Cat Cat Village

Visitors to Cat Cat have an opportunity to admire a lively and colorful picture. That is the image of young women sitting by looms with colorful pieces of brocade decorated with designs of flowers and birds. When these pieces of brocade are finished, they are dyed and embroidered with beautiful designs.Cat Cat Village is about 1 km from Sapa town. It's located at the bottom of the Muong Hoa Valley and near the stunning Cat Cat Waterfall. This is an age-old village of H'Mong ethnic group remaining unique customs and practices that are lots in other villages. To visit village, you walk through Sapa Market down the valley. Once you walk out of the crowd, you'll be stunned by the nature's beauty with high mountains of over 3000 m and the green...

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Sapa Bac Ha market

Every Sunday, Bac Ha hosts the biggest fair near the mountainous highlands and the Chinese border. It is the largest and most colourful market in the area and attracts throngs of villagers from the surrounding hill tribes. Visitors to Bac Ha are opportune to understand the local traditions and customs, taste local specialties, meet nice people and know a land code-named: white plateau.Average temperature here is 19°C and it’s not so cold as in Sa Pa. Bac Ha is specifically identified by each mount, each house and naturally-made carpet of white plum-flowers in spring. There are 14 ethnic minorities and the Mong ethnics count for 47% then the Dao, Tay, Nung, Phu La… Mountaineers take care of their horses as their properties, means of transport...

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Things to Do and See in Sapa

Sapa is such a colourful town thanks to the H'mong and Dzao people from the local hill tribes who head into the town's market every day to trade their produce. There's a main market every Saturday when the place is packed but there's a lower key one every other day during the week. These people will have undergone no formal education but the arrival of foreigners has made them well aware of the value of money and many of the youngsters have picked up a basic level of English. They sell clothing and handicrafts which are popular with tourists.Read the exciting story of some Dutch travellers who visited the Sapa Valley which they describe at Adventure Travel Tales & Tips.Many visitors sign up for trekking expeditions out to local villages...

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Sa Pa

Sapa district (or Sa Pa) is located in Lao Cai province, 350 km from Hanoi, close to the border with China. The Hoang Lien Son range of mountains dominates the district, which is at the eastern extremity of the Himalayas. This range includes Vietnam’s highest peak, Fansipan Mountain at 3,142m above sea level, and a vast area covered by thick forest, which is very rich in wildlife. The township of Sapa lies on a hill station at the attitude of about 1,600m and was built by the French into a famous summer resort with some hundred colonial villas which was well-known as “ Tonkin’s Alps” . The complicated terrain of Sapa including steeped high mountains with sharp cuts and large valleys, many streams of water in combination with sloped terraced...

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Hoi An Accommodation and Shopping

One shall find his accommodation options ranging from lowly affordable motel rooms as low as $8 per day to the world-class 6-star top-of-the-line allegedly-best-in Southeast-Asia Nam Hai resort nearby, which starts at a whooping $600. Vietnam may be small, but there will always be an extra bedroom for the staying- over guest. These days, the guests may well outnumber the homeowners however. True to its origin, Hoi An today still boasts a booming trade.Of the things sold in town, there are only 3 different categories. First is souvenir, the second being clothing and the last is food, both western and Vietnamese. The souvenir is not something to write home about, since offerings are limited in diversity throughout the country. Hoi An is better...

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Hoi An -The World Heritage

The ancient town of Hoi An, 30 km south of Danang, lies on the banks of the Thu Bon River. Occupied by early western traders, Hoi An was one of the major trading centers of Southeast Asia in the 16th century.Hoi An has a distinct Chinese atmosphere with low, tile-roofed houses and narrow streets; the original structure of some of these streets still remains almost intact. All the houses were made of rare wood, decorated with lacquered boards and panels engraved with Chinese characters. Pillars were also carved with ornamental designs.Tourists can visit the relics of the Sa Huynh and Cham cultures. They can also enjoy the beautiful scenery of the romantic Hoi An River, Cua Dai Beach, and Cham Island.Over the last few years, Hoi An has become...

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Hoi An celebrated in HCMC

HCM CITY — A miniature Hoi An Town with its narrow streets, mossy roofs and centuries-old homes will be created during the Hoi An Culture Day to be organised in HCM City today.The event starts at 4.30pm in HCM City's Ky Hoa 1 Tourist Park, 16A Le Hong Phong Street, District 10.The beauty of Hoi An streets lit with colourful lanterns on the 14th and 15th days of every lunar month will be recreated, said Nguyen Su, a senior official of Hoi An Town.Hoi An was one of Viet Nam's and Southeast Asia's most important and cosmopolitan ports from the 17th to 19th centuries, and its distinctive lanterns have been associated with the ancient town for centuries.Photo and painting exhibitions featuring Hoi An's well-known Chua Cau (Pagoda Bridge), narrow...

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Central Vietnam cities set for glitzy Lunar New Year

The central Vietnamese cities of Da Nang and Hoi An have lined up a slew of traditional cultural programs for the Lunar New Year.In Da Nang, 29th March Park, where a community house will be built and floral arrangements made, will host a number of the main events including a drum festival, folk music performances, poetry night, and traditional fashion show.Other events in the city will include a music and dance festival, water puppetry shows, dragon and lion dances, and acrobatics.In Hoi An, a lantern festival is being held from January 17 to February 6, and it will feature a lantern making competition, the fourth of its kind, to honor the traditional craft.The city's old streets and mysterious alleys are bathed in the light of lanterns.There...

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