Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Trekking Vietnam Sapa February


Sapa is the most popular place for trekking in Vietnam since the area offers the wild beauty, beautiful landscapes, terraced rice fields and rich in ethnic traditions. Most of travelers coming to Sapa for a trek, for the fresh, cool temperature and also for spending a night at a local house (homestay). Those who don’t have much time can do a day trek taking them to nearby villages such as Cat Cat village, Ta Phi village, Ta Van village, Lao Chai village, Su Pan village.

Those who have more time can do a multi-day trek that take them to other remote ethnic villages such as Seo My Ty, Thanh Phu, Sin Chai. These hilltribe villages are located far from the Sapa town. They are less infected by the modernization. Doing these longer trekking tours, travelers have the opportunity to see the real Vietnam as they will meet up with different ethnic groups such as the H’mong, the Xa Pho, the Red Dzao…

Located about 350km Northwest of Hanoi, Sapa is a town in Lao Cai Province in Northwest Vietnam. This small, quiet town is home to different ethnic groups such as the Hmong, Dao, Tay, Giay and Xa Pho.

The most popular mean of transport people used to take to get to Sapa is the overnight train leaving daily from Hanoi train station at about 20:00pm and arriving in Laocai train station at about 6:00 am the following day. Arriving in Laocai, they can either take a public bus or hire a car to get to Sapa town. The alternative option is to hire a car from Hanoi and travel through Thai Nguyen, Yen Bai to Sapa. The road transfer from Hanoi to Sapa taking about 8 hours offering you the opportunity to discover beautiful scenery along the way. Those who are on budget can book a public bus ticket at My Dinh bus station. These are big bus where soft sleepers are available.

February may not be a very good time to do a trek in Sapa area since it is still very cool and foggy especially in the early month. The average temperature is around 7 – 10 degree C. It can be lower when the monsoon comes. It used to be cloudy but not too wet. It gets warmer towards the end of the month. The rainfall is around 80mm.

If you already plan a trekking tour in Sapa in February then try to find out your trek and have it booked as soon as possible especially when you travel to Sapa during the Vietnamese Lunar New Year which usually falls into either January and February. There are many Vietnamese tourists traveling to Sapa during this period. Besides, most of hotels, tourist sites, restaurants, trains are closed during the Tet festival. Hotels and restaurants may be closed three, four or even five days before and after the TET festival. As an experienced tour guide at Lotussia Travel I do not recommend you planning a Sapa trek during this event which may fall into February. If your holidays is already planned for February, please try to book your trek running before or after the TET.

There are different trekking tours are arranged by Lotussia Travel in Sapa in February including from half day easy walks to multi-day challenging treks. We highly recommend some short treks and day tours in Sapa in February. The longest Sapa treks we recommend you doing in February are the 3-day treks which can also be divided into two different trekking tours – Easy treks and challenging treks. Please ask your travel consultant to propose the one which fit your needs the best.

As it is usually cloudy and foggy in February in Sapa, we have some alternative options you may consider if your travel frame is already fixed - visit an ethnic highland market Coc Ly market on Tuesday, Cao Son market on Wednesday, Can Cau market on Saturday, Bac Ha market on Sunday…A two-hour boat trip on Chay river also offers a good experience. Sapa mountain bike tours. Cycling to Lai Chau; Tam Duong village treks. These optional tours can be a very good choice if there is rain or fog during your trip in February.

For more details either mail to travel at lotussia.com or visit www.lotussiatravel.com

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