Sapa is an incredibly picturesque city that lies on the Hoang Lien Son mountain range near the Chinese border in Northwest Vietnam.

We took a night train from Hanoi to Lao-Cai. We slept in an air-condition cabin, and arriving Lao-Cai early in the morning. From Lao Cai,  we  traveled about an hour and half to Sapa by a minivan. The mountainous road from Lao-Cai to Sapa is very beautiful. There are many stepped (terrace) fields that the local people growing rice on the mountain slopes. Surrounding Sapa are the Hoang Lien Mountains, which the French nicknamed the Tonkinese Alps. These mountains include Fansipan, which is Vietnam's highest mountain (3143 meters). On a clear day you can see the Fansipan from Sapa.

Sapa is a very small, quiet town with many ethnic people. The Hmong and Dao people are the largest ethnic groups in the region. They sell their handmade crafts, clothes, ect... on the street of Sapa. You can also visit their villages which are very closed to Sapa. The weather in Sapa is very cool year round, and even has snow in Winter.

On the way to "Ham Rong" (Dragon Jaw), we went through a beautiful public garden which displayed many local orchids. We came there around June, but there were still some orchids in bloom. You can see these orchids at this page.

 Hmong

Taphin village

Hmong girls

Hmong girl

"Bac" waterfall

Stepped field

Sapa

Stepped field

"Dao" people

Stepped field

Stepped field

Sapa rock

Stepped field

Sapa town

Sapa

Sapa town

Sapa town

Hmong

Sapa

Sapa

"Ham Rong"

Sapa town

Stepped field

Taphin village

Sapa town

Waterfall

"Bac" waterfall

Ruin

Waterfall

Ruin

Hmong house

Hmong girl

Hmong children

"Dao" people

Hmong village

"Dao" people