Ms. Thu Trang, living in Hanoi, has seen snow fall in Sa Pa (Lao Cai) four times in 2014, 2015, 2016 and early this year – 2021.

During her trips, she always passes through Sa Pa, then moves to neighboring areas such as O Quy Ho Pass, Y Ty… to get many beautiful pictures.

According to Ms. Trang, snowfall in a tropical country like Vietnam can be considered rare, but in the past 10 years it has been quite frequent.

Ms. Trang (far left) welcomes snowfall in O Quy Ho in 2015. Photo: NVCC

In 2014, when she accidentally read about snowfall in Sa Pa through the backpacking community, Ms. Trang immediately checked the information with her friend working in tourism in town, and took a bus at night.

With many years of experience hunting snow, Ms. Trang shared that snow usually falls in the early and middle weeks of January every year.

Some beautiful destinations to easily view snow are in Y Ty forest (Bat Xat district), Fansipan peak (Sa Pa) and some other mountains in the Hoang Lien Son range.

When there are enough weather conditions to hunt for snow, she and her friends will go to Lao Cai a few days in advance to be proactive.

Drivers do not have much experience driving on snow and ice roads in Vietnam. It is easy to slip and lose control.

Snowfall is also when the temperature drops deeply, sometimes 0 degrees Celsius, so visitors need to keep their bodies warm to avoid colds and respiratory infections.

Snow fell on O Quy Ho in Sa Pa in 2016. The road here is very slippery for cars, so visitors can take a taxi from the center to near the snowy area.

To save photos with snow, be sure to prepare backup batteries for your electronic devices.

Many opinions condemn tourists for being indifferent to the snowfall phenomenon, when local people are suffering from the cold and agricultural production is affected.

Lan Huong