Sapa Ancient Rock Field
Sapa Ancient Rock Field
3.5
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
3.5
31 reviews
Excellent
3
Very good
15
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8
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0
Steve Buckley
London, UK8,946 contributions
Feb 2023
As part of a 22-strong Anglo-Thai Society Regional Tour Group my wife and myself visited the Sapa Ancient Rock Field earlier today.
Unfortunately, it is not overly impressive and failed to maintain any of our group’s interest for more tgann10 minutes. Also not the easiest of sites to access due to the extensive remedial road works.
Unfortunately, it is not overly impressive and failed to maintain any of our group’s interest for more tgann10 minutes. Also not the easiest of sites to access due to the extensive remedial road works.
Written 24 February 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The_Pale_Ridah
Gladesville, Australia1,956 contributions
Dec 2013 • Couples
In the lush foothills of Sapa’s Muong Hoa Valley is a small field strewn with volcanic boulders covered in mysterious petroglyphs & carvings of unknown origin that were documented for the first time by the French in the 1920’s. For the daydreamer, there is romance in the overall mystery of viewing strange rock carvings that people of our civilisation today can recognise & partly decipher, the guessing continues.
Surprisingly, this mysterious archaeological site remains largely unknown to all major guide books keeping it a relatively little known gem. Archaeologists believe that these petroglyphs pre-date the current mountain people who live in Sapa today. Spread out within the boundaries of Hau Thao, Lai Chau & Ta Van villages of the beautiful Muong Hoa Valley, many of the tourist traffic that pass by are on guided hiking treks but with little information very few people can tell you very much about it. Our taxi driver, a funny-looking skinny guy told us a story about one of the images in particular he called the stone husband & stone wife how their love endured beyond the material world even after they turned to stone, all very sentimental but if archaeologists can’t even figure out what it all means how can you believe a chain-smoking taxi driver with missing front teeth?
There are pictures at the Sapa Ancient Rock Field of people with bent legs & out-stretched arms which could represent ritual dancing & I have read that the rocks near Lao Chai have erotic images of a male & female doing the horizontal mumble, whether this is graffiti by some young hooligan from Hanoi I don’t know. Common between other world cultural sites with cave art found at Lascaux, France or Mt Grenfel, Australia, are the depictions of animals & the human relationship with them, this is an interesting insight & a major point of difference between our society today where most people have very little contact with animals even tho many eat some form of meat on a daily basis. Most of the smaller rocks have faint & unusual scribbling’s, some have obvious geometric symbols & some are just your imagination. Disappointing is seeing recent damage which guides blame on local tourists who scratch their names next to the ancient carvings for fun, ignorance at its best here & a sad sight to see.
For what it is worth, the Sapa Ancient Rock Field was apparently given national heritage status in 1994. It seems this recognition means very little to anyone as there is scant security & people constantly climb all over the rocks & petroglyphs to pose for photos. The site has been nominated by the Vietnamese government for UNESCO’s world heritage listing with evidence that these petroglyphs may be related to people of the fascinating Dong Son civilisation at 3,000-4,000 years ago, but it seems the Vietnamese application was very weak since very little publicity & awareness has been made around it. In any case, it is easily accessible on a Muong Hoa Valley hike near any of the mentioned villages, very cool nonetheless.
Surprisingly, this mysterious archaeological site remains largely unknown to all major guide books keeping it a relatively little known gem. Archaeologists believe that these petroglyphs pre-date the current mountain people who live in Sapa today. Spread out within the boundaries of Hau Thao, Lai Chau & Ta Van villages of the beautiful Muong Hoa Valley, many of the tourist traffic that pass by are on guided hiking treks but with little information very few people can tell you very much about it. Our taxi driver, a funny-looking skinny guy told us a story about one of the images in particular he called the stone husband & stone wife how their love endured beyond the material world even after they turned to stone, all very sentimental but if archaeologists can’t even figure out what it all means how can you believe a chain-smoking taxi driver with missing front teeth?
There are pictures at the Sapa Ancient Rock Field of people with bent legs & out-stretched arms which could represent ritual dancing & I have read that the rocks near Lao Chai have erotic images of a male & female doing the horizontal mumble, whether this is graffiti by some young hooligan from Hanoi I don’t know. Common between other world cultural sites with cave art found at Lascaux, France or Mt Grenfel, Australia, are the depictions of animals & the human relationship with them, this is an interesting insight & a major point of difference between our society today where most people have very little contact with animals even tho many eat some form of meat on a daily basis. Most of the smaller rocks have faint & unusual scribbling’s, some have obvious geometric symbols & some are just your imagination. Disappointing is seeing recent damage which guides blame on local tourists who scratch their names next to the ancient carvings for fun, ignorance at its best here & a sad sight to see.
For what it is worth, the Sapa Ancient Rock Field was apparently given national heritage status in 1994. It seems this recognition means very little to anyone as there is scant security & people constantly climb all over the rocks & petroglyphs to pose for photos. The site has been nominated by the Vietnamese government for UNESCO’s world heritage listing with evidence that these petroglyphs may be related to people of the fascinating Dong Son civilisation at 3,000-4,000 years ago, but it seems the Vietnamese application was very weak since very little publicity & awareness has been made around it. In any case, it is easily accessible on a Muong Hoa Valley hike near any of the mentioned villages, very cool nonetheless.
Written 24 January 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Nguyen Bom
Hanoi, Vietnam186 contributions
Jun 2015 • Friends
It was a rush when I came here. But the place is good and worth to see. I will come back to discover more.
Written 3 July 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rev-D
San Diego, CA766 contributions
Jun 2015 • Solo
The symbols and writing on this rock are amazing and worth seeing with your own eyes. The history of this area and its human inhabitants is very old and this rock is further proof of that.
Written 30 June 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
hannostamm
Siem Reap, Cambodia921 contributions
Sept 2018 • Family
Just a fenced in rock with some carvings that come without any explanations or anything else that would make it a little more interesting.
Written 7 January 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
thuy9424
Bac Giang, Vietnam1 contribution
Jul 2016 • Solo
I stayed at Dung dung house, near this place. This place is really peaceful. Staff of Dung dung house told me story of this place, it really interesting.
I guess for tourists, if come to sapa for travel, you should stay at Dung dung house. You will have a lot experience, quite peaceful, understand more about life of minority people in sapa.
You can contact with Dung by this phone number:01668503578. She is very cute.
I guess for tourists, if come to sapa for travel, you should stay at Dung dung house. You will have a lot experience, quite peaceful, understand more about life of minority people in sapa.
You can contact with Dung by this phone number:01668503578. She is very cute.
Written 25 July 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Puppy
Christchurch, New Zealand828 contributions
Jul 2015 • Family
The rock is close to town and easy to see. It has symbols placed there by early human inhabitants. The name SaPa is actually from the Chinese word champa which means place of sand and has probably been inhabited for more then a thousand years.
Written 10 February 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
steveD4862CA
London, UK104 contributions
Apr 2019 • Couples
Who ever thought this up must be very pleased. It's a rock with a fence round it. You must go just to say you have seen it. Truly underwhelming.
Written 28 April 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Khanh Nguyen
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam99 contributions
Dec 2018 • Couples
This was the second time I was back to this place. It is so normal as you can see on the picture. The ancient rocks were more than millions years of age, and there were so many strange drawing on those.
One thing I hate to be here was that the ethnic sellers enclosed us, that made us feel disturbed.
The other I hate at this tiem I came was that the road were in construction, so it was very dirty.
One thing I hate to be here was that the ethnic sellers enclosed us, that made us feel disturbed.
The other I hate at this tiem I came was that the road were in construction, so it was very dirty.
Written 31 December 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Wsea3h
Asia4,353 contributions
Oct 2017 • Couples
This can be seen on the way from Sapa to Ban Ho. I stopped at this rock field 12 years ago when a motorcycle rider pointed to us and didn't feel anything but last year I visited again and felt attracted to them. Those lines and characters engraved might carry some messages but I can't understand. One big stone can be seen near the road and other smaller stones are far away. This is not something everyone likes so there was no entrance fee. There was a small museum with a book showing pictures and locations of them. Looks like there are several rock fields nearby as I saw them on the way.
Written 14 July 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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