Silver Waterfall

Silver Waterfall lies beside National Highway No 4D, about 12km from Sa Pa Town’s centre. Tourists take approximately 30 minutes by motorbike or bus to visit one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Vietnam.  Silver Waterfall is formed by sources of water from the Lo Sui Tong mountain peak. From the distance, the waterfall looks like a white dragon looking down from the sky. 

 The scenery along the way, the pine forest, and the 'su su' spread over the hills. With more than 100 meters high, white water poured down the stream. 

Standing on Ham Rong Mountain, visitors will see the water flows down as silver so that people in here called the waterfall with the romantic name “Silver Waterfall”. Go over about 2 kilometers, tourists will come to Tram Ton where the mountain Fan Si Pan conquest begins to conquer the roof of Indochina.

 Continue the trip to Heaven Gate, visitors will find spectacular natural paintings with dense forest, far away is the little crooked path. And they will see the difference between the two provinces of Lao Cai and Lai chau. Sapa has the cool and pleasant air, in contrast, Lai Chau has climate as the summer. Guests can soak in the cool stream, throw away all worries and relax under the shade of forest in order to all sorrows go with Silver flows.

Ham Rong mountain

Ham Rong mountain is one of the most attractive tourist sites in the center of Sapa, 33km from Lao Cai City. And home to stunning orchid gardens and rock gardens. It is an attractive tourist area in the center of Sapa Townlet.

Legend has it that in the distance past, all animals lived together in a chaotic environment. One day, Jade Emperor gave an order that every species of animal had to find for them an area to live. Having heard the order, they scrambled for a place to reside. The three brothers of dragon who were living in a large lake hurriedly ran to the east but could not find any place; they then ran tothe west. The two older brothers ran fast and came to the destination first. The youngest brother ran slowly and strayed into the crowds of lions, tigers and big cats. Fearing that these animals would attack it, the dragon opened its mouth to defense itself. At that time, the order of Jade Emperor was no longer available, so the three dragons petrified. The two older dragons, which were waiting for their brother, face Lao Cai City, and the youngest one raising its head and opening mouth faces the Hoang Lien Mountain Range. So the mountain is named Ham Rong (Jaw of Dragon).

Ham Rong Mountain is one of the most popular attractions in Sapa. Owing to be at the heart of the town, behind Sa Pa stone cathedral, anyone traveling to Sapa spend at least half a day on Ham Rong sightseeing tour. The mountain is a part of Hoang Lien Son range. It is one of few mountains in Vietnam whose visionable symbol is easy to understand and beautiful. From the distance, the mountain looks like a flying dragon in white floating clouds.

It will not be overpraise when this place is compared to a mini-Sapa because it offers tourists overview of natural beauty, culture and people of mountainous area. The stunning beauty of flowers on the mountain will give you an impressive welcome irrespective of whether you have come here the first time or many times.

The path to Ham Rong Mountain grows a wide range of strange flower species from temperate zone. There are about 6.000 baskets with hundreds of orchard types. Some of them are rare orchard types. Therefore, whenever you come to Ham Rong, it will greet you with a colorful party of blooming flowers.

The garden whose name “Europe” is situated at the center of Ham Rong Mountain. This place owns plenty of beautiful specifict flower species of cold climate imported from abroad. Apart from orchard, hydrangea is the second-most flower in Ham Rong. It grows in cliffs, beside small gardens, or planted in a large distinct garden.

If you have ever been to Dalat and get allured by hydrangea flowers, you will see flowers in Ham Rong feature distintive beauty and deserves to be rival of flowers in Dalat. Hydrangea flowers are not too showy, only light pink, blue or white but because they grow into clusters right on the soil and bloom for long days, wherever the hydrangea flowers appear, that place is full of vitality dissolving the coldness and arideness of upland region.

Coming to Ham Rong in spring, tourists will have chance to enjoy fairy beauty of old peach garden. At this place, the peach trees beautify the fresh atmosphere with pink blossoms. Somewhere, tourists can find pure white color of plum blossoms. Tourists come here not only for admiring flowers but also getting bird’s eye-view of Sapa town. At different alitudes, Sa Pa features a specific beauty.

However, San May (Cloud Court) is regarded as the most ideal location to view Sapa city. At the height of 1.800 m above sea level, tourists can feel the harmony between sky and earth.

Sapa - The City In Cloud

Sa Pa District is located in Lao Cai Province, north-west Vietnam, and 350 km north-west of Hanoi, close to the border with China. Sapa is famous both for its fine, rugged scenery and for its rich cultural diversity. French used to consider Sapa as Summer Capital of Northern Vietnam in the early decades of the 20th century. Its naturally gifted beauty keeps attracting more and more people to spend their vacation there since then. Particularly, the place is the foremost choice for honeymoon couples!

Geography & Weather

Geographically, Sapa is exactly a mountainous area of Northwest Vietnam. The whole Sapa District is dominated by the Hoang Lien Son mountain range which is at the Eastern extremity of the Himalayas, being famous with the Vietnam’s highest mountain of Fasipan at a height of 3,142 m above sea level. The town of Sa Pa lies at an altitude of about 1,600 m, bringing in a cool and foggy site of Sa Pa.

Sapa takes its pride in its unique climate in Vietnam. It is highly seasonal, with a subtropical climate in the summer and a temperate climate during the winter. Mean annual temperature for Sa Pa town is 15.4°C, with a maximum of 29.4°C and a minimum of 1°C. The warmest months are July and August, and the coldest months are December and January. Snow falls in some years on the highest peaks. In the morning and afternoon, it is as cool as in spring and autumn. Yet, at noon, it is as sunny and cloudless as in summer. In the evening, it drastically changes into coldness just as in winter. This is actually a unique advantage, making Sapa different from anywhere else in the nation. However, travelers should be noticed that there might be sudden thunderstorm and heavy rains at noon in summer. Yet, subsequently, a rainbow appears turning Sapa into a beautifully magic land with seven colors! So, remember to bring your best camera so as not to miss this magnificent view!

April and May are the best time for tourists to watch the most scenic beauties of Sapa, or else it might be cold and foggy before that and rainy after that. During these two peak months, the town is blossoming with pink and white flowers, and green pastures in valleys. The clouds that settle in the valley in early morning would quickly disappear.

The scenery of the Sapa region in large part reflects the relationship between the ethnic minority people and nature. This is seen especially in the paddy fields carpeting the rolling lower slopes of the Hoang Lien Mountains. The impressive physical landscape, which underlies this, has resulted from the work of the elements over thousands of years, wearing away the underlying rock.

Most tourists agree that it would be regretful if the leisure and relaxation time in cool and fresh weather is not accompanied by visiting trips to Sapa’s prideful natural beauty spots, such as Ham Rong Mountain, Silver Waterfall, Rattan Bridge, Bamboo Forest and Ta Phin Cave. The town is also the starting point for many mountain climbers and scientists who would like to discover the Fansipan Mount, the highest mountain in Vietnam with 3,143 m height. Can you imagine that Hoang Lien Mountain Range is called “the Alps of the North Sea area” since Fansipan Mount also marks its greatest height among others in the Indochina Peninsula as well. The pyramid-shaped mountain is covered with clouds all the year round. On top of the mountain is filled with frequent below zero temperature, especially at high altitudes.

On approaching the town, the very first thing tourists may find is the detached wooden mansions and villas perched on top or side of the hills, behind thick pine forests, hided by fog in the morning. Old and new villas with red roofs now appear and then disappear in the green rows of pomu trees, bringing in the beauty of European towns.

FlowersSapa-the land of love

Sapa-the land of love

Sapa is home to various families of flowers of captivating colours, unique in the vast country. When Tet, the Lunar New Year Festival, comes, the whole township of Sapa is filled with the pink colour of peach blossom brought from the vast forests of peach just outside the town. Sapa is regarded as the kingdom of orchids. Here, orchid lovers are even amazed by the choice, when trekking in the forest filled with several hundred kinds of orchids of brilliant colours and fantastic shapes, such as Orchid Princess, Orchid of My Fair Lady's Shoe. Some orchids are named after lovely singing birds such as the canary, salangane's nest, and more.

Specialties

Foreign tourists are actually fond of scarce and precious specialties of Sapa, such as forest’s product, handicrafts, delicacies (smoked meat, “thang co”, “cai meo”, san lung wine, corn wine, etc.), typical of ethnic minority people.

Most travellers do like to bring some of the local fresh vegetables back home for presents. Thanks to the fresh and cool air, Sapa is the ideal land for fresh temperate vegetables such as cabbage, chayote, precious medical herbs, fruit trees (plum, pear), and so on.

Cultural diversity

Sapa is famous for its special cultural diversity in a combination of ethnic minority groups’ culture. Visitors to Sapa will have opportunities to discover the unique customs of the local residents. Local markets are the town’s typically cultural element, which are always crowded and joyful, attracting hundreds of visitors. This is the common place for minority groups to gather and exchange goods. Market sessions are also a chance for local people to promenade. No foreign visitor could help joining such a market session, a typical cultural element of Sapa. What is more, tourists coming to Sapa at weekends have the great chance to learn about local ethnic people's courtship and martial life, through the Sapa love market and wife kidnapping ceremony of the H’Mong group. The ceremony will begin on April 29th. This is part of a five-day festival, titled Festival on the Cloud, to mark the beginning of the Sapa 2006 tourism year, in the northern mountain township of Sapa, in Lao Cai Province.

If ever asked to drop a quick comment, even the toughest person must admit the romance and peace of a magnificently cool and beautiful Sapa! I hope you should spend a short summer here, and you will soon share the idea!