What would be the two must-visits when you go to the highlands known as Sapa in Vietnam? One would definitely be Sun World Fansipan Legend and the other would be contentious as many claimed it was a tourist trap.
Cat Cat Village - which wasn't named, as many thought it was, due to an abundance of felines! There were two possible explanations and none related to cats. Entry fees would be required before stepping into the village; chargeable at 150,000 dong (less than S$10) an adult or 70,000 dong a child below 1.3 meter in height.
Strongly recommended to check out the large map (shall share at the end of the post) beforehand as there were a few routes that we missed out. In addition, do keep in mind that it would mostly be a down the stairs walk and the distance could be quite daunting for some.
Look at those fresh, happy faces at the start of the walk.
And so was the designated photographer for the trip, who lugged along his big ass DSLR for the trip. While I do prefer the quality of photographs from DSLR, the size and weight were terrible burdens for the back and shoulders!
Start of the downward trek. As you can deduce from the photograph, it's like walking through an old village with shops around you; there's no shelter, the cobblestone steps were uneven and we can only thank the gods that there was no rain. Cultural items for sale; it's actually an operational village although many items on display were targeted for the tourists. It was also mentioned in the brochure "not to give money or andy to the local children as this may encourage them to drop out of school".
Walk and pose. As my ageing dad was travelling with us, I made it a point to purchase hiking sticks for him from Decathlon Singapore and they proved to be a savior! Not only for him as we benefited from it too since dad just required one stick and we had a pair.
This looked like something that came out from a Studio Ghibli animation movie! This actually required an additional entry fee, which we didn't bother as there were plenty of spots for photo taking within Cat Cat Village.
Coming to a landing. Maybe because of the winter season or maybe due to the timing (about 10am); the crowd was pretty thin although the vendors we encountered so far were not pushy in wanting to make a sale.
Photo-taking time!
Do exercise your own judgment call when it comes to safety. Due to my work, where I have to assess safety, I am actually apprehensive when it comes to stepping onto the above netting, which would give you a much more spectacular backdrop comprising of padi fields, local houses etc.
View of the path we came down from.
No cat but there was a scruffy looking dog!
We took so many photographs that they were the main reason why I took so long to blog about the village. There were like more than 200 photographs and I guess I needed more than just a few hours to slowly go, and think about what to write.
More often than not, it's the company that matters most. We didn't actually explore all the attractions within Cat Cat Village but the atmosphere appealed to us, and the weather was no doubt comfortable for tropical dwellers like us.
Toilet break - and I recognized the word "free"!
Another thing drew my attention though.
Another photo opportunity with the bundles of incense sticks! While they do look nice, I wonder if the incense stick industry would still be robust in the next few decades given that the younger generation focuses a lot more on the environment.
Photo taking again!
Clouds cleared briefly and we were ecstatic to be able to have some clarity over the valley underneath us, including the padi fields and the Hmong houses that dotted the landscape.
Dad with two new canine buddies.
Just wondering about the souvenirs tourists would buy back home nowadays. Unlike in the past, travelling is now a lot easier with budget airlines, and with the widespread use of cameras, social media etc, is souvenir-buying still as crucial? For people like me, I dislike displays as they would likely collect dust in my small house.
Personally, I prefer to buy food / snacks back so long there are samplings and it's not something you can get in Singapore, where we depend heavily on imports anyway. Another factor, I need to know what they are! Maybe the souvenirs (food / non-food) showcased here were more for the local Vietnamese visitors from other provinces.
Cat Cat Village is huge and there were so many photo spots! Some appeared to be a distance away and we were just too lazy to hike there. At times, things look better when taken from afar.
Like the above.
While there were a few routes, directions were quite clear on how to get to the main attraction. Yes, it was already an hour since we entered yet the main attraction still eluded us.
Mouth was itchy..... While there was no nice smelling aroma, the fact that I wanted to have something warm in my tummy to counter the cold was a strong enough reason to elicit an immediate craving.
Decided to have something from this gentleman.
Guess what did I buy; the sausages, the corn, the meat skewers?
Chestnut cake for 10,000 dong! Unfortunately, it was only lukewarm and the taste was pretty bland with more pastry than filling; not a good use of calorie intake! Random photographs; including the free roaming kid, the family of chicken, and the spider with its dew-decorated web. Damn was the spider huge!
Photos again!
50 meters to the waterfall! Didn't hear anything though as our ears would likely pick up the thundering sounds of water. Maybe it wasn't a big waterfall?
Dad slowly making his way down. Sometimes, I wonder if I know my father well. I would have thought
Cat Cat Village might be too boring for him, especially when we didn't have a tour guide to explain the history, the architecture, the culture etc. But you know what? This was one of his highlights for the
Sapa trip!
More dogs! Well, Vietnam is known to have a dog-eating culture but from what I see so far at Cat Cat Village; the dogs were literally pets, adored by many, locals and foreigners alike. Roast chicken!
After slightly more than an hour from the entrance of the village, the road ahead was much clearer; we will no longer need to climb down anymore although it beget the next question; would we need to climb up to go out of the village?
Before advancing further, a rest was necessary and while there were other eateries to consider, we decided to go with the first one we chanced upon; H'mong 1925 Restaurant and Coffee!
Its location and height gave customers a helicopter view of the stream right below. p.s. A stream it might be at this moment but when it comes to heavy rain, it was a furious river as surfaced in recent videos, as a reason of bad weather.
Pictures as evidence!
A few narcissistic ones of me! The fuzzy bear headcover was purchased by Alex and it came with two long extensions that ended with gloves for the cold hands!
Making our way towards the stream.
Looked like a treehouse across the stream. A closer look revealed that it seemed to be part of a restaurant that had closed down for good. Pity as it was at prime location!
Going to cross the Si Bridge!
The namesake Cat Cat Waterfall in front of us! I love waterfalls, not so much that I want to be wet by it; rather, I love how therapeutic they were for the senses of sight and hearing.
Opposite from the Cat Cat Waterfall would be the area we shall be exploring shortly. I have seen photographs and videos of it, and knew there would be plenty to look at later.
Commercial developments next to the stream that were built for visitors and may look all pretty, nice and instagrammable on the surface. Do look closer at the dilapidated state nearer the stream.
"Treehouse" I shared earlier.
Customary shots of the Cat Cat Waterfall. There was no information panel on how tall it was which was a pity as it could have been educational for the visitors.
Nothing much further ahead too.
U-turning to where we came from, and crossing the Si Bridge. There were a few bridge crossings for the stream although water level at some sections was so low; you could literally walk over.
Something didn't feel quite right well. The water level didn't seem high enough to warrant a waterfall effect for this elevated section. I could be wrong since I didn't study geography beyond the basic and weak in physics.
Almost forgot to mention that just like with many tourist destinations nowadays, you could rent a costume and dress up as one of the Hmong for better photo-taking experience.
Along the wooden planks and crossing the stream via the Love Bridge. Thankfully, there weren't those typical love locks with keys thrown into the water. It's literally just a wooden bridge flanked with rope-woven guard rails and flowers.
Shallow banks, where ponies can be rented as tools for your photo-taking. To me, such things screamed of tourism that had departed from its original form, when it's no longer about culture, history and heritage, and more for the sake of sharing on social media.
Would that be a good thing or bad thing? It depends on which side you are on; on one hand, I believe in a free market and so long there is a demand, the supply will follow. What's more important is the distribution of wealth so that all residents would benefit from it.
I am no saint myself and would have to love to change into a more "authentic" attire to suit the environment, and get close to a pony to lend more legitimacy to the photographs. Only thing; I am poor and stingy with my money.
Houses for the white pigeons! Or were they doves?
Fanciful local houses that looked more like props. Some visitors commented that Cat Cat Village was more a tourist trap, and failed in showcasing real authenticity of a Hmong village. To be fair, the village had originated since the 19th century but its popularity among tourists is a double-edge sword.
More photos.
There were supposed to be some performances but I didn't keep track of the timings and while I would respect their culture and such; cultural performances usually bore me since I am not into performing arts.
Another waterfall where tourists would want to use as a backdrop, and would attempt to get closer by jumping across the rocks. Sorry, I wouldn't do such things as there's a risk of wetting myself, and the weather was cold!
Flock of sheep on the other side; just wondering if they were indeed farm animals or simply used as props or performance at Cat Cat Village
We had a waterfall on our side too!
Thankfully, it was just light splashes.
Imagine how far back my eyes rolled when I saw a pipe churning out water to emulate the waterfall effect. This reminded me of a similar antic in China. Coming from Singapore, where many things are man-made, we would declare right from the start our waterfall is man-made. This, however, was a different story; I felt cheated! Would the above Love Waterfall be somewhat artificial too? Or are there pipes at the stream, to drain off excess water so that the stream will have some dry sections for performances?
Cobwebs were real, for sure.
My dad was oblivious to all these though. To him, so long he likes what he see; that would be good enough. And that's indeed important when it comes to travelling. If you are comfortable with what you have, there's no need to compare with others.
So, let's just soak in the relaxed environment, enjoy the cool crisp air that's impossible back in our little red dot. So what if it is built for tourists!? The place was still breathtakingly beautiful.
Accordingly to the map on the brochure, this path led to the Cat Cat Bridge but as we walked further and further in, it got more and more quiet, with just our group! Not willing to bear any risk, especially with our dad around, we made a U-turn back.
Would you think the integrity of the wood planks is checked frequently?
What goes down must go up.
So, it's time to climb up the stairs!
Impressive landscape with additional photo spots! At this point, many visitors were already quite tired and most were just focusing on reaching the "summit", like the rest of my family! A pity as the view was splendid, especially with the structures dotted around the hill, and they didn't seem to be more for the sake of visitors, more like "real" houses for living and farming.
Toilet time again!
Decided to pay to take the shuttle tramway so that we wouldn't have to walk all the way out of Cat Cat Village. I can't remember how much we paid; maybe 10,000 or 20,000 dong. What we didn't realize was there were multiple entrances and exits for Cat Cat Village! We were brought to an unfamiliar location even though we didn't freak out as our eventual intention was to take GRAB; and we did.
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Address
Cat Cat Village, San Sa Ho Commune,
Sapa District, Lao Cai Province, Vietnam
Location Map
As above.
Website
Map and Notes for Visitors
As above.
Pricing
Adult - 150,000 Dong
Child (Less than 1.3 meters) - 70,000 Dong
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