Cat Cat VIllage in Sa Pa Town of Lao Cai Province. The province People's Committee has approved a trial run for a tour of Cat Cat village – Vung Rong – Gieng Tien – Sin Chai village in Hoang Lien Son National Park. — Photo Ratnakorn Piyasirisorost

LAO CAI (VNS) — The Lao Cai Province People's Committee has approved a trial run for a tour of Cat Cat village – Vung Rong – Gieng Tien – Sin Chai village in Hoang Lien Son National Park.

The route also takes in the park's Muong Hoa Spring.

The route from Cat Cat in Sa Pa to Vung Rong (Dragon Area) is around 8km and has plenty of wild flowers, dominantly red azalea. Dragon Area and Gieng Tien (Fairy Well), one kilometre apart, are the park's two most attractive destinations. Fairy Well has picturesque landscapes with two beautiful waterfalls that flow into a deep lake. Legends say fairies used to come to bathe in the lake.

Sin Chay village in Sa Pa town is home to nearly 1,500 ethnic Mong Den people, who live by growing rice, corn, flax, and cardamom and breeding livestock. They also weave and embroider clothes to serve their own needs.

Hoang Lien Son National Park, recognised as an ASEAN Heritage Park, offers several tours, including a climb up Fansipan, the roof of Indochina.

Measuring 29,845ha, it is one of the country's important special-use forests with a diverse forest eco-system comprising among others 2,000 species of plants, 66 species of mammals and 347 species of bird. — VNS