Terraced ricefields at Cat Cat village.

Sapa has lots of character! It is surrounded by mountain ranges and the stepped terrace farms on the slopes are absolutely breathtaking. This little town is near the northern tip of Vietnam and is quite near to the Chinese border.

Located in the highlands, this quaint little town is visited by the villagers who continue to wear their traditional dress. Each ethnic group has their unique outfit and all members of that group dress the same way. In this town, you feel that you have entered another world. It is such a contrast when you watch them carry their market produce in rattan baskets on their backs while you shoot off emails from the Internet cafés there. Sapa easily ranks number two on my list of favourite towns in Vietnam.

WEATHER : Occasional showers and long periods of drizzle. Once, I had to stay indoors as it rained for a full 24 hours. I had my raincoat and binoculars all ready to pounce on any of opportunity to bird watch. Unfortunately, it just continued to rain and the entire town was covered with mist. Do plan a few extra days here to cater for bad weather. Bring warm clothing as it is quite cold at night.

GETTING THERE : From Lao Cai train station, tell a scooter taxi driver that you want to go to Sapa. They will give you a short 5 minute ride (10,000 VND) to the side of a small market where white minivans pickup passengers who are heading to Sapa. The ride up to Sapa (30,000 VND) takes about an hour. Try to get a window seat on the left side of the bus to enjoy the fabulous scenery.

ACCOMMODATION : There are lots of hotels and guesthouses to cater to the incessant flow of tourists to this little haven. I had a very pleasant stay at Cat Cat Hotel for US$ 8/night. It was a pity that satellite TV was not available as it would have come in useful on wet days. Many Vietnamese call to book rooms in advance for the weekend so securing accommodation for that few days can be quite difficult. Every hotel that I went to had rooms available for Thursday and Friday but very few had any vacancy for the weekend. In the end, after visiting at least 15 guesthouses, I had to pay a 120% premium to secure a room. Do schedule your arrival date wisely to avoid this hassle.

BIRDING HIGHLIGHTS :

 1. Ham Rong Botanical Gardens 

This tourist attraction (entrance fee : 20,000 VND) is just a 5 minute walk uphill from Cau May Street. The view of the manicured gardens is just breathtaking. The lower gardens are nicely decorated with all sorts of flowers while the upper section towards Heaven’s Gate is pierced with natural rock peaks. 

Interesting species seen there included Brownish-Flanked Bush-Robin, White-Spectacled Warbler, Rusty-Capped Fulvetta (Adult Genestieri), Grey Bushchat(breeding), White-Throated Fantail, Whiskered Yuhina, Verditer Flycatcher, Brown-Breasted Bulbul, Common Stonechat(Male breeding Przewalskii), Hill Prinia, Black-Throated Tit (Adult Talifuensis), Blue-Winged Minla, Mountain Tailorbird, Yellow Browed Warbler. In order to see some of these birds, you might have to climb up to the “twin peaks” that are beyond Cloud Gate.

 2. Thac Bac Road / Duong Nyuyen Chi Tham Street

Of all the roads leading out of Sapa, you will just need to know Thac Bac road. That is because in order to access most of the other birding hotspots, you will need to use this road. 

From the town square, it is at the corner beside the road that leads to Victoria Hotel. After a 15 minute walk uphill from town, you will arrive at the junction where Thac Bac road splits with Duong Nyuyen Chi Tham street. From there, you will have decent birding all the way along Thac Bac road up till the collapsed vertical cliff-face. 

The Black-Headed Greenfinch which is fairly common at the start of Duong Nyuyen Chi Tham street should not be mistaken for the endemic Vietnamese Greenfinch. Interesting birds seen there included White-Browed Bush-Robin, Grey Bushchat, Asian Brown Flycatcher, Rufous-Breasted Bush-Robin, Verditer Flycatcher, Eurasian Cuckoo, Rufescent Prinia. Those who have yet to see a Red-Billed Leothrix in the wild may try to see a caged one at 35 Thac Bac Road.

 3. O Quy Ho

I had difficulty locating this place based on the directions currently available in the Internet. Though I have mapped out O Quy Ho on my map, I cannot be certain that it is the correct location. The path leading away from the main road by the Rung La Vang concrete signboard was very wide (ie 2 large lorries can pass each other) but it was extremely muddy especially after the rain. 

Nevertheless, I found some very interesting birds there which include Spot-Breasted Parrotbill, Collared Finchbill, Small Niltava, Brownish-Flanked Bush-Robin, Oriental Magpie Robin, Black –Headed Greenfinch, White-Collared Yuhina, Hill Prina, Verditer Flycatcher, Brown-Breasted Bulbul, Whiskered Yuhina, Rufescent Prinia, Yellow-Cheeked Tit, Blue-Winged Minla, Scaly Breasted Munia, Common Stonechat, Blue-Winged Minla, and 2 Minivets which flew off before I could identify them. Beware of the dogs there.

 4. Thac Bac Waterfall

There were just too many busloads of tourists around so I did not bird watch there.

 5. Hoang Lien Nature Reserve

This reserve is part of the Hoang Lien Son mountain range. You can sign up for 3D2N treks up to the summit from the trek shops in Sapa. There is a small mix of Southern China bird species here. Some parts of the trail have concrete steps.

The birding can be good when there are birdwaves. Otherwise, it can get slow too. Interesting species seen include White-Spectacled Warbler, Yellow-Bellied Fantail, Rufous-Winged Fulvetta, Fujian Niltava, Golden Breasted Fulvetta, Blyth’s Leaf Warbler, Pale-Legged Leaf Warbler, Green-Tailed Sunbird, Forktail Swift, Black-Throated Swift.

I was alarmed to find my scooter missing when I returned from birding. Apparently, the park rangers had taken the initiative to carry my locked scooter into their headquarters for safekeeping. Only after asking several rangers did one show me where to claim it.

LEECHES : None.

MAP/SKETCH : See Sketch of Sapa and nearby birding areas.

SCOPE: Optional but might be a liability inside Hoang Lien Nature Reserve.

LESSONS LEARNT :

Although there are two banks in Sapa, both do not offer VISA withdrawl service. One or two of the larger hotels there has VISA withdrawl service, but at very poor rates. So do remember to draw slightly more funds at Lao Cai or Hanoi.

Sapa is a small town so the traffic is fairly tame as compared to the chaos in HCMC or Hanoi. In fact, the ride can be quite enjoyable here. It is very useful when you need to access the birding hotspots that are out of town. Do be warned that the roads beyond Sapa town are riddled with potholes. The shop beside Cat Cat Hotel has scooters for hire for 100,000 VND per day. The price excludes petrol.

Considering how remote Sapa is, being able to tuck in to delicious Shepherd’s Pie at The Red Dragon Pub was a blessing. Don’t miss it.

When you are departing, the hotel owner would call for the minivan to pick you up from your hotel. After that, the minivan will park in front of the church to wait for other passengers. There were several other minivans there concurrently waiting to fill up with passengers too. My wait lasted for at least 40 minutes. 

The alternative is to walk to the front of the church and board the minivan that has the most passengers in it. You are more likely to depart first and that will save a whole lot of waiting.

A sweet lass arranges her plums for sale along the road to O Quy Ho. Notice how rosy her cheeks are.