Located in the northwest of Vietnam, Sapa (Lao Cai province) hides many wonderful scenes of nature and human beings. The town in clouds attracts tourists with spectacular mountain views and lots of unique experience to discover the life of ethnic minorities. In the journey to Hanoi, a visit to Sapa will be an unforgettable experience for tourists. And, situated in the heart of Sapa town, there is a nearly 2000m high mountain including many undulating ranges of rocks with many different forms. That is Ham Rong Mountain, a great place for tourists to visit while traveling to Sapa.
Standing on the top of Ham Rong Mountain, visitors can enjoy a panoramic view of Sapa, Muong Hoa Valley, Sapa village, and Ta Phin village hidden in smog. Currently, embellished with the hands of man, Ham Rong is indeed a fascinating landscape of Sapa. Come to Ham Rong, tourists can feel like getting lost in the gardens, clouds, and brilliant flowers on the ground. From a far distance, the mountain is like a giant dragon bending, lying towards the west of Hoang Lien Son mountain range. The top of the mountain is arranged by Mother Nature from the lifeless rocks, but it creates an intentional image. People here call this peak of the mountain as Dau Rong because it looks like a dragon head flying toward the sky when seeing from a far distance. There are many variants about the legend of Ham Rong Mountain, but in general, these legends refer to feelings of warm love and loyalty of dragons.
Along with the advantage of the spectacular and mysterious scenery, Ham Rong Mountain also has unique vegetation. To reach the peak of Dau Rong Mountain, visitors must climb through many stone steps, through orchid gardens, Sapa flower garden, May courtyard, Cong Troi (the gate of heaven).
At orchid gardens, visitors can enjoy an overview of Sapa ancient church – a symbol of tourism in Sapa, a place associated with Sapa right from the early days explored. With more than 6,000 baskets of about 200 species of orchids including endemic species of orchid. Two orchid gardens are a miniature world of various kinds of orchids on Hoang Lien Son range, especially for orchid lovers. Sapa flower garden is a place where visitors have the opportunity to admire the unique plants: the hydrangea flower with a diameter up to 30cm, the great red dahlia flowers, the colorful peony, and hundreds of cherry blossoms brought from Japan.
Walking away from gardens, visitors continue going to the gate of heaven. Tracing along the path, tourists can see the vast blue sky in the front and the white clouds hanging around the tottering stone steps under their feet. Then, when arriving and standing on the rocks, tourists can have a sense that they are flying and looking down the city in mist. Before coming to the gate of heaven, Tam Mon cave is also a leisure destination that many people remember forever. The cave is just enough for one person to go inside. One side is two cliffs with stone steps and the other side is an immense sky. Go to the heaven gate, visitors will not only enjoy the unique scenery but also enjoy the fresh air, relax, and get involved in nature of Sapa. Going down from heaven gate, you can come in May courtyard. At an altitude of 1,800 m, guests can overlook to see the scene of Sapa valley hidden in the white clouds floating in the wind. This is a romantic place for tourists to be able to record beautiful images of Sapa.
During the road along the trip, visitors will frequently encounter the giggles, the baskets of Yao girls gathering medicinal leaves in the forests, and brocade dresses of Hmong young women.
In the floating clouds, Sapa town is like a city in mist drawing a wonderful picture. In the cool fresh air and diverse nuances of Sapa, standing on Ham Rong Mountain to see a panoramic view of “City in the mist” will be an unforgettable experience contributing to your list of meaningful memories.
