Things to do
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Cat Cat Village
Black Hmong households settled this hamlet below Sa Pa in the nineteenth century, and the French later built a small hydroelectric station on its stream. A paved walking loop drops past water wheels, weaving and dyeing demonstrations, and Tien Sa waterfall at the bottom of the valley. The route is ticketed and the return climb is steep. Going down on foot takes around forty minutes.
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Fansipan
At 3,147 metres, the summit of the Hoang Lien Son range is the highest point in Indochina, and a cable car from Sa Pa now covers in about twenty minutes what once took two days on foot. The trek still runs, with a night in a mountain camp. Cloud covers the peak for much of the year, and early morning gives the better chance of a view.
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Ham Rong Mountain
Stone steps leave the square in the centre of Sa Pa and climb the ridge directly above it, through an orchid garden, a maze of weathered limestone pinnacles and a series of terraces to a viewing yard near 1,800 metres. Sa Pa lies below and Fansipan stands opposite when cloud lifts. The ascent takes around an hour at a steady pace.
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Muong Hoa Valley
Terraced rice fields step down the valley floor south of Sa Pa, dropping from around 1,500 metres near the town to under 1,000 at Su Pan, and the main trekking route runs the whole length. Scattered through the fields are boulders carved in the Bronze Age with spirals, figures and grid patterns, protected as a national heritage site. The terraces flood in May and turn gold in September.
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Silver Waterfall
Meltwater off the Hoang Lien ridge falls about two hundred metres in stages beside the road to Lai Chau, twelve kilometres northwest of Sa Pa. Steps and a footbridge climb the lower tiers for a view back across the gorge. The flow is heavy after summer rain and thin in the dry months, and the stop takes well under an hour.
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Ta Van
Ten kilometres down the Muong Hoa valley from Sa Pa, Ta Van is where many overnight treks end their first day. The village is largely Giay, with Hmong and Red Dao hamlets on the slopes above, and wooden homestays take in walkers arriving on the valley path. A rattan footbridge crosses the stream below the houses. Rooms fill fast during the September harvest.