In the introduction, the famous travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler wrote about the place they ranked 41/50: “Far from Vietnam’s famous beach resorts, big cities and world heritage sites”, Sa Pa is a relatively quiet mountain town located in Lao Cai province, northwest of Vietnam.
Sa Pa town by night. Photo: Q.Lien
Sa Pa is known for its majestic mountain scenery, amazing green terraced fields, breathtaking waterfalls and winding hiking trails, its wonderful climate.
Let’s try to find out and discover whether Condé Nast Traveler is exaggerating or not. Also according to Condé Nast Traveler, a series of beautiful destinations around Sa Pa town are waiting for tourists to visit such as Ham Rong mountain, Fansipan peak, Muong Hoa valley, Seo My Ty lake, O Quy Ho pass, Silver waterfall , Love waterfall,etc.
Nature has graciously bestowed Sa Pa with a magnificent landscape, with four sides of white clouds nonchalantly covering the rolling mountain ranges and glimpses of terraced rice fields depending on the season, sometimes it’s golden, sometimes it’s green, stretching to infinity.
Besides enjoying the beautiful nature, don’t forget to take time to explore attractive places not to be missed when coming to Sa Pa, such as Sa Pa Stone Church, shopping at the market and learning about local life in traditional villages, or simply take a walk to see the town.
The climate is cool all year round, the average temperature ranges from 15-180C, there are four seasons a day, Sa Pa is always covered with flowers, flowers bloom in each season. In the winter, Sa Pa sometimes has snowfall, white flowers gently flying and then remaining on the ground and old pine trees with clear patches of ice.
Beautiful Sapa town. Photo: Q.Lien
Sa Pa is small and beautiful with winding mountain paths, with playful white clouds swooping down from time to time causing visitors to suddenly get lost in a game of hide and seek, when the clouds disappear, they are suddenly surprised by the clouds and dew that have brought them to another space, another season and time.
Visitors to the center of Sa Pa should visit the Stone Church, an ancient Roman Gothic structure, built by the French around the early 20th century. Right outside the Stone Church is Sa Pa Square, where every Saturday night there is a Love Market.If you take the Stone Church as a landmark, go in any direction and you will encounter natural landscapes and villages imbued with their own identities that create the absolute appeal of Sa Pa, the scence that going thousands of times still feels passionate, because each time there is a different emotional experience.
Sa Pa town is home to many ethnic groups, each ethnic group in Sa Pa has its own unique culture, differentiated from costumes, to living customs and traditional festivals. This is also an attractive spot for tourists.
According to popular American travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler, nearly every country on the planet has a wonderful small town worth exploring, from historic villages in Japan to desert oases in Egypt.
To be included in the Top 50, destinations must meet the criteria of being small towns or villages with a rich history, friendly people that make tourists feel interested, old and unique hotels, cobblestone road and beautiful natural scenery. In addition, these places must have enough experiential activities for tourists and geographical diversity to suit all travel needs.
In addition to Sa Pa, Asia has other representatives such as Ban Rak Thai (Thailand), Biei and Gokayama (Japan), Hatta (UAE), Itchan Kala (Uzbekistan), Luang Prabang (Laos), Mandawa (India) , Penglipuran (Indonesia), Sai Kung (Hong Kong – China)./.
Q.Lien
