Tam Dao Hill Station - cool climate and tranquil trekking trails
Only
80km away from Hanoi, Tam Dao Hill Station is a rather popular escape
from the heat of the Red River Delta area. Hanoians come to Tam Dao
every weekend and holiday, especially in summer when the temperature in
the plain may be as high as 40oC. Thanks to the elevation of more than
1200m, the climate in Tam Dao is purely cool with average temperature of
18oC in summer and 10oC in winter, which could be ideal for tourists
who are not familiar with the tropical heat and want to find a place as
cool as Sapa.
Once the vacation resort of the French, Tam Dao
comprised of numerous grand colonial villas. However, most of them are
destroyed during the war time in the 1950s and what one can see today is
a newly constructed mountain town that serves tourists' holiday. There
are now a wide range of hostels, hotels and resorts; and plentiful local
specialties for visitors to try out.
In addition to the cool
climate, this region provides full opportunity for physical activities
such as mountain sight-seeing, serious trekking and even bird-watching
that Sapa has to compare. Nature lovers who are fascinated about Sapa’s
wild surrounding can also visit Tam Dao National Park with eight kinds
of forest types distributed in different topographic and climatic areas,
more than 2000 plants and 904 species.
Mai Chau - inhale the ethnic culture
It
will be a 135km trip from Hanoi, or 60km trip from Hoa Binh City to
reach Mai Chau, the green valley. If you love to discover more about the
daily life of ethnic minority groups, especially Thai people, Mai Chau
is surely a great choice. Stilt houses with exclusive Thai architecture
line up on both sides of the road in the valley. Tourists can visit
those houses or even try cooking and making clothes in Thai style.
Homestay programs are available, and everybody will have great time
watching traditional dancing and music instrument performances, while
enjoying local specialties such as rice cooked in bamboo tubes and
grilled meat on skewers.
There is a local market every Sunday
with the participation of people from different minorities living in the
surrounding areas. This is a good chance for tourists to feel the mixed
culture, as in Hoa Binh Province, there are about six different
minorities with distinctive languages, traditions and festivals.
From
Mai Chau, one can also join one of the trekking tours to remote
villages. Although Mai Chau's weather is not as cool as in Sapa, it has
otherwise many things else to offer: the landscape, the people, the
food, and the air. Currently, there are some agencies providing tours of
Hanoi- Mai Chau-Sapa, in which tourists will travel to Hoa Binh and
stay at Mai Chau, then passing Son La province and Dien Bien Phu Loop
before reaching Sapa.
Lai Chau - panoramic landscape and untouched local culture
Located
in the northwest region, Lai Chau is 450km northwestern from Hanoi. To
reach this province, you can choose Highway 12 (from Dien Bien Phu Loop)
or Road 4D (from Sapa, catching local bus which is available daily in
Sapa terminal). Lai Chau has several highland villages such as Sin Ho,
Ta Phin, Dao San, most of which are at the altitude of more than 1500m.
The high altitude makes the weather here much like Sapa, cool and foggy
with the average temperature of nearly 20oC and two seasons: dry and
rainy. The completely pure air is something that Sapa rea;;y has to
envy.
Besides the high mountain ranges surrounding the province,
Lai Chau is well-known for narrow valleys, waterfalls, and the three
large rivers: Da, Nam Na, and Nam Mu; which create the stunningly
picturesque sceneries. Visiting Lai Chau, tourists can not only go
mountain trekking but also sail along Da River, discover primitive caves
or bathe in natural hot springs.
Especially, Lai Chau is home to
nearly 20 ethnic minority groups, including H’Mong, Thai, Dao, Ha Nhi,
Mang and La Hu. Tourists will have an opportunity to witness the special
multi-cultural society through the original local market taken place
every Thursday and Sunday morning or minorities’ authentic festival such
as Thai’s “Hoa Ban Festival” in the second lunar month or H’Mong’s “Gau
Tao Festival” in spring.
There are buses to Sapa departing from
Lai Chau terminal every hour, starting from 5 in the morning. It will be
a 2-3 hour trip for the route of 175km.
Phia Den-Phia Oac - wild nature
Visiting
Phia Den-Phia Oac (or Phia Dac), tourists will be amazed at the
gorgeously wild panorama of mighty mountain ranges, rivers, caves and
huge areas of original forests. Belong to Nguyen Binh- a remote district
of Cao Bang Province, 240km far from Hanoi, Phia Den-Phia Vac is a
potential ecotourism spot in Vietnam’s northwest region.
The
1500m average elevation with the highest peak up to 1931m makes Phia
Den- Phia Vac covered in mist all the time, which is similar to Sapa’s
climate. In the past, the area shared the same historic background with
Sapa, as it was controlled by the French colonialists for exploiting
aromatic wood and other precious minerals. Consequently, there are
several French villas and military posts like Tai Soong, Tatsloom still
remained here. For culture discovering purpose, tourists can meet a lot
of Dao minority people living scattered throughout the area.
Cao
Bang is 272km north of Hanoi following National Highway No.3. There are
direct buses departing from Cao Bang terminal to Lao Cai terminal and
vice versa, so reaching Sapa from here is pretty convenient.
Lying
quietly between two mountain sides in Yen Bai Province, Mu Cang Chai,
one of Vietnam’s poorest regions, possesses many terraced fields which
have been regarded as a national level heritage and Asia’s most
beautiful ones. If you have ever fallen in love with the terraced fields
in Sapa, Mu Cang Chai will definitely take your breath away. The little
town is 300km far from Hanoi, and can be reached only from Yen Bai City
or Lao Cai via rough roads with continuous slopes and passes. Remote as
it is, Mu Cang Chai can still reserve the wildly primitive beauty.
Everything, both nature and human, is pure and untouched, and perfect
for both trekking and sightseeing.
About the cultural discovery
aspect, 90% of residents here are Hmong people, and Thai people cover
only 8%. While Thai people build houses and live in lower area, Hmong
people populate and cultivate on high hills. They are the creator of
breathtaking view of terraced fields sloped gently along the
mountainsides. Mu Cang Chai gives us a chance to live slowly, to embrace
the peacefully natural beauty and be moved by the honest and innocent
local ethnic people. Mu Cang Chai is only 170km far from Sapa, however,
you are advised reach Mu Cang Chai by renting a car with local driver.
Another option is to get back from Mu Cang Chai to Tu Le or Than Tuyen
to take local bus to Sapa in the direction of Lao Cai.
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