Vietnam represents a popular holiday destination for residents of Hong Kong (China) as it is not far away, with Hanoi being only a two-hour flight from Hong Kong International Airport.
Situated 1,600 metres (one mile) above sea level in Lao Cai province in northern Vietnam, Sa Pa had always been difficult to get to for most, other than for the ethnic minority tribes that built rice terraces into its hillsides, author Erika Na wrote.
After the Hanoi-Lao Cai Expressway opened in 2014, downtown Sa Pa began to grow and is today a vibrant place full of guest houses, hotels, and businesses that cater to international tourists.
While a few of the ethnic-minority villages in the nearby valleys are known to be over-commercialised, others such as Lao Chai and Ta Phin remain more traditional, SCMP noted.
Foreign media outlet also shared that instead of swiping left and right on dating apps, locals gather at a square in Sa Pa every Saturday evening for the weekly “love market”. Through musical performances and games, young men and women have opportunities to get to know each other better, the goal being to find their life partners.
In little more than 100 years, the once inaccessible highlands, with their scattered settlements, have turned into a destination for tourists who come to immerse themselves in a more traditional way of life and to set foot on the roof of Indochina.
The opening of the railway from Hanoi in 1905 and of the expressway in 2014 were watershed moments in the growth of tourism in Sa Pa. A planned airport nearby will be another.
It makes visitors today wonder how the mist-shrouded town will look on their next visit, the article concluded.
