Sapa Impression
My
first impression of Sapa travel was that is seemed like a hidden
town deep inside of a valley. Surrounded by mountains and clouds
soaring above the village, the colonial buildings with their old
European style were situated between cherry blossom forests and
the Samu ridge. I pointed at all the stunning mansions which
dotted the landscape and asked my guide how could it be that
Sapa has so many spectacular buildings, I was really surprised.
In my mind, Sapa was supposed to be a far away land with a lot
of minority people staying in small wooden houses. He explained
to me, "The French under their colonial rule brought Sapa many
luxuries; with good hydro-power, a modern electric system and
200 pretty mansions right in the middle of valley as you can
see." I was amazed at all the beauty right in front of me, the
history of this village in Northern Vietnam was stunning.
We had a relaxing dinner at a nice simple restaurant in town. As
we ate, our guide told us a story about how the village got its
name; Sapa. He told us that the name Sapa came from Chinese
Mandarin; Sapa means "sandy land". I have no clue why they named
Sapa this, because to me, Sapa was definitely not a sandy land
at all. If I could have chosen the name, I think I would've
called it "misty land". All of the scenery here was covered in a
thin fog. Everything was naturally blurred and become more
mysterious on each trek for an adventurer like me. The cold mist
brought a magical atmosphere.
The suggested time to
visit Sapa is between June - October.
Unfortunately, I just missed the perfect time. So I prepared
myself that I might see the snow during our trip in Northern
Vietnam.
After the evening's activities, I headed back to my room at a
magnificent hotel right in Sapa, my room had a public area with
a wide balcony; from here I could see all of Sapa. In the
evening, Sapa looked like a picture that I had seen in a travel
magazine. The lights from both modern houses and traditional
houses which were scattered along mountains, shone as sparkling
stars. Standing on my balcony and staring at the beauty around
me, I could hear off in the distance the local men playing music
on a Jew's harp.
Sapa is a typical mountain town and the locals
really enjoy the area as much as the tourists. There is lots of
laughter and I'm always greeted by a friendly smile.
Waking up early the next morning, my crew had a short time to
visit the weekly market which was normally organized on Sunday.
I didn't have chance to visit every single corner in the
marketplace, but I would see that the trading here was very
different then with lowland Vietnamese. They preferred not to
bargain and instead sell internally to family and friends under
the form of exchanging products rather than selling them. Even
in my short time enjoying the market, I was able to get a local
costume for myself and some scarves for my family and friends.
It was definitely a highlight of the trip and enjoying the
bustling market place was a memorable experience.
After leaving the marketplace, we started out on our trek. I was
very lucky because I had the perfect tour guide. He told us
everything we needed to know such as the duration of the trip,
the difficulty level and how to prepare before the trip. I was
amazed by his knowledge about the land, the locals and the
culture. People could easily misunderstand and think that he was
a local. The trekking trip lasted the whole day and we hiked
around 15 - 20km. The hiking seemed easy though as the scenery
completely distracted me from all the walking. Every step, every
corner I turned, there were beautiful terrace fields, valleys,
springs or waterfalls. I met a girl during our hike who must
have been around 5 years old as she was chasing after her older
brother. She wore no shoes and light clothes in what I
considered very cold weather. One lady in my crew gave her some
money, but the little girl refused to take it. The girl smiled
and said she was taught to never take money from others and
never use money that was not yours. It was such an emotional
moment for all of us, when we saw the girl run away without
shoes but smiling happily. She was such a polite young girl.
As we continued our trek, we passed by what looked like a very
old church, It was made from stone and the design followed the
beautiful Gothic roman style. The church was situated on a very
prominent area with its back to the
Ham Rong mountain (
translated, Dragon mouth) and in the front of the Church was a
wide open flat pathway which was very convenient for
transportation. Standing on the ground of the church, I could
see Sapa in its entirety. From this point it looked like a
construction game that young boys play. Houses were situated
next to the river and forest, everything was so well-organized
it seemed like a giant had arranged it from above.
On my last day in Sapa, I finally saw snow, it wasn't the first
time I had seen snow; however, snow here was different. It
looked more transparent and easily changed to ice since the
humidity in Vietnam was much higher than any place I had been
before. It was an amazing sight to see a peach completely
covered in ice on the tree. After just one night, everything was
covered by snow, it looked like all the houses and trees just
changed into their winter coat. Sapa is the only place in Vietnam that you can ever see snow.
As I was sitting on the bus heading back to
Hanoi, I had the
feeling that I didn't spend enough time in Sapa. There are a lot
of places I didn't visit; I want to learn more about the people
here and their culture. There is no place like Sapa, where
tradition and the modern day is perfectly blended together. If
you have a chance to visit Northern Vietnam, don't forget to
take a trip to Sapa, I am sure it will quickly become one of
your favorite destinations as it is mine.
