Follow the locals has always been the way of this blogwriter. So you should try the food stalls along Pham Xuan Huan. Here you get pho and rice, barbecued meat and rice wine.
Baguette & Chocolat: Thac Bac. Part of the Hoa Sua School, that trains disadvantaged children in hospitality. Excellent sweets, good breakfasts, salads, pastas and Vietnamese dishes. Also the teas (ginger, lemongrass) get good reviews on tripadvisor.com.
Delta Restaurant: 33 Cau May Street. "Renowned for its pizzas, which are the most authentic in town, though the pasta is pretty decent too", notes lonelyplanet.com. Good reviews on tripadvisor.com.
Gerbera Restaurant: 04B Thac bac Street. Delicious vietnamese meals, for example hotpots, according to tripadvisor.com.
Sapa Coffee Corner: 20 Pham Xuan Huan. Long tables with chairs create a community spirit.
Sapa O'Chau Cafe: 8 Thac Bac Street. Information centre about Sapa O'Chau Project. With the help of four Australian tourists, Shu Tan, a young, single mother from the Black Hmong tribe, was able to open the first Hmong owned homestay in Sapa and supported Shu to establish a socially conscious trekking sevice. Sapa O’Chau put the money earned back into the community through projects such as providing winter clothes to children and improvements to the village schools. Later Shu organized informal English night classes for young tour guides. Today Sapa O’Chau has over 70 students (35 of which live at the Centre) and runs classes in English and Vietnamese literacy, vocational training, traditional song & dance and arts and crafts. In addition Sapa O'Chau provides support for students and their families so that they do not have to return to street-selling for income. Read more.
Sapa Rooms: Vegetarian, Vietnamese, Organic cuisine and Winery. Very good reviews on tripadvisor.com, be it for roast pumpkin soup, banana flower salad with grilled chicken, pork in fresh coconut in a claypot served with steamed rice or juices with names like summer morning, spring boost and sapa special.
The French Bakery: 46 Cau May Street. Excellent patisseries.
The Hill Station: 07 Muong Hoa Street. This restaurant gets good notes for wine, ham, cheese and sandwiches on tripadvisor.com.
Viet Emotion: 27 Cau May. Pancakes, Pizza, Tapas, Asian Food, books and magazines. Good reviews on tripadvisor.com.
Many ethnic minorities are living in and around Sapa: Hmong (pronounced Mong), Dao (pronounced Yao), Tay, Giay (pronounced Zai), Muong, Thai, Hoa (ethnic Chinese) and Xa Pho (a denomination of the Phu La minority group).
The Flower Hmong:
Flower Hmong have this name because of the bright colorful embroidery (called pa ndau, literally "flower cloth"). This needlework has geometric, symmetric and derived from nature motifs. "Pa ndau originated with ceremonial clothing for major life events including births, weddings, deaths, and for celebrating Tet, the New Year Festival", says wanderlustandlipstick.com.
The Black Hmong: In SaPa Black Hmong are dressed in dark clothing dyed black with indigo. Black Hmong sub-groups have differentiated themselves by adopting different headwear; those with a large comb embedded in their long hair (but without a hat) call themselves Tao, those with a pillbox hat name themselves Giay, and those with a checked headscarf are Yao. The Black Hmong are thought to have immigrated to Northern Vietnam from China in the late 18th century and are descendants of the Miao people. See a video about Black Hmong in Sapa.
Picture by Lon&Queta
Hmong woman with plow and water buffalo; between Ta Van and Sapa
This blog recommends the following tours from Sapa:
Bac Ha Market, every Sunday: This market attracts villagers from the surrounding hill tribes as H’mong, Red Dao and Ha Nhi. Read more and see pictures: Bac Ha Market: The colours of life
Can Cau Market, every Saturday: The meeting point of the hilltribe people. It’s 20 km north of Bac Ha and just 9 km south of the Chinese border. Can Cau attracts a large number of Chinese traders, dog trade is booming here. Read more on bachatour.com
Coc Ly Market, every Tuesday: About 35km from Bac Ha. The drive from Sapa takes around 2 1/2 hours. At the market you find Flower Hmong, Phu La and Dao Tuyen people. You can get here via a fairly good road or by road and river
Muong Hum Market, every Sunday: From Sapa you drive takes around three hours. The market is frequented by Tu Di, Dao Tuyen, H’Nhi, Flower Hmong and Giay people. You can also visit a H’Nhi village.
Mountain Biking to Red Dao Village and Topas Ecolodge: You head out from Sapa by cycling downhill into Muong Hoa and then Ban Ho valleys. The ride offers beautiful views. At the lodge you will have lunch in the Tay stilt restaurant. After lunch you walk to Topas Ecolodge, from where you enjoy breathtaking views across the valleys below, which are home to villages of Tay, Red Dao and Xa Pho minorities. Later you will cycle over to the nearby Red Dao village of Lech. After visiting the village you cycle back to the lodge from where you will return to Sapa by car. Approx: 2 hours driving/ 4 hours cycling/ 1 hour walking.
Ham Rong Mountain: You follow the road by the church in the center of Sapa Town to the end and take the left turn, then continue hiking up the gradient leading to Ham Rong Mountain. Up there you find the San May (Cloud Yard) to enjoy the panorama
of Sapa Town. But you discover as well orchid gardens with colorful flowers. Ham
Rong Mountain also has numerous caves and stones in extraordinary shapes. It may take you from 1 to 2 hours to go up to the top and return. If you start in the early morning you will see a traditional performance of ethnic music. It usually starts at 10 am.
Ta Van Village: It is located at an altitude of 1816 meters in the valley of Muong Hoa. Ta van is a village of Giay people, who look more like the traditional Viet living the Red delta, and Black Hmong. To get here from Sapa hire a car or motorbike for the 9km road down to the Hmong village of Lao Chai. It’s a nice ride with great views of the rice terraces.
Picture by marhas
Shortly after Sapa the Muong Hoa Valley comes into your view - with Lao Chai in the background
From Lao Chai you follow the valley to Ta Van. You will walk through terraced rice fields and among picturesque villages and experience the rural life of Hmong an Dao people. In Ta Van you gan get a home stay with a family of Giay people, sharing dinner with them (see picture by Shona McCallum), read homestay experience by Elandri. See also the description of the hike from Sapa to Ta Van by planetcraig.id.au and by MsTamHo. And read more on life in Ta Van Village. Teacher Elandri about English teaching in Ta Van.
Long Tong Festival in Sapa: Early in spring, often from the 5th to the 15th day of the first lunar month. During this festival the Tay people and other ethnic groups worship Village gods, Mountain and Stream gods. Cult of fecundity. You can see xoe dancing.
Salt (muoi), roasted fish (cha ca), chicken (ga), beans (dau) or leather (da), baskets (bo) and bamboo (tre) or herbal medicine (thuoc bac): Whatever people used for daily life has it's own street name in the old town of Hanoi. The development of the old quarter started in the 11th century, when King Ly Thai built his palace. Craftsmen and their families settled in small villages around the palace walls. Later artisan guilds were formed. This was the birth of streets specialised in similar services. Today many guides write about "36 old streets", but actually there are around 70 streets in the old quarter. Some researchers believe that there were 36 guilds in the 15th century (read more in an article by Barbara Cohen).
What can we discover in the old quarter today? Frommer's has published a nice walking tour and we follow their route and start at the north end of Hoan Kiem Lake (Lake of the returned sword).
Den Ngoc Son (Jade mountain temple): On an island in Hoan Kiem Lake, built in the 18th century. From the shore we reach the pagooda through this gate:
Hang Gai (Hemp street): Today you won't find hemp shops but boutiques, art galleries and silk tailors - and an old Banyan tree at 85 Hang Gai. There is a concentration of galleries near the intersection of Hang Gai and To Tich street (Thang Long Art Gallery and Dragon Art Gallery). Read more about shops along Hang Gai.
Tan My Design is a small new shopping emporium selling local Vietnamese design as Chartage, Ha Truong, Minh Hanh, Ha Linh Thu, Huy Vo, Casa d'Oriental and Grace as well as brands from abroad.
Tam Thuong Alley: Turn right from Hang Gai. Just some steps inside you discover Din Yen Thai Communal House. Read more about the Tam Thuong community. Here there used to be a palace of Y Lan, one of the most inspiring and captivating female figures in Vietnamese history (more here).
Hang Da Market (Leather Market): Here you used to find an old market from the 19th century with meat, vegetables, fruits and pottery on the ground floor, clothes and fabrics on the upper floors. See picture by Ariel Seche and Erin Armstrong. But now this building has been demolished and the construction of a new shopping complex is planned. Read "The Last day of Hang Da Market". See Mariel Bautista's photos of the old market. And read the blog of Vietnamese God about the transformation of shopping in Hanoi from old to new.
Thuoc Bac Street (Herbal Medicine Street): This used to be the place for traditionel medicine. Thuoc Bac is the traditional Northern Medicine, also called Chinese traditional medicine. Read a background story by Lena Lopez. Today metallic stuff dominates the street. See street-picture by Williewonker
Hang Phen Street (Alum Street): See picture by Willie Wonker. At 25 Hang Phen you find Mr Lee's Style Shop, one of some clothing boutiques in this area. Also Bat Su has.
Bat Su Street (China Bowls Street): About the Café on 61 Bat Su writes Motormouth from Ipoh. "Look for a preserved traditional house, characterized by its low tile roofline, at no. 52 Bat Su", advises frommers.com
Cua Dong Street: It leads you to Hanoi Citadel, the former residence of Vietnam monarchs. The Ly Dinasty constructed it in 1010 (read about the history on the World Heritage site of Unesco and Jennifer Pinkowski's article in the New York Times). The Roayal Palaces and other buildings have been destroyed by the Frech in the 19th century. Some buildings remained: Doan Mon gate, the Watchtower, the steps of Kinh Thien Palace and Hau Lau (Princess Palace). The Vietnamese military command under General Giap had its headquarters in the citadel (building D67). See pictures by ngocpq
Hang Buom (Sail street): The people living here made and sold sails, because there were water channels between the Red River and the To River. Later Hang Buom became the commercial and residential center of Chinese merchants. Look at the colonial buildings and traditional Vietnamese houses.
Den Bach Ma (The White Horse Temple) dates from 1010. What you see today is a reconstruction from the 18th and 19th centuries. Read the story of the White Horse on orientalarchitecture.com. Open from 7:30 to 11:30 am and 1:30 to 6 pm daily.
Ma May: At 87 Ma May you find a restored traditional house from the late 19th century. Here, for a fee of just 20,000 VND, a young guide dressed in a traditional ao dai will show you the building and tell you about the life in the past. The renovation has been funded by a UNESCO-, French- and Canadian-backed organization. 87 Ma May is a typical "tube house": These houses "can be as long as 70 meters and as narrow as two meters - this developed as an attempt to minimize taxes, as each property was taxed according to the width of the street-facing facade. To allow for sufficient light in these narrow dwellings, it was necessary to design multiple courtyards along the length of each house.", notes orientalarchitecture.com
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Picture by felixtriller
Picture by sega128
Picture by n robynejay
Picture by marhas
Picture by marhas
Picture by marhas
Joss-sticks at Ngoc Son Pagoda, picture 
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Wood is under the red painting, picture © 
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Picture © 
Ngon Soc Pagoda, picture 
Tan My Design, picture 
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Hang Gai, picture 
Silk, picture 
Banyan Tree, picture 
Flags during Tet in Tam Thuong, picture 
Ceremonial room in Yen Thai Temple, picture 
Yen Thai, picture 
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View from Ladybird Restaurant at 57 Hang Buom, picture 
Den Bach Ma, picture 
Inside Den Bach Ma, picture 
87 Ma May, picture 
View of the middle room from the veranda, picture 
View across the outermost courtyard, picture 
The rear patio, picture 
On the bed, picture 
Ma May, picture 
22 Ma May, picture 
