not know that that was the time you officially start your journey. Do not focus on anything, just throw yourself to the far landscape, and you will feel the soul of North West area of Vietnam. The cold wind and gloomy air will invade your mind, followed by the sadness of a high sky. It was just like a sharp knife punching to your backbone.

I was familiar to it afterwards, because I have spent time to Sapa 6 ot 7 other times. However, it is when I am close to Lao Cai station, I also feel the sadness of the North West.

Here we come, Sapa.

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Sapa town is one of the rare places that has snow. In the 1940s, the French colonists planned to build Sapa to be the place of vacation and retreatment. Especially, there are more than 200 European style villas in the town centre, alternating with peach and samu forests. This makes the Sapa town have a manner of an European city. The attraction of Sapa is that, when you are walking along the streets, you can easily meet up local people wearing traditional customs gathering in group or busy sewing their souvenir products to sell to travelers.

Sapa, also called cloudy town, has a centre of information and complaint dealing of tourists. This is also a centre for displaying and selling the handicraft products made by local people.

There are four seasons in a day in Sapa: Spring in the morning, summer in noon with light sun, cool like autumn in the afternoon and cold of the winter in the evening. The tourism services of Sapa is well rated by the tourists. It is most suitable to visit Sapa between March and May, and between August and September.

There are many natural landscapes in Sapa such as Silver waterfall, Cloud bridge, etc. Sky Gate (Cong Troi) is the highest road place that people can reach by vehicle to see the beauty of Fansipan peak. The bamboo forest, Ta Phin cave, Sapa ancient rock ground in Muong Hoa valley. Ham Rong is the place of many different flowers. Sapa has a Indochina peak of Fansipan, which is 3143m in the Hoang Lien Son range. There is also an ancient church in the middle of the town and from the town to Ta Phin, there is also a stone monastery on a clear hill. People can enjoy the specialties like Bac Ha plum, Bach Ha wine, Nung Din people’s animal meats, Muong Hoa spring fish, San Lung wine, etc.

A beauty of Sapa culture is the love market in every Saturday evening. After the market, many couples of young girl and boy get closer and some have become husband and wife. After the umbrella dance and the sound of pan-pipe, there would be a person to collect a little penny from travelers to give out to the performers. This is also a chance for visitors to enjoy the culture beauty of the local people.

After dinner, people can wonder around Sapa at night. In the night, Sapa – the cloudy town – is colder and stranger. The grilled dishes stalls still welcome visitors with forest specialties. What could be more interesting than sipping a cup of wine and blowing out the smoke of grilled meat before tasting it in the cold of Sapa.

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The festival will feature a wide range of cultural and sporting activities, including a display of flowers and ornamental plants at Van Hoa Park, an art photo exhibition themed “Sapa Colour” and folk cultural festive days at Ham Rong tourist site.

A Cat Cat village culture festival and a Mong ethnic pan-pipe competition will also be held.

This year’s Reunification and International Labour Days holiday is expected to bring a large number of tourists to Sapa. The district asked relevant agencies to ensure security and food hygiene and safety.

Source: Vietnam Plus

Dr. Tran Huu Son continued the story of sustainable development in Sa Pa: “Now the people offer community-based tourism, like those in Ban Den, Cat Cat villages. But this model is not optimal. We can learn from other countries, where have models of sustainable tourism development. Sa Pa people should keep farming, not doing tourism business. But travel firms who take visitors to Sapa must share their profit to the local people. For example, in Africa, travel firms have to share up to 70 percent of profit to the local people, though these people do not do anything related to tourism. But this is the land of my ancestors, my country, so I must benefit from it.”

“But it is contrary in Sapa. There are even tour guides, when visitors want to buy original brocade in Ta Phin, they take tourists to Sapa to buy Chinese brocade, just because Ta Phin villagers do not pay commission for them. People do not benefit at all, because of such reason. So that the root of the problem is how to harmonize the interests between businesses and people. The interests of the people must be on the top!” Son added.

The Sa Pa District People’s Committee has taken measures to develop tourism, while limiting the harmful effects, the negative effects of commercialization, urbanization or excessive building of hydropower plants. The implementation of the project on building a civilized lifestyle in commercial activities and tourism is considered the great efforts of the local authorities in promoting cultural tourism and conservation in Sa Pa.

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In Sa Pa, if other vendors have the same thought like Lo May and San May, Sapa’s project on building civilized lifestyle in commercial activities, tourism for the 2011 – 2015 period will soon be completed.

Dr. Tran Huu Son, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Lao Cai province said that vendors’ clinging to tourists is a big problem of Sapa and it must be solved radically. “When tourism develops, benefit must be evenly distributed. The local community is the master of this land. They must receive the benefits from tourism,” he said.

Son cited a funny example: “I’m the host. Tourists visit my house but they do not use any service at my house. I earn nothing from them. Only the people in Sapa town earn the benefit. Tourists go to my village to take pictures. They take everything they need with them from the town. Even water bottles they also buy from the town. They come to my village; they drink the water and throw the empty bottle here. I have to collect the bottle for them. So I have to collect fee if you take picture of me. I have to force you to buy my brocade… We should not blame local people because they earn very little from tourism. We have to regulate at the macro level. The most important thing is how to help people benefit from tourism.”

Many people said, the above thing is even realized by a three-year-old child but tourism managers ignore it. Then many innocent people have to “chase” tourists as a way to find “equality.”

According to Dr. Tran Huu Son, the more tourism develops; the gap between the rich and poor in Sapa is wider. “I have a research on this issue since 2005. Accordingly, the gap of income between people in Sapa town and Mong people is eight times. The profits from 25 years of tourism development belongs to tourism business people while ethnic minority people do not earn anything.”

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