You may take a tour on your own to Sapa with your leave for some
days. You will definitely have memorable days about a place that is
compared to a "hanging garden in fog". Below are some information and
instructions regarding this tour.Departing at Tran Quy Cap (Trần
Quý Cáp) railway station, in Ha Noi (Hà Nội) at 22 o'clock, you then
arrive in Lao Cai (Lào Cai) at 7am next morning. You have to pay
97.000VND for a hard-bed seat. Then you will have to pay 25.000VND for
a coach ticket from Lao Cai railway station up to Sapa (about 36km).
You may choose a place to stay in Sapa depending on your budget. The
most luxurious hotel is Victoria Sapa. Alternatively, you may stay at
any lodges at the foot of Ham Rong (Hàm Rồng) mountain.
Sapa - a city in fog
You
should take "xe ôm" recommended by the hotel. You will enjoy the
feeling as you are riding a horse as it is certainly shaky due to not
very good road, but remember to bargain to get the best price. Majority
of riders concurrently work as unprofessional tour guides.
You
may have either pig's tripes soup or steamed rolled rice pancake with
grilled pork for your breakfast in Sapa. Lunch should be had with bread
or packed noodle to get rid of being too full from eating due to shaky
road. Being back in the afternoon, you may enjoy vegetables in
temperate climate such as: milientha suavis, chayote, kohlrabi,
lentiluna edodes, etc, which are greatly different from vegetables in
lowland. Especially, there is a special vegetable named "ô dây" with
pretty sour taste. Le Pho (Lệ Phố) Indian taro or Shang Hai taro told
to be bought from China is perfect for soup preparation. Do not forget
to enjoy "cuốn sủi" - a kind of rice noodle without sauce, only
sprinkled with thick beef sauce mixed with peanuts and arrowroot.
Chinese-tasted pork or toasted duck are pretty delicious.
Terraced fields
On
the way from Sapa to Bac Ha (Bắc Hà) kermis, you may stay at Trần Xìn
which is opposite to the kermis. Here you should taste "khâu nhục" - a
dish made of half fat and half lean pork which are sliced into big but
thin pieces covering a big bowl of well-cooked salted vegetables and
some herbal medicine. Simacai market is very famous for its specialty
named "thắng cổ", a mixture of meat, skin, and bone of artiodactyla
such as horse, cow, goat, etc. It is more expensive to have water,
beer, cigarette here than in lowland, price at the village and in Bac
Ha is half as much again as it is in lowland. You may taste local beer
with pretty good taste at reasonable price. If you want your stomach to
be sterilized, just take Ban Pho (Bản Phố) corn alcohol made of corn
and yeast in compliance with H'mong's knowhow, whose concentration is
over 40 degree. It costs you only 7.000VND to buy a liter of corn
alcohol. This kind of alcohol should be bought as both gift and
"tranquillizer" when going over Trung Do (Trung Đô) slope between Sapa
and Bac Ha, 14km long, precarious and zigzag, its peak is often covered
with thick mist that prevents you from seeing far, only several meters
with headlight on.
You should bring warm clothes and rain coat
which are easy to pot on and off since you will experience Foehn (Gió
Lào) at the pass's foot that actually brings about burning sensation on
your face. Nevertheless, you immediately experience skinny cold weather
with hails as soon as you reach halfway up the mountain pass.
Ham
Rong mount (Hàm Rồng) is a must-see destination in Sapa. This place is
full of flowers that are romantic for those in love. "Cổng Trời" (Gate
to the Heaven) is often told to be in clouds, however, if you are not
patient enough, you would rather come back to Cat Cat (Cát Cát) or Sin
Chai (Sín Chải) mountain village to see a hydroelectric work under
French reign and buy brocades at residents' houses. Night-stay should
be at Hồ or Thạnh Phú mountain village. Tả Phìn has "Dao Đỏ" (Red Yao)
ethnic minority and deep stone cave. There are tours in experiment
period for conquering Fansipan peak at about 300.000VND per capita.
Train
will head back for Ha Noi from Lao Cai with estimated departure time at
19h and estimated arrival time at 4am next morning.
