Things To Do in Sapa

The town itself is the attraction here. Cau May Street, the main drag, and the central market area (all very close together) are, on any given day, teeming with hilltribe folks in their spangled finest, putting on and practicing the hard sell with some great weaving, fine silver work, and interesting trinkets like mouth harps and flutes. Especially on the weekend, it can be quite a scene. The small alleys and streets of the town are extremely wanderable, and a short walk in any direction offers great views.

The streets of Sapa are lined with small, local boutiques, and more are setting up each day. But the real shopping and good bargains come from roving groups of ethnic hilltribe ladies, many just young girls, who are sure to find you -- some are true polyglots and masters of the hard sell. The best boutique in town is Indigo (12 Duong Muong Hoa; tel. 020/387-2568; daily 7am-9pm.), a store run by Tanh, a local Hmoung minority, and her Japanese expat husband (they met and fell in love while he was visiting to look into the textile industry). Indigo offers simple, modern takes on traditional ethnic clothing. Most pieces are solid-colored cotton or linen, and dyed using natural vegetable dyes. Unlike many pieces sold at markets or by street sellers, Indigo's pieces are properly dyed to ensure colors won't run when thrown in the washing machine. The boutique is a fair trade company that orders fabric and various motifs from local villages, and employs local disadvantaged workers (deaf-mute graduates of the Hoa Sua school in Hanoi) to sew and embroider their clothing and wares. The Indigo line is also sold at the Victoria Sapa Hotel gift shop.