Vietnam Cycle Tours

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Delightful Sapa Valley in Northern Vietnam

• Take an overnight train ride from busy Hanoi and
  you will certainly arrive in the remote
  mountainous region of Sapa Valley, the home of
  stunning mountains and valleys, many minority
  hill-tribes and fascinating street markets. By
  leaving to Sapa you will discover right here real
  life and culture and pure relaxation.
• Sapa is an old French Colonial Hillside station
  snuggled amongst the greatest range of mountains
  in Vietnam, Hoang Lien Boy which is close to the
  Chinese border. Sapa is renowneded for its
  impressive natural appeal and the range of
  hill-tribes people that live in the area. As a
  destination it offers numerous adventure outside
  activities, biking and hiking are the most
  popular of these.
• The very best trek in the location takes three
  days to the summit of Fansipan, standing at 3143
  meters, it is the highest peak in Vietnam,
  managing awesome scenic views into neighboring
  China. Taking a trip to the top, is not the
  hardest trek in the world, so if you are healthy
  and fit and have a great many energy, you must
  think about making this trip to the roof of
  Vietnam, where you'll be amongst the clouds.
• Sapa is home to many minority Hill-tribe, visits
  and home-stays are a very popular activity in the
  Sapa region. One of the most well known
  hill-tribes in the area is the Black Hmong
  Hill-tribe, who frequent the villages throughout
  the area. They have their own culture and customs
  and many tourists delighting in visiting and
  learning about their ways of life, Vietnam Cycle
  Tours. By visiting the tribes people you will
  learn about farming techniques, how their
  wonderful garments are made and be treated to
  traditional hill-tribe fare and music, a
  fascinating experience, which will allow you to
  immerse yourself in how simple life can be!
• Home-stays are a perfect choice if you wish to
  have a real life experience of how these people
  live and work their everyday lives and the people
  of the Hmong people and other minority groups are
  very welcoming to foreigners visiting them.
  Another aspect of local culture not to be missed
  is a visit to one of the numerous, hill-tribe
  markets. Each market has its own unique feel and
  is generally a place for the locals to get
  together to sell their products and to socialize
  with family and friends, perhaps even fulfill a
  partner!
• The biggest of these markets in Bac Ha market, 80
  Kilometres from downtown Sapa in the Lao Cai
  region, this market takes location every Sunday
  under the gaze of the neighboring mountains and
  the border with China. Right here you will see
  tribes people from all over the region and even
  from over the chinese border who come here to
  barter and trade. This is a typical sight at all
  of the markets in the Sapa area, a real cultural
  experience, where horseback is the mode of
  transport of products for sale.
• A Hmong culinary specialty you might want to
  attempt is Thang Co Blood Porridge, made from a
  mixture of pony and goats meat, slow cooked to
  produce a great 'blood soup' served in a large
  hot-pot. This meal is a popular staple of the
  hill-tribes people in the region and is shared by
  everyone, using chopsticks to dip the succulently
  cooked meat into a spicy dip and then eaten,
  normally accompanied with bread, instant noodles,
  vegetables and herbs.
• It is best to try this dish at one of the
  restaurants in the Sapa area, rather than
  experiencing it at one of the markets, like Bac
  Ha, right here you will certainly see the locals
  socialize, eat and wash the soup down with wine!
  Thang Co is popular among the residents and warms
  the body in a region where temperatures and
  plummet dramatically in the evenings.
• Other activities you would be able to arrange are
  Cycling, camping and trekking and even traveling
  by motorcycle are all very popular ways to
  explore the Sapa Region. To get to Sapa you need
  to travel by train from Hanoi, overnight to Lao
  Cai, the main town in the region and then take a
  90 minute journey by road and dirt track to get
  to Sapa itself.
• For a time-out to visit hill-tribes and
  expedition, 3 to 4 days is the recommended amount
  of time for a trip here, for the more daring
  there are various treks, biking routes and
  home-stays that can be arranged for those wishing
  to spend longer, and a perfect combination with
  the Sapa Region would be Hanoi and a cruise
  around sensational Ha-long Bay, renowneded for
  its limestone cliffs, typically described as the
  Gullin of Vietnam!
• So think about visiting the Sapa region as part
  of a trip to Vietnam Hanoi Cycling Tours and
  indeed Indochina, Vietnam provides a wonderful
  mix of history, culture, impressive natural
  beauty and sensational beaches, more than
  comparable to other Asian destinations such as
  Thailand and Malaysia. You would also be
  supporting Responsible and Sustainable tourism
  and growth throughout the region as a whole.