Sapa is in the far north of Vietnam close to the border with China. It can be reached by an overnight train from Hanoi to the city of Lao Cai, followed by a 45 minute drive on a winding mountain road. The area is famous for its mountain scenery and the impressive irrigated rice terraces developed over centuries of labor by the local ethnic minority groups. In the Sapa area most of the people are Black Hmong or Red Dao. The town of Sapa is an important regional market and recently a popular tourist destination.