Sapa holds “Walking in a Cloud” tourism festival

A tourism festival dubbed “Walking in a Cloud” was held in Sapa, one of Vietnam’s top holiday and relaxation destinations, on April 30.

The festival, jointly held by the Sapa District People’s Committee and the Ham Rong Tourism Joint Stock Company, is part of the Sapa Tourism and Culture Week.

The festival is designed to lead visitors from one delight to another with a series of activities highlighting the rich and distinctive aspects of Sapa’s diverse ethnic cultures.

Visitors can join local ethnic minority people to discover how they dye, weave and decorate their garments, or make their sandals.

They will have the chance to take part in forest tours to pick medicinal herbs and learn how to use the plants as well as prepare the traditional meals eaten by the various ethnic minority groups and explore the customs of the Dao ethnic minority people.

The festival’s organisers also plan to make the famous lover’s market as authentic as possible.

Throughout its history, lover’s market every Saturday night in Sapa has been a destination and opportunity for young, single Hmong, Dao, Tay and Ray ethnic minority people in the surrounding areas to go and find their true love.

Those already married also seldom miss the event, as it offers them an opportunity to revisit old flames and relive the experience of young love.

Other events including a photo exhibition and fairs of Northwestern cuisine and orchids will also be held as part of the festival, said the organisers.

(Source: VNA)

Cat Cat Village - sketchy trait in mountainous region of Sapa

It would be a big loss for travelers for not visiting Cat Cat Village located in Sapa Town, Lao Cai Province because of its beautiful and wild terrace fields, curling stone road and long-standing culture of the Mong ethnic minority people.

Because this is mountainous terrain, tourists have to walk from downtown Sapa Town for about 45 minutes to get to Cat Cat Village instead of using a car to contemplate the landscapes.

On the way, tourists can capture the peaceful images of Mong girls smiling in their colorful costumes or selling brocade bangles or Mong women knitting brocades in different patterns of flowers, trees, leaves and animals in front of their house or cute children with rosy cheeks eating candy.

Mong people are quite friendly and have been attached to their traditional work of planting cotton trees, terrace fields and corn fields and weaving brocade cloth. Coming to Cat Cat, travelers should taste some specialties of the Mong people including corn wine, thang co (a mixture of animal meat and zangs) and chicken’s blood curds among others.

Cat Cat Village could be a hide-way destination for those living in noisy and animated cities to escape. Once visiting this village, our fatigue was replaced with excitement and refreshment with wild nature and the good-natured Mong people.

(Source: SGT)

Work starts on largest hotel in Lao Cai

Works began on a four-star hotel on February 23 in the misty mountainous town of Sapa in Lao Cai Province.

Sapa lndochina, the largest of its kind in Sapa, will be built at a cost of VND145 billion (roughly USD8.1 million) by Dong Duong international commercial investment joint stock company.

Covering an area of 7,252m², the French-style hotel will accommodate 88 rooms looking the Hoang Lien-Sapa mountain range.

The hotel is expected to be put into operation in June, 2011.

Apart from Sapa lndochina, the company plans to build a luxurious resort, Indochina International, with 80 villas on an area of 28.2ha in Lao Chai-Ta Van in Lao Cai Province.

(Source: VNA)