Vietnam: Hopping through Cat Cat and Ta Van villages
Hmong traversing the Terraces
Driving around the Sapa Valley slopes at the back of a motorcycle is exhilarating as we cut through the cool mountain air. Aside from that, the view of the cloud shrouded mountains and the impressive terraces of the valley is astounding. We were headed to one of the first ethnic hill side villages in the valley, the Cat Cat Village.
Cat Cat Village tattered roof and flag
While I found the main town of Sapa a bit sophisticated, it is venturing beyond its borders that would yield rewards. One major activity here is visiting several villages. One might do a trek by foot if they have a luxury of time or hire several motos in town. Just make sure you are clear on the rates on where you are going. If it’s only on the nearby villages rates could go as 5 USD for a village visit and may go up to 9 USD for two villages with one more distant.
Lagalog Into Cat Cat Village
Aside from the moto fees you hire to drive you to the village there are also fees when entering villages. In Cat Cat, there’s a 10,000 VND entrance fee and later on we visited Ta Van with an entrance fee of 15,000 VND. There are check points along the road to check for your tickets.
Sapa Descending Buffalo
Just 2km from the Sapa town is Cat Cat Village. This age old Hmong village is easy to reach and is more popular to visitors. There’s a nice paved trail going through the village. There were interesting tattered roof houses there. Not much local villagers there at that time aside from a few vendors and kids playing.
Cat Cat Village Falls
We continued on toward a descending paved path. As we go in deeper into the woods, we could hear the rush of water going stronger. Soon we reached the Cat Cat Falls. There’s a view deck there just across the bridge where a river with a very strong current flows. The falls looks nice but the lighting conditions at that time wasn’t ideal.
Cat Cat Village Vendor
Before we headed back I had a few snacks from a vendor there. I ate some roasted corn, some barbecue and bamboo cooked rice. Heading back means climbing the stairs we went down passing by silk and trinket shops sold by the local Hmongs. Once we got up we rode to the next farther village of Ta Van.
Ta Van Rice Terraces
Ta Van is another village 5 hours away by hike from Sapa Town but can also be reached by motorcycle. Here, we got a closer inspection of the rice terraces. There are also home stay houses there which you could sleep overnight for 8-10 USD. If you are looking for a basic back to basics, village life experience, this would be an interesting accommodation option.
Ta Van Duck Eggs and Spinach Soup
Before we headed back again, pangs of hunger suddenly stroked so we sampled their local dish there of Duckling Egg and Spinach soup to relieve our stomachs. Very good, it taste different but good nonetheless. Before the last stretch of the afternoon ended, we were back in Sapa Town.
Tags: Eats, Food, Northern Vietnam, Sapa, Vietnam, Waterfalls
Posted on
Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 at 4:19 pm 
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September 10th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
another great trip ferdz. the falls is just magnificent. pwede bang paliguan yan? mukhang madulas eh. the soup look unappetizing but you said it’s good so i’ll take your word for it.
September 10th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
wulfriend! naextra na naman ang ogbear, hahaha. grabe yung mental notes mo on the trip because i forgot some na. good thing you wrote them down here for posterity’s sake. hahaha, wala rin akong matinong kuha nung catcat falls so i’ll just gaze on your take.
September 11th, 2008 at 12:35 am
Ba’t may entrance fee pag pasok sa village? Is that only for motorized vehicle or even pedestrians have to pay. What a joy to see these pictures. Vietnam is really making it’s name in the tourism industry. I really would love to visit one day.
September 11th, 2008 at 2:26 am
ganda dyan ah. sa mga kinain nyo doon tulad ng roasted corn, some barbecue and bamboo cooked rice, tulad din ba ng lasa ng luto sa atin? i wonder why the name cat cat is given to the place.
September 11th, 2008 at 8:47 am
happy happy birthday!
birthday gift mo ba yung anti-spammer verification? hehe ;p
September 11th, 2008 at 10:56 am
interesting trip.. ah.
havent been here for awhile… birthday moooo??? HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! i always appreciate your travel posts and your photos… they really are good and inspires me to travel more. hehehehe 
September 11th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
your shot of the Cat Cat Falls is stunning. Almost like a painting. I miss eating grilled corn and sweet potato. We used to have those when we were in the province. it’s amazing how this village is greatly depicted and represented through your photos. I know it’s not everything but you’ve provided us enough info about the place making us feel that we’ve been there with you.
birthday mo? (nabasa ko lang sa taas yung mga comments). sakali man, makiki-bati na din ako. Happy is your birthday! Hope you’ll have more.
September 11th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
hahaha forgot to include my birthday greeting sa earlier reply ko so here’s an addendum - happy birthday mi amigo. i pray you’ll be continually blessed because you are a blessing to others. ikaw ang pinakamabait na taong nakilala ko kaya taos-puso ang pagbati ko ng happy birthday sa’yo
September 11th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
birthday mo pala ferdz! happy happy birthday. habol pa naman to siguro.
September 11th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
bday mo pala ferdz! greetings
come to think of it, dami pala similarities sa atin, from the terraces, to the corn to the tourist items. Pero one thing na napansin ko is yung entrance fee. Good thing that they do this. Pero pang foreigner lang kaya? If that is implemented here, siguro ako, dami reklamo ng mga pinoy na visitors.
September 12th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
bro. musta na? mukhang masarap ang sopas sa huling picture mo ah hehe… oii bday mo pala. happy bday sau.
September 13th, 2008 at 9:47 am
I love the first photo. Very expressive in a way.