Shopping in Sapa
Traveling to Sapa, you will be amazed not only by the beauty of the natural landscapes or the yellow terraced rice fields but also by the weekend market gathering with thousands of different kinds of goods from Gold, Silver, art woods to the beautiful brocades.
Before you decide to buy anything, please read these tips first. They are very useful tips provided by a lot of experienced travelers who have come to Sapa:
You should not buy restorative, Lingzhi (Ganoderma Lucidum) and False Gingseng along the way to Hàm Rồng Mountain since they are all originated from China and even the sellers do not know well about what they are going to sell.
You can buy souvenirs in the night market near the Sapa Stone Church but remember to bargain smartly to get reasonable price.
Bottles of water, beers and cigarettes in Sapa are far more expensive than in Hanoi.
Now for the question about what to buy in Sapa, here are some suggestions:
Đào “rọ” (Basket Peach): This is a very famous kind of specialties in Sapa that tourists usually buy as a gift for its light sour and refreshing sweet tastes. Beside the markets in Sapa, you can also buy this from hawkers on the streets, along the pavements in the town or on the way from Sapa to Lào Cai. You should also buy a basket to carry the peaches instead of using plastic bags since the peaches can be easily crushed.
Brocade: You should choose decorating brocades or cloth with brocade textures like bag, scarfs, bag-packs skirts, shirts and blanket. There are some very good stores on the Cầu Mây Street that sell brocades such as Mrs. Nguyễn Lăng Vân’s, Hue Silk, Sapa Brocade Store or Sapa Orchid Brocade Store. At a small corner on the second floor of the Sapa market, brocades are also sold with different textures that represent Mông’s ethic culture.
Souvenirs: You can buy some accessories made of gold, silver or arts and crafts from shops on Cầu Mây Street, Mường Hoa and Fansipan at Viet Silver, Mường Hoa Shop, Sapa Silver or Woodcarving Shop.
Vietnamese traditional medicine: Apart from liquorice, lotus seed, False Gingseng and other kinds of tonics, camellia, honey and Lingzhi can also be bought in Sapa oriental medicine stores.
Here are some shop addresses in Sapa
Forest Orchid Shop
Address: Cầu Mây Street, Sapa town, Lào Cai
Tel: (+84) 203 871 665
Lương Thủy Shop
Address: #25 Cầu Mây Street, Sapa town, Lào Cai
Tel: (+84) 203 871 446
Khánh Huyền Shop
Address: #17 Cầu Mây Street, Sapa town, Lào Cai
Tel: (+84) 977 943 63
Phố Núi Shop
Address: #13 Cầu Mây Street, Sapa town, Lào Cai
Tel: (+84) 203 871 712
Mường Hoa Shop
Address: #25 Mường Hoa Street, Sapa town, Lào Cai
Viet Silver
Address: #34 Fansipan Street, Sapa town, Lào Cai
Sapa Shop
Address: #48 Cầu Mây Street, Sapa town, Lào Cai
Tel: (+84) 203 871 439
Indigo Cat
This is a Hmong-owned handicrafts shop offering wonderful choices of interesting local crafts
Address: #46 Fansipan Street, Sapa town, Lào Cai
Tel: (+84) 982 403 647
Website: http://indigocat.asia
Opening hours: 9:00 am to 7:00 pm
Hemp and Embroidery
A super-friendly arts and crafts shop owned by a charming Hmong lady, selling gorgeous textiles made in Sapa.
Address: #14 Mường Hoa Street, Sapa town, Lào Cai
Tel: (+84) 165 552 3850
Website: http://www.facebook.com/hempandembroidery
Opening hours: 9:00 am to 8:00 pm
Sadly, until this very moment, I have never come to Sapa. However, it always attract me through stunning images of high mountains and its beauty sites. This summer, I consider going to there for holiday and hopefully, I will have a blast and go home with a lot of souvenirs for my family and my friends.
Sapa tours are one of the most fantastic things to do when coming to Vietnam, something can leave tourists
peace in the soul, deep impressions, and unforgettable memories.” – that’s
what most of the tourists who have just come back from a trip to Vietnam said.
Even though Halong Bay, Nha Trang or Hoi An are the most tourist attractions of Vietnam which have brought
thousands of tourists to Vietnam each year, there’s a destination that’s known as the paradise for bikers and especially trekkers,
that’s Sapa.
You can easily fall in love with the friendliness of the ethnic people if experiencing
the homestay Sapa tours, can feel the warmth
right in the middle of this cold region if seeing the lovely smile of the children as well as the women here, their smile always
brightens up all the mist-wrapped scenery here. If there’s any chance, you can try
experiencing their daily works as real farmers of Sapa.
It’ll be very hard but relaxing, which can help you forget
all the worry that you still keep in mind before starting this trip, help you know that the people in Sapa are very optimistic even though they have to work a
lot and save every penny.
Thanks to those experiences, Sapa tours are no more just a trip to a mountainous region but also a journey full of memories and lessons that you can learn from the lovely locals.
For any time in a year, making the Sapa tours in Vietnam
will leave you a deep impression and wonderful experience.
But to most of tourists who used to been in the Sapa trekking tours, they all say that the best Sapa tours Vietnam is a tour which is made in September to October,
which means in the Autumn of this land, when Sapa is covered with stunning golden terraced fields which looks like a magical yellow ribbon of the Mother Earth.