If you are a person who likes to experience, likes to travel "Western backpacker", and wants to be away from the busy center with few people, Ta Phin village is a place worth choosing when visiting Sapa.
Where is Ta Phin village?
Easygo - Ta Phin village is about 15km from Sapa town. The road to Ta Phin village is very difficult, you must drive well to be able to go. The road is all steep pass, small enough for only 1 car to pass, big rocks are scattered on the road.
Coming here, you will discover a very different feature compared to the bustling, noisy and bustling Sapa. It is a Ta Phin village imbued with national identity, still retaining its rustic and wild beauty
How to go to Ta Phin village
From the center of Sapa, you will find the way to Highway 4D, about 5km to the left turn, leading to the ticket gate to visit Ta Phin village. Going about 7km further is to the beginning of Ta Phin village, a lot of Red Dao women gather in this central area, so it's not difficult for you to recognize.
From here, if you want to explore Ta Phin village more deeply, you can ask and follow the Red Dao women to visit their homes and experience life here.
Discover the unique features in Ta Phin village
Ta Phin village is home to mainly H'mong and Red Dao people. The people here are very hospitable, they often give a friendly smile every time a tourist stops by.
Unique costumes of the Red Dao people
The traditional costume of the Red Dao people looks rudimentary but is extremely sophisticated.
According to the villagers, it is more difficult for them to learn to sew than to learn to read. Here, children about 7-8 years old have started to learn to sew. They began to learn to embroider from the double sleeves on the back, and when they got many pieces, they made a shirt. To complete a shirt will take about 4 months if diligently embroidering. A Red Dao woman will have about 2-3 sets of clothes. The price of a set of traditional clothes is 6-8 million VND/set.
On normal days, they still wear traditional clothes to preserve the traditional beauty. The clothes of the Red Dao people are dyed with Melaleuca tree, many kinds of dyes take 20-25 days to become black and then dyed with brown roots.
Bathing with medicinal leaves of the Red Dao people
After a hard day to reach Ta Phin village, taking a bath with the medicinal leaves of the Red Dao people will help you dispel all your fatigue.
The price of bathing with medicinal leaves of the Red Dao people here is 130k/barrel.
Benefits when bathing with medicinal leaves of the Red Dao
- Helps the body circulate blood, relieve pain, restore physical strength, detoxify, avoid some joint pain, high blood pressure, rheumatism.
- For women, bath water will help nourish the skin, beautify the skin, keep the skin moist, regenerate and improve the skin from deep within. Especially for women after giving birth, this bathwater also works to strengthen the body's immune system and prevent postpartum infections.
Some notes when bathing with this medicinal leaf:
- Do not take a bath when you are too full or too hungry, you will easily get drunk.
- Do not rinse with cold water after getting out of the tub, just wipe it with a clean towel.
To have such a pot of medicine, the Red Dao people have to go to the forest to search hard and arduously. They have to walk 6-7 km/day in the forest to bring back the leaves to make medicine.
Some attractions for young people when coming to Ta Phin village
Picking fresh strawberries and artichokes from the garden
If you come in November, you will be able to come in and pick the ripe red strawberries yourself. The price of strawberries here ranges from 150k to 250k/1kg, which you can enjoy in the garden or buy as gifts for relatives and friends.
From May to July every year is the artichoke season in Ta Phin village in Sapa. You will be spoiled for virtual living with a unique and strange background here.
Check-in with the abandoned ancient monastery
For more than half a century, this place has been abandoned, but it is very attractive to tourists stopping to explore and admire the beauty of French architecture. The quiet space and ancient lines have created a classic scene that attracts a large number of young people to visit and take pictures.
Some other tourist attractions around Ta Phin village
Lao Chai village
Located about 7km from Sapa town. Lao Chai village is similar to Ta Van village, where it still retains the wild character and traditional cultural beauty inherent.
Sin Chai village
About 5km from Sapa town, adjacent to Cat Cat village - this is a famous tourist destination in Sapa, but Sin Chai village without many tourists here is still wild and does not have many services.
Ta Van village
Next to Muong Hoa stream is Ta Van village where Giay and the Hmong people live together. This is one of the best places to see the difference in their life and culture.
Y Linh Ho
Located about 7km southwest of Sapa town, next to Muong Hoa stream. Y Linh Ho is a commune consisting of many small residential hamlets scattered on very harsh mountainous terrain with high and steep mountain ranges.
Only a few hundred Hmong people come to live in this commune. They build rudimentary houses with soil or bamboo to live in and they grow maize and upland rice on steep hillsides. The only way to reach the commune is on foot from the main road. You will experience interesting things when coming here.
Simple but rustic villages imbued with cultural identity will leave you with deep impressions. So what are you waiting for, try once to set foot in Ta Phin village to feel and enjoy this beautiful and peaceful land?
