Is Mass Tourism Ruining Sa Pa, Vietnam? | Infinity & Abroad on WordPress.com
By: Infinity
Tags: Travel, Vietnam, Southeast Asia, Backpacking

Is Mass Tourism Ruining Sa Pa, Vietnam? | Infinity & Abroad on WordPress.com

The night bus arrived in Sa Pa at 5am after hours of driving through a thick, dreamy fog. The driver loudly announced our arrival and, blearily, we all rubbed our eyes and exited the bus. We were immediately accosted by a small crowd of taxi and motorbike drivers who began yelling prices and asking where we were each going, blocking the way to the bags and luggage. Too early for this, I thought.

I tuned out the price shouting for a moment as I strapped on my backpack and looked around, trying to gather my thoughts. Blinking neon signs and shiny billboards advertising hostel vacancies, trekking tours and “western food” surrounded us. Dingy, slab-like concrete hotels that looked like they had been built overnight towered above us. The touts were awake early and ready to make a sale.

Was this the same Sa Pa I had read so much about? The serene landscape of rice paddies, mountains and villages?

Intro to Sapa

I didn’t know much about Sa Pa until I hit the road and started talking to other travelers, but Sa Pa was on just about everyone’s list. The photos alone were very alluring.

Yeah, like this one

I fantasized about bright green, towering rice paddy terraces, motorcycling on dirt roads along the deeply-sloped mountains completely alone, and spotting tiny villages from high viewpoints. Tranquility and clean air after dirty hustle-bustle of Hanoi.

And apparently so have over a million other travelers.

Over Development

This is what I found instead…

While villages outside of Sa Pa proper are still pastoral and traditional, Sa Pa is not the idyllic, sleepy hill town it’s still believed to be. Its remoteness may have protected it for a long time, but Sa Pa has exploded in popularity in recent years among travelers and that has led to a huge boom in development. Think towering 5-star hotels hogging the best views of Muong Hoa Valley, westerner-catering restaurants, tour agencies, souvenir shops, ticket fees to visit sites that were free a couple years ago, etc.

Taller and taller buildings are being constructed with no regard to the visual impact on the town. I saw construction sites everywhere and couldn’t ignore the noise pollution.

“You buy something from me?” are frequent words you’ll hear from touts. Hmong women will come in on trucks or buses from the hill villages to try make a sale in the town. While being constantly hassled and followed is no fun, I can’t help but be sympathetic since many are simply trying to make a living in Sa Pa’s growing market of tourism. Buy something from an adult if you like, but if you buy trinkets from local children, you’ll be doing them a disservice since many come from villages to sell goods to visitors instead of attending school. And they may not even see the benefit of that money. As you can see below, they’re really cute (and persistent), but hold your ground (and your wallet).

Sa Pa has become so popular among travelers, that, according to the Lao Cai province’s government, nearly a million people visited Sapa alone in 2016. Meanwhile, only 60,000 residents live there. Some travelers have returned to Sa Pa to find it’s changing dramatically.

Mass tourism can have negative effects on the quality of life of a place, especially when the local government isn’t equipped to deal with it. But I can’t bring myself to criticize the town for changing when we as travelers have driven the commercialization of the region.

So, Should You Still Go to Sa Pa?

You can still have an amazing time in Sa Pa, but if you are looking to go trekking or see the rice paddy terraces, your best bet is to find a homestay outside of town. The town of Sa Pa isn’t a bad place to crash for a night if you need to get your bearings, but after that, explore beyond and see what the north has to offer.

Forgo the tour agencies and go with local guides from the villages. Travelers are drawn from all over the world to Sa Pa’s verdant landscape and rural villages of ethnic minorities. I personally feel a little funny about traveling somewhere to observe people of different ethnic minority groups, but if you do go to Sa Pa for a village trek (or just a nature trek), put your money directly into the hands of those local, ethnic guides. They’re essentially showing you their backyard and will only see a tiny fraction of the money if you pay a trekking agency in Sa Pa town or Hanoi.

The treks and homestays are a good source of income for these villagers who may have less access to Vietnam’s larger economy. Paying a tour company directly may make things easier for your trip, but paying the local villagers directly can make a big difference in their lives.

The wave of tourism to Sa Pa doesn’t seem to be slowing down, and, unfortunately, the town of Sa Pa may have given up its rural, peaceful charm to become a tourist trap in the near future. Still, the nature of the Lào Cai region is breathtaking.

If you’re now looking for an alternative to Sa Pa, Mù Cang Chải and Lai Châu are both stunning, less-traveled options with rice paddy terraces. But if you’re set on Sa Pa, do a trek of Muong Hoa Valley and head out to nearby villages like Ta Van. Tourism or not, the north is still beautiful.