Sapa - Cat Cat Village - Xin Chai - O Quy Ho - Som Tam - Sapa (Vietnam)
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 12.57 mi
- Elevation gain
- 2,096 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 2,096 ft
- Max elevation
- 5,476 ft
- TrailRank
-
55
5
- Min elevation
- 3,749 ft
- Trail type
- Loop
- Time
- 7 hours 7 minutes
- Coordinates
- 5606
- Uploaded
- July 29, 2022
- Recorded
- July 2022
near Xóm Ba A, Lào Cai (Vietnam)
Viewed 1773 times, downloaded 131 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
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+ Route data marked by Garmin GPS: 19.70 Km / Accumulated positive elevation gain: 628 meters. / Accumulated negative slope: 593 meters.
+ Degree of difficulty according to IBP Index for an average physical condition: 79 HKG (Hard).
+ Route itinerary: Sapa > Cat Cat Village > Xin Chai > O Quy Ho > Som Tam > Sapa.
+ Notes: This is a circular route starting and ending in Sapa. The first point of interest you pass is Cat Cat Village. It is not a real town where people live, but a complex of houses, some (not many) recreating the traditional architecture of the area, mostly made up of an endless succession of souvenir shops dotted with some viewpoint to the valley where They have built swings and other structures such as giant hearts and nests where Vietnamese tourists like to take photos dressed in fancy "traditional costumes" that can be rented on the spot. The entrance to the enclosure is paid and, from my point of view, it is a more than expendable place.
Leaving through the lower exit of Cat Cat, you can return to Sapa by walking up the road or in one of the many moto-taxi that are offered to make the journey.
In the case of this route, take the road in the opposite direction to Sapa going to the town of Xin Chai. The road to the town is pleasant, without accumulations of people and in absolute tranquility. You can enjoy beautiful views of the valley and the mountains along with herds of water buffalo. Once in Xin Chai you can refuel with water or another drink in one of the shops in town. Then we continue towards the small town, attached to the previous one, called O Quy Ho, also with a native Hmong population. The path follows an interesting trail through houses and alongside rice fields. Once the nucleus of houses is finished, you reach the road again from which you can go backwards, returning from there to Sapa or, as in the case described by the track of this route, continue forward. At this point, a gradual ascent of several kilometers begins along a small road with very little traffic, from which you can see beautiful views of the valley and the top of Mount Fansipan, the highest mountain in the Indochina region at 3,142 meters. . and whose summit can be accessed by cable car from Sapa. This road leads to the town of Som Tam located on the margins of the main road QL-40. At this point you can walk to the left passing several waterfalls and visit the "Silver waterfall" (4.7 km) and, further on, the Tram Ton pass (8.1 km from Som Tam). In our case, due to lack of time, we chose to continue to the right along the road towards Sapa. About 3.5 km. there is a large roundabout from where you can take a much quieter secondary road, which leads to the center of Sapa passing by different tourist centers.
It should be noted that this last section of the route, the one that goes from Som Tam to Sapa, is not of much interest since it runs entirely along a busy road without many views and towns with little charm, including Som Tam. Therefore, another option to walking back to Sapa is to take a taxi or other public transport.
It is an easy route, without any technical difficulty. Only take into account the kilometric distance in the event that it is done on foot in its entirety and the weather, which can be a bit overwhelming due to the heat and humidity depending on the time of year. As I have already indicated above, the positive slope of the ascent is done comfortably and gradually. You have to be careful with the traffic when walking on the QL-40 road, with little or no hard shoulder, on the way back to Sapa.
+ Degree of difficulty according to IBP Index for an average physical condition: 79 HKG (Hard).
+ Route itinerary: Sapa > Cat Cat Village > Xin Chai > O Quy Ho > Som Tam > Sapa.
+ Notes: This is a circular route starting and ending in Sapa. The first point of interest you pass is Cat Cat Village. It is not a real town where people live, but a complex of houses, some (not many) recreating the traditional architecture of the area, mostly made up of an endless succession of souvenir shops dotted with some viewpoint to the valley where They have built swings and other structures such as giant hearts and nests where Vietnamese tourists like to take photos dressed in fancy "traditional costumes" that can be rented on the spot. The entrance to the enclosure is paid and, from my point of view, it is a more than expendable place.
Leaving through the lower exit of Cat Cat, you can return to Sapa by walking up the road or in one of the many moto-taxi that are offered to make the journey.
In the case of this route, take the road in the opposite direction to Sapa going to the town of Xin Chai. The road to the town is pleasant, without accumulations of people and in absolute tranquility. You can enjoy beautiful views of the valley and the mountains along with herds of water buffalo. Once in Xin Chai you can refuel with water or another drink in one of the shops in town. Then we continue towards the small town, attached to the previous one, called O Quy Ho, also with a native Hmong population. The path follows an interesting trail through houses and alongside rice fields. Once the nucleus of houses is finished, you reach the road again from which you can go backwards, returning from there to Sapa or, as in the case described by the track of this route, continue forward. At this point, a gradual ascent of several kilometers begins along a small road with very little traffic, from which you can see beautiful views of the valley and the top of Mount Fansipan, the highest mountain in the Indochina region at 3,142 meters. . and whose summit can be accessed by cable car from Sapa. This road leads to the town of Som Tam located on the margins of the main road QL-40. At this point you can walk to the left passing several waterfalls and visit the "Silver waterfall" (4.7 km) and, further on, the Tram Ton pass (8.1 km from Som Tam). In our case, due to lack of time, we chose to continue to the right along the road towards Sapa. About 3.5 km. there is a large roundabout from where you can take a much quieter secondary road, which leads to the center of Sapa passing by different tourist centers.
It should be noted that this last section of the route, the one that goes from Som Tam to Sapa, is not of much interest since it runs entirely along a busy road without many views and towns with little charm, including Som Tam. Therefore, another option to walking back to Sapa is to take a taxi or other public transport.
It is an easy route, without any technical difficulty. Only take into account the kilometric distance in the event that it is done on foot in its entirety and the weather, which can be a bit overwhelming due to the heat and humidity depending on the time of year. As I have already indicated above, the positive slope of the ascent is done comfortably and gradually. You have to be careful with the traffic when walking on the QL-40 road, with little or no hard shoulder, on the way back to Sapa.
Waypoints
Intersection
5,564 ft
continuar por la carretera hacia la derecha
Intersection
4,616 ft
continuar recto
If you want to return to Sa Pa from this point, take the road to the right
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Waypoint
4,580 ft
Escuela
Intersection
4,185 ft
Continuar por la carretera a la izquierda para ir a Xin Chai
Si se desea regresar a Sa Pa, tomar carretera hacia la derecha
Waypoint
4,079 ft
Salida de Cat Cat Village
Waypoint
4,093 ft
Puente
Waypoint
3,971 ft
Puente sobre el río
Waypoint
4,353 ft
Entrada a Cat Cat Village
Comments (6)
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Hola Juantze!!
Muchas gracias por la ruta.
Voy a Vietnam este verano con mi novia y vamos a hacer el trekking por nuestra cuenta. Una pregunta, ¿por qué decidiste hacer este trekking en vez de ir a Lao chai, es decir hacia el otro lado desde Sapa.
Estamos dudando entre ir hacía Lao Chai o hacía O Quy Ho. Creo que la zona de Lao Chai está más masificada no?
Tu que me recomendarías?
Gracias de antemano
Hola Andrés! andresrod90
También hice la ruta a Lao Chai. La puedes ver aquí: https://es.wikiloc.com/rutas-senderismo/sapa-ta-van-day-109026789
Si sólo disponéis de un día para hacer trekking, os recomiendo que vayáis a Lao Chai. Es más interesante. Sí es cierto que es una ruta más turística, pero tampoco me pareció masificada. Eso sí, en Sapa tendréis que lidiar con las mujeres Hmong que esperan a los turistas en la salida del pueblo para hacerte de guía quieras o no. En realidad, si tomas determinación y eres paciente puede ser que te acaben dejando en paz y podáis hacer el camino solos. Si finalmente os acaban acompañando, normalmente sólo hasta Linh Ho, y hablan un poco de inglés, también es una buena oportunidad para conocer algo más de su cultura y aportar algo a su economía familiar. Si necesitas saber algo más, me dices.
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Scenery
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Kaixo, 2 chicas de 27 años por aqui!
Hoy hemos hecho esta ruta! Muchas gracias Juantze! Muy bonita, si estas acostumbrado a hacer deporte al calor, una gozada, nosotras hemos disfrutado. Primero a pagar para entrar a Cat Cat, bonito pero turístico y con poca intencion de hacer senderismo. Pero una vez pasado el pueblo y sacado las fotos empieza el camino por arrozales y casas y chabolas de locales muy amables que saludaban al pasar! Desnivel positivo progresibo y llevadero, sin ruido de trafico, de coches pitando ni bullicio de ciudad. Simplemente ruidos de los animales y locales trabajando en sus campos que nos acompañaban mientras disfrutabamos de las vistas. Muy recomendable, dejaros de coger guias para hacer rutas de 6 km basicos.
Del Km 13 en adelante es todo carretera y no muy bonito, pero cuesta abajo se hace rapidito.
Kaixo Lidetxu!! Me alegro mucho de que os haya gustado la ruta. A mi me fusto mucho la tranquilidad que había después de pasado Cat Cat. Es una zona muy chula. Otra ruta que hice fue hasta Lao Chai y Ta van, que es a la que va más gente, aunque también merece la pena. Me hubiera gustado pasar más tiempo en la zona haciendo otras rutas, pero ya no me quedó tiempo.
Gracias por vuestra valoración y qué tengáis muy buen viaje.
Hola Juantze. Pensamos hacer este recorrido en Julio. Esta ruta pasa por el bosque de bambú. Gracias y enhorabuena
Hola José Miguel. Disculpa por tardar tanto en contestarte. Yo no estuve en el bosque de bambú, pero hasta donde yo sé, está en dirección contraria. Hacia el pueblo de Ta Van, cerca de Lao Chai. Por si acaso, llevaros buen calzado y algo de ropa para la lluvia. Qué disfrutéis mucho del viaje.