Tinh Lao Cai Holiday Weather today

Date/time of update: December 22, 2024, 2:34 am, Timezone: GMT+7
Broken Clouds

Temperature: 10.61°C
Temperature feels like: 9.45°C
Minimum Temperature: 10.61°C
Maximum Temperature: 10.61°C
Atmospheric pressure: 1021hPa
Humidity:66%
Visibility: 10000m
Wind speed: 1.51m/sec
Wind Direction: 82 degrees
Cloudiness: 83%
Sunrise: 2024-12-21 11:39:38
Sunset: 2024-12-22 10:25:30

Lao Cai Province of Vietnam is located in the north-western region of the country. Lao Cai shares border with China to the north, with Ha Giang to the east, with Yen Bai to the southeast and south, and with Lai Chau to the west. The capital of the province is Lao Cai City, 300km north-west of Hanoi. The province possesses sublime untouched natural beauties, rich and colorful ethnic cultures, and has long been a popular tourist attraction for the Vietnamese tourists as well as for foreign visitors.

 
Three Hmong ladies at Can Cau Market

Geography

Lao Cai has mountainous terrains with the mountain ranges of Hoang Lien to the west and Con Voi (Elephant) to the east. Most of the terrains of Lao Cai are from 300m to above 1,000m above sea level. The two highest mountain peaks in the province are Fansipan (3,143m) and Ta Giang Phing (3,090m). Both mountain peaks offer challenging trekking and hiking adventures.

There are two main river systems in Lao Cai Province: the Red River and the Chay River which have river basins with fertile alluvial soil. The Red River flows into Vietnam from China at A Mu Sung (Bat Xat District, Lao Cai) going south-east right along the borderline between Vietnam and China all the way from Bat Xat to Lao Cai City. The Red River keeps the general direction from north-west to south-east all the way from Lao Cai, through Yen Bai, Phu Tho, Hanoi and other provinces in the Red River Delta before discharging its water into the East Vietnam Sea.

The Red River enters Vietnam at A Mu Sung, Bat Xat, Lao Cai

The Chay River starts from western side of Ha Giang at Kieu Lieu Thi Mountain flowing through Si Ma Cai and Bac Ha Districts of Lao Cai, then flow through Yen Bai into Thac Ba Lake, then discharging its water into the Lo River at Doan Hung (Phu Tho Province). There are various ethnic communities living along the rivers in Lao Cai. Cruising along the Chay River in Bac Ha District to visit different ethnic villages is a great experience.

Climate

Lao Cai has a tropical monsoon climate with two main seasons: the rainy season is from April to October and the dry season from November through March. Because different areas of Lao Cai are separated by high mountain ranges and with very different altitudes, the climate may vary dramatically from one place to another. It may be good to know that the winter in Lao Cai could be extremely cold below freezing point and expect snow some time in late December, January, early February. It is normal for Lao Cai to have snow in the high mountains in the winter.

Lao Cai has the average rainfall of 1,800mm to over 2,000mm per annum. During the rainy season, some areas of Lao Cai may suffer from landslides and flash floods. If you plan a motorbike tour or a trekking trip in Lao Cai during the rainy time, it is advisable to consult local travel agencies and tour operators for the most up-to-date information.

People and Population

Lao Cai Province is inhabited by 25 groups of peoples including the Kinh (36%), Hmong (22%), Tay (16%), Dao (14%), Giay (5%), Nung (4%),.... Most ethnic minorities keep their traditional culture unchanged as it has been for centuries: they are dressed in the same daily traditional costumes, have the same housing style, working on the same rice terraces... Traveling through different areas of Lao Cai, you will encounter different ethnic minorities wherever you go.

 
Flower Hmong lady at Bac Ha ethnic market

 

Lao Cai Travel Guide Tourist Attractions and What to See in Lao Cai

While Lao Cai is a popular travel destination, tourism in the province has been mostly limited to Sapa and the surrounding villages only. There are vast regions around Bac Ha, Si Ma Cai, Muong Khuong, Bat Xat that are not much visited by travellers.

 
Mountains at Bat Xat

1/ Ethnic markets

There are colorful ethnic markets in Bac Ha and Muong Khuong on Sunday morning and at Can Cau (in Si Ma Cai) on Saturday morning.

1.1 Muong Hum Sunday Market (in Muong Hum, Bat Xat)

 
Muong Hum Sunday Market in Lao Cai Vietnam

1.2 Bac Ha Sunday Market (in Bac Ha District)

Bac Ha Sunday Market is on Sunday where ethnic groups from the Bac Ha and Si Ma Cai District come for trade and for socializing.

1.3 Can Cau Saturday Market (in Si Ma Cai District)

The Can Cau Market is on Saturday morning in Si Ma Cai District, 30km from Bac Ha Township. Originally this market was a water buffalo market, the biggest in Northern Vietnam. Nowadays, they still trade in water buffalo and all others for family daily use... The market has beautiful mountains around.

1.4 Coc Ly Market (in Coc Ly Commune, Bac Ha District)

The Coc Ly Market is mostly for ethnic people of the Coc Ly Commune in Bac Ha District only. The market is on Tuesday morning. Visiting the market you may also like to take a boat trip on the Chay River to visit ethnic villages nearby.

2/ Rice terraces

Besides, there are amazing rice terraces in Sapa, Bat Xat and Muong Khuong. These terraces are great for photography in late May-early June when they are flooded ready for rice-transplanting, and in late September-early October when the rice turns into golden colors.

Rice terraces at Trinh Tuong, Bat Xat

3/ Y Ty

Y Ty in Bat Xat is located on an altitude of 2,000m above sea level with cool climate all year round. Y Ty has potential to turn into a mountain resort soon.

4/ Sapa

Sapa has been overly popular and developed for mass tourism. The little town now has several big hotels, luxury hotels which stretch all the way through the Muong Hoa Valley.

Little Hmong girls at Sapa

5/ Bac Ha

Bac Ha is famed for the ethnic Sunday Market. There are villages around Bac Ha that you can go trekking and staying with local Hmong families for 2-3 days.

What to Do, Adventure Travel and Trekking Tours in Lao Cai

1/ Adventure Tours, Mountain Biking Tours

While Sapa and Y Ty could offer you with relaxing holidays in cool temperatures; most other areas of Lao Cai could offer adventure tours like motorbike tours, mountain biking tours, trekking tours and hiking holidays.

Paradissa organizes a number of tours to Lao Cai ranging from mountain bike tours in Sapa to trekking adventure tours in Sapa and Bat Xat. If you want to climb high mountains in Vietnam, Paradissa has a good collection of mountain climbing in Lao Cai such as the Fansipan peaks, Bach Moc Luong Tu (Ky Quan San) peaks,…

2/ Trekking Tours, Hiking Trips

There are several places in Lao Cai that we can go on trekking adventures from an ethnic village to another amid heavenly landscape. The three most popular places for hiking holidays in Lao Cai are the Muong Hoa Valley in Sapa, around the area of the Ta Phin Village and Ta Giang Phinh Village in Sapa, or on the Bac Ha Plateau. The duration of each of these tours may range from 1 day to 3 or 4 days.

Lao Cai is also the most popular destination Vietnam for mountain trekking, mountain climbing tours. Paradissa offers inspirational trekking tours to the summits of the highest mountains in Vietnam which include Mount Ky Quan San (Bach Moc Luong Tu), Mount Nhiu Co San, Mount Lao Than, Mount Ngu Chi Son, Mount Fansipan.

3/ Photo Tours

Paradissa also offers unforgettable photo tours and photo workshops to different attractions in Lao Cai Province as well as nearby ones. You’ll have lovely photos of the sublime natural landscape and of local ethnic people.

Rice terraces at Den Sang, Bat Xat

4/ Luxury Holidays, Family Vacations

Luxury travel services are available in Sapa, there are also kid-oriented services in this town. If you want to gaze at the mountains from your own room in complete comfort and amenities, Paradissa could customize a great vacation in Sapa for your family.

Given much development in Sapa recently, there is a wide range of styles of luxury travel in Sapa that you could choose from: solitude and boutique luxury resorts for luxury escape holidays, ecologically oriented and environmentally friendly resorts for unplug or no-internet-connection vacations, classic luxury travel...

Accommodation

If you travel far from Sapa and Bac Ha, then accommodations available are just simple guest houses and rustic homestay. Camping can be an alternative when you climb the mountains.

In Sapa, there are several luxury hotels offering lovely views of mountains and valleys. In Bac Ha, you can have decent hotels, but not luxury ones.

How to get there

By train

From Hanoi you can travel to Lao Cai City by road which takes over 4 hours or by overnight train which takes 9 hours. The new expressway is in excellent condition. The overnight train has soft-sleeper compartments which helps to make the journey more of comfort.

Lao Cai has an international border-crossing with China at: Lao Cai City (Vietnam) – Hekou (China). It is also possible to travel by rail from Hanoi to Lao Cai, then to Kumming (Yunnan, China).

By road

The new expressway connecting Hanoi and Lao Cai makes the journey to only 5 hours (from 9-12 hours earlier).

By air

An airport is under construction and in the near future it is possible to travel to Lao Cai and Sapa by air.