It’s almost impossible to spot Sapa, concealed in its bamboo-shack camouflage amidst the rolling karst hills of northwest Vietnam, but it is there, throbbing with its newfound population of resident trekkers, culture vultures and off-the-beaten-track outdoorsy types.

Sapa’s horizon is dominated by the verdant mist-clad peaks of the Hoang Lien National Park, while the foreground hills are awash with wild jungle, dotted with the mossy roofs of tribal hamlets, or carved into the rolling contours of terraced rice paddies at every turn. Trekking and biking are big game here, and Sapa tour guides now offer a gamut of excursions into the Tonkinese Alps, many complete with local homestay accommodation and cultural encounters with the local villagers.

The town itself can also boast a throbbing marketplace, predominately laden with knock-off hiking gear, its own heritage museum and a smattering of quaint colonial façades that now stand as one of the few remaining testimonies to French colonialism in this remote mountain enclave.