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| On every Wednesdays, Xin Cheng Market offers the opportunity to discover a colorful gathering point of many local minorities such as the Flower Hmong, Tay or Giay. On the way to the market along the Chinese border, you will enjoy amazing mountain scenery, charming rivers and terraced rice fields. People from the area meet at the market to exchange tobacco, clothes, fruits, horses, buffaloes and many other local products. Xin Cheng is also a social gathering point for the villagers to meet and exchange the latest news. On the way back to Sapa, you will pass by the Hmong King Palace which was built in the early 20th century during the French colonial era. This tour departs early in the morning from Sapa or Lao Cai and finish around 4pm |
| Source: www.traveltosapa.com |
Showing posts with label SAPA HOTEL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SAPA HOTEL. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Xin Cheng Market
Sapa History
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The Sa Pa plateau was identified in 1901 during the first topographic plotting of the area. A military post was built in 1903. In 1906 the first westerner to settle in Cha Pa, named Mr. Miéville, worked with the department of agriculture. The number of French permanent civilian residents was never very high, only twenty odd people in 1942, plus a small colony of English-speaking protestants of unknown origin.  Originally, Cha Pa was created for medical purposes: the bracing climate of Cha Pa was beneficial to westerners exhausted by a long stay in Vietnam, especially «people with chlorosis, post-infectious anaemia, previous history of malaria, and a whole array of neurotics: people with neurasthenia, phobia, overworked people or hypochondriac women». Certain diseases, such as «chronic bronchitis with associated emphysema or asthma and certain skin diseases» could  also be cured. The military sanatorium, completed in 1913, was built on the hill on which the municipal cistern and its pumping station now stand.As of 1914, the main purpose of the civil authorities was to create in Tonkin a veritable summer capital in the mountains. In the summer of 1914, the offices of all the local services were moved from Hanoi to Cha Pa. The works had started in 1912, the tourist office was created in 1917 and in 1925, there were already 80 kilometres of footpaths offering a great variety of hiking trips. The forestry service planted evergreens, some of which are still standing today. In 1922 the building of the most sumptuous hotel in the station, the Résidence du Tonkin started on «governor’s hill».  In 1909, thanks to Miéville, the « Sapa Hotel » was inaugurated to the east of the station on the road to Lao Cai, while the «Fan Si Pan» hotel was only built in 1924. The « Métropole », a luxury hotel with 50 rooms and ten suites sited at the foot of the Ham Rong on the bank of the lake, was inaugurated in 1932. The «Hôtel du Centre», a more modest establishment, was built in1937. The first villas were built in 1918 by the Hong Hai Coal Board and by the Haïphong cement factory (at the place where the Victoria Hotel now stands). A hundred or so other villas  were built between 1920 and 1940 on neighbouring land given for free, some specimens of which can still be seen. In the lower area are located the private villas, administrative buildings and hotels. In the higher area, one finds the big military sanatorium and the governor ‘s summer palace. The church was built in 1934, followed by a protestant temple sitting on the hill overlooking the road to Cat Cat. By the end of the 1930s, Cha Pa had reached its peak and over a thousand colonials went there to rest and have fun. Until the mid-40s, Cha Pa was to remain the fashionable mountain resort of the Hanoi colonial society.In order to meet the increasing demand for food, the local authorities created agricultural stations. The aim of these stations was to feed the summer visitors and « put an end to the typical problem of hotels where bread is wanting because a party of six had the unfortunate idea of turning up without sending a telegram two days earlier ». Vietnamese people launched into agricultural production, providing the town with « all sorts of foods »... The Taphin estate produced pork, chicken, vegetables, fresh fruit, jam, milk, potatoes, cheese and… wine. Trade was flourishing in the hands of Chinese people and Vietnamese from the delta area.   The growth of Cha Pa was an incentive to modernisation and between 1924 and 1927 the public authorities had it equipped with running water, a sewage system and an electricity network supplied by a power station built on the Cat Cat waterfall, whose renovated buildings are still in operation, as well as a telegraph and telephone network. In 1942, untypically for such a small place, a complete town plan of Sa Pa was drawn, which included over 400 plots of building land. In February 1947, the Viet Minh attacked Cha Pa and destroyed the military installations and part of the hotels (among which the Métropole) as well as villas. In March, the Foreign Legion occupied Cha Pa again until October 1949 when the French troops left the region for good. In March 1952, the French headquarters ordered the air force to bomb the town. The Governor’s Palace, the sanatorium complex, public buildings and most of the villas were destroyed. The Vietnamese population fled the ruined town and did not return until the early sixties. Not until the early 1990s did Sa Pa start developing again. |
| Source: www.traveltosapa.com |
Handicrafts in Sapa
Handicrafts in Sapa Until the 1980s, most of the mountain populations in Vietnam used to  produce nearly all their everyday life objects. Clothes, basketwork, metal and wooden objects, jewellery, pottery, etc. were made locally according to techniques that were often specific to an area or an ethnic group. These objects are still made today for family use and occasionally offered for sale.    Fibres: hemp, cotton and silk dyed with natural dyes : The Tày grow cotton, spin it, weave it, and dye it to make the traditional blankets for the wedding dowries. The Hmong grow hemp and use its strong fibres to make their clothes, which they dye with indigo. In certain villages, people raise silkworms to make the beautiful silk thread they use to embroider their clothes. The Dao (Mien) women and the Hmong make veritable pictures with their incredibly precise embroideries. Lots of traditional fabrics can be found in the Sa Pa and Bac Hà ethnic markets. Most of the patterns embroidered by the Hmong and the Dao or woven by the Tay and the Thai carry a meaning. They often symbolise a baby, a tree, a bird, a snail, the moon, etc. Basketwork: from forest to kitchen :Rattan and bamboo are the raw materials used for basketwork. Each ethnic group and each area has its own techniques and own  patterns. The Tays’  are square-shaped, often decorated with floral patterns, while the Dao’s (Mien) and the Lao’s are raised designs with colour strokes.For their domestic use, the Nung and the Tay make very fine baskets for sorting rice or legumes. In order to protect them, they store them over the wood fire where the smoke makes them more resistant. The Vietnamese shoulder piece is the most popular carrying device in the lowlands, while the back-basket is found everywhere in the mountains. Wood, steel and silver: traditional skills, still unrecognized :Thanks to the wide diversity of wood species and to the carpenters and joiners’ know-how, the houses,  furniture and all the wooden objects are still made locally. One of the most famous wood species in the Lao Cai area is peumou (Fokienia Hodginsii), a species of slow-growing cypress whose wood is rot-proof. Chinese buyers have been paying a heavy price for it for over a century. Using reclaimed materials, blacksmiths used to make ploughshares, knives and trivets. Despite the competition of industrial products, the high-quality knives and pruning knives made by the Hmong are still much sought-after by farmers from all ethnic groups. Silver jewelery is still made by numerous ethnic groups. The Hmong from Sa Pa and the Dao are renowned for their necklaces consisting of several silver circles put together – the weight of the jewel is also a wealth and status symbol as silver metal used to be one of the main ways of hoarding wealth. The Tày from Van Bàn make beautiful silver bangles. Depending on the area and on the subgroups they belong to, the Hmong and the Dao are distinguished by the shape of their earrings. Incense :Virtually all ethnic groups produce their own particular sort of incense. The Tày from Van Ban (Van Bàn), use powdered cinnamon bark to make a brown incense with a warm, sweet fragrance. The Pa Zi from Muong Khuong make pale green incense out of powdered wild leaves, whose fragrance is greener and a little sharp. The Hmong from Bac Hà gather tree bark to make ochre-coloured incense with a powerful scent. |
| Source: www.traveltosapa.com |
Monday, March 14, 2011
Sapa Hotels
Address: Cau May Street, Sapa, Vietnam
One of the newest hotels in Sapa the Royal View Sapa Hotel has impeccable facilities and fantastic views. There are 24 rooms overlooking the valley and 18 rooms overlooking the garden and all are well furnished. There are electric heaters in all rooms and fireplaces in some. 
Bamboo Hotel Sapa   The three star BAMBOO SAPA HOTEL, the only luxury hotel in North-Western Vietnam, opened in March 1995. Built as a traditional mountain chalet with accented wooden decor and a welcoming stone hearth fireplace, the Bamboo Sapa Hotel overhangs the village with great view to Hoang Lien Mountain range, blending perfectly with the natural surroundings. The location and luxury services of the hotel have been carefully planned to allow guests to experience something different and unique, in close harmony with nature and with the local hill tribe people. Bamboo Sapa Hotel is located in Sapa, 380 km (236 miles) Northwest of Hanoi, among the Hoang Lien Mountains, in Lao Cai Province, near the Chinese border. 1650 meters (5413 feet) above sea level, famous for its pristine environment, its unparalleled scenery and its cool climate, Sapa is home to more than 30 colorful hill tribes and close to Vietnam's highest peak, the 3143 meters (10311 feet) Mount Fansipan . . Tel: (84.20) 3871 075/076/214 Fax: (84.20) 3871945 |
CHAU LONG HOTEL Address: Cau May - Sapa  Telephone: (+84) 20 871 245 Fax: (+84) 20 871 844 Chau Long Sapa Hotel can be found in a lane of Cau May street which is perched on a hill in this mountainous region. Location: Sapa is located in one of the most beautiful and unspoiled regions in North Vietnam, close to Chinese border. It's a quiet mountain town that lies at an altitude of about 1600 m, being a home to a great diversity of ethnic minority people. The scenery is a spectacular combination of high green mountains cuddled in clouds, scattered rice terraces and rich agricultural areas where the native inhabitants live and harvest their crops... Designed as a red-stone castle, Chau Long Sapa Hotel - New wing & Old wing, is ideally located at the quite side street, in the heart of Sapa town - home to many colorful native hill tribes, within easy walking to Sapa market and the Church. Chau Long Hotel offers to its guests and visitors magnificent views of the Hoan Lien mountains range, cuddled in clouds, and the view point to the highest peak in Indochina - Fansipan Mountain (3,143m)  Chau Long Accommodation - Individual controlled air-conditioning - Satellite TV with international channels - Private bathroom with bathtub or shower - IDD Telephone - Hair-dryer and refrigerator - Personal safety box in room - Balcony and Heater - Tea/Coffee making facilities Standard (Run of House): Old wing features 2 spacious 26m2 rooms with double size bed or twin bed with a private balcony, overlooking Mount Fansipan. Superior: 18 rooms with twin/double beds offer a private balcony overlooking Muong Hoa valley & Mount Fansipan in 28m2.  Deluxe: 53 rooms with queen bed and a private balcony overlooking Muong Hoa valley & Mount Fansipan, fireplace in room in 32m2. Quadruple: 4 single size bed, a large living room area with a writing desk and overlooking Muong Hoa valley & Mount Fansipan in 60m2. Suite: 02 suites with king size bed, a large writing desk. All Sapa Suites offer large living room with sofa, private balcony overlooking Muong Hoa valley & Mount Fansipan in 60m2. Hotel’s Services & Facilities - Transportation from Lao Cai train station to the hotel and back to Lao Cai - 24 hours front desk & 24 hours security team at the hotel’s entries  - Tour information and booking, providing private tours in lao Cai and lai Chau provinces - Free internet service and Wi-Fi access in the lobby and restaurant area (also in the rooms from 2009) - Administrative assistance and flight/train reconfirmation and booking services - Express or regular Laundry service and free shoes cleaning service - Foreign currency exchange - Room service; Wake-up service; Postal service; Babysitting - Luggage storage Free parking | ||
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VICTORIA HOTEL  Built as a traditional mountain chalet with accented wooden decor and a welcoming stone hearth fireplace, Victoria Sapa Resort overhangs the village, blending perfectly with the natural surroundings. Address: Sapa District, Lao Cai Province, S.R. Vietnam Phone: +84 20 871522/ 04.933 0318 Fax: +84 20 871539/ 04.933 0319 Location: Victoria Sapa Resort, the only luxury hotel in the area, opened in March 1998. Built as a traditional mountain chalet with accented wooden decor and a welcoming stone hearth fireplace, Victoria Sapa Resort overhangs the village, blending perfectly with the natural surroundings. The location and services have been carefully planned to allow guests to experience something different and unique in close harmony with nature and the local hill tribe people.  The location and services have been carefully planned to allow guests to experience something different and unique in close harmony with nature and the local hill tribe people. Victoria Sapa Accommodation: Individual controlled air-conditioning Satellite TV with international channels Private bathroom with bathtub or shower IDD Telephone and ceiling fan (available in Deluxe rooms only) Hair-dryer (on request) and balcony in room Tea/coffee making facility Mini-bar and heater Safe deposit box in room  Superior: spacious rooms are at garden level, feature comfortable sitting area with sofa & writing desk in 25m2. Deluxe: rooms at second and third level feature a balcony, with sofa, overlooking Mount Fansipan in 25m2. Suite: Victoria suites offer a living room & a bed room with queen size bed en-suite; large balcony, Mount Fansipan view in 50m2. Victoria Sapa Hotel's Amenities: Train station pick-up service. Foreign currency exchange TA VAN restaurant and TA FIN bar Vehicles for rent Travel tour arrangement  Bar/Pub/Lounge Tennis Court Visa extension and air-ticket booking service Facilities: Indoor-outdoor heated swimming pool, Sauna/Massage, Billiard table, Free use of bicycles, Parking. Services: Laundry services, Transportation facilities, Motorbike rental, Russian Jeep or minibus with driver rental, Hairdressing & Beauty salon, Souvenir shop, Postal services. Meeting room facilities (with capacity up to 100 persons) | |
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TOPAS ECO LODGE HOTEL Address: 24 Muonghoa, Cau May, Sapa, Laocai, Vietnam  Topas Ecolodge is situated in the perfect location at two cone-shaped hills set deep in the spectacular Sapa valley of Northern Vietnam. Code words for our little place are simplicity, quality and character.Topas Eco Lodge provide daily transportation according to schedule from Sapa to the Eco Lodge. Even though the road is under constructing some parts are still dirt road. It takes about one to one and a half hour to go from Sapa to the Eco lodge. Despite the fact that some part are dirt road it is a interesting journey. On the way you will see daily life in the rice fields, minorities on there way to Sapa to sell handcrafts, vegetables etc.
 Click here for the location of Topas Ecolodge Hotel.
Online Booking Room Rate 
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SAPA HOTEL Address: Ngu Chi Son Street - Sapa Town - Lao Cai Province - Vietnam  Conveniently located in the heart of downtown, next to Ham Rong mountain, with a beautiful Lakeview, Sapa Hotel is a desirable place for any tourists coming to Sapa to explore the natural landscapes of this area. Sapa Hotel is a 3-star hotel with up-to-date equipment and luxurious and perfect services. Its wonderful and romantic terrain - encompassed by a tranquil blue-watered lake at the front and the stunningly splendid Ham Rong mountain at the back - attracts a great deal of tourists coming to the town. Its outstanding French-style architecture harmonizes beautifully with the fascinating holiday resort discovered in the French colonial period. Sapa Accommodation
Sapa Hotel's Amenities
Online Booking Room Rate
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Source: www.sapatravelguide.com
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