“I will tell everyone to come to Sapa. It’s really worth coming to, as it’s away from the big cities, and you can see people living in their culture, and they’re not just trying to fall into the Western culture.
They’re living in their original Vietnamese culture. And there’s so much rich history here,†said Mrs. Robyn Wales, an Australian visitor.
The Sapa town was founded in 1905. This incredibly picturesque town located on the bank of the Muong Hoa River at the altitude of 1,750m, Sapa is one of the 8 districts of Lao Cai province.
It belongs to the Hoang Lien Son chain, dominated by the peak of Fan Si Pan, the highest top of the country that culminates in 3,147m. Situated at the 1,650 meters above sea level, Sapa holds the spectacular misty panoramic views and is indeed cold.
But that’s only because there’s no sun. There’s no sun because the town year-round congregates with fog, mist, and clouds which frequently makes the whole area shrouded in mist.
Sapa is a big home of Vietnam's diverse hill tribes including Hmong, Dao, Thai, Zais, and Xaphos which comprise the majority of inhabitants in the area, outnumbering the Vietnamese live in the lowlands.
All of them wear their traditional attire and working on rice terraces of ever-changing hues. The temperate weather covers this mountainous region. It is quite good for ecotourism. Nowadays, its population is 3,000.
Foreign visitors like traveling to this tourist attraction, a reporter from the Communist Party of Vietnam Online Newspaper interviewed Mr. Karl Derek John, Chairman of the TCK Group, Mr. Kamal Sogani, General Director of R.K Marble Vietnam, Ltd., Miss. Olga, a Spanish visitor and Mrs. Robyn Wales, an Australian visitor, on their feel about Sapa. Here is the full text of the interview:
Reporter: How many times have you come to Sapa?
Mr. Karl Derek John: I live in Hanoi and I’ve been to Sapa because we have the project here. I think, maybe 20 times. So I know Sapa very well.
Mr. Kamal Sogani: This is the second time I’ve come to Sapa. Once, the first time I stopped here on the way to Lao Cai, and this is the second time to Sapa.
Miss. Olga: This is the first time I’ve come here.
Mrs. Robyn Wales: This is the first time.
Reporter: How do you feel about Sapa?
Mr. Kamal Sogani: Ah, yes. It is very beautiful, very beautiful
Miss. Olga: Well, I just arrived today. Yesterday we were in a home stay with a local family. So we just arrived tonight. Tonight we will have dinner and tomorrow we will see a little around here, everything. So, I can’t tell you, haha.
Mrs. Robyn Wales: I love it! It’s great. It’s not so busy like the big cities, and it’s not so hot. And the people, most of the people, are friendly.
Reporter: Have you had any troubles in Sapa?
Miss. Olga: Trouble? No trouble. Everyone is perfect at the moment.
Reporter: How did you hear about Sapa as a place to travel to?
Mrs. Robyn Wales: My husband’s cousin came here, and they said that they really liked it. And they even came back again. And so I thought, oh, it sounds like a place I would like to go to. And go down into the valley and visit all the villages.
Reporter: Can you give some advice for Vietnam in general, and Sapa in particular, to attract more foreign visitors?
Mrs. Robyn Wales: Yes, I will tell everyone to come to Sapa. It’s really worth coming to, as it’s away from the big cities, and you can see people living in their culture, and they’re not just trying to fall into the Western culture. They’re living in their original Vietnamese culture. And there’s so much rich history here.
Mr. Karl Derek John: I think what Vietnam has done to advertise on CNN and BBC is good. I first came to Vietnam in 1994, 14 years ago. And at that time I said that if Vietnam wants to open for tourism they really need to do international marketing. And I am very glad that they have started to do that. Vietnam is doing a good job of opening to the world; they just need to keep on going, keeping on doing a good job.
Mr. Kamal Sogani: Foreign visitors, yes. Well, most important, there needs to be an airport here, a major regional airport. And there’s a lot of need for improved hotels and resorts in this region. And, as far as the investment is concerned, as I already told you, there needs to be more infrastructures, more attention to infrastructure in this area.
Miss. Olga: Oh, I don’t know. I think everything is good, everything is ok. So, advice? Hmm, let me think about it …Well maybe the transport, the public transport. For the local people, the local buses. They don’t announce it, don’t announce the time and routes. And the taxis and the tuk-tuks …they cheat a little bit with us. So better public transportation for tourists.
Reporter: Thank you very much!