Cable car from Sapa to Fansipan

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A cable car from Sa Pa town in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai to Fansipan Mountain will be developed in an effort to lure more visitors to the cloudy town. The provincial People’s Committee Chairman has decided to set up a working group that will coordinate with investors in implementing this project. Director of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment Dang Thanh Phong, who is also group leader, said that once operational in 2014, the cable car route will not only create more tourism products for Sa Pa but also lure more tourists to the town, Hoang Lien National Park and Fansipan peak.  At present, only several hundreds of tourists register to climb to Fansipan peak per month. The project is divided into two phases, with the first being commenced later this year, focusing on developing the cable car system and culture-tourism complex. The second phase will build hotels and recreational centers.  The project is invested by the Fansipan Sa Pa cable tourism company, which has ever built a cable car to Ba Na Hill in Da Nang Vietnam. However, opinions divided on planned cable car up Mount Fansipan,

Reported by a customer named Lee Han Sung, Korean:

I do not think the construction of a cable car to the top of Mount Fansipan is a good idea. As a regular backpacker, I think the point of having high mountains is to conquer them. Of course I would still climb a mountain even if there were a cable car to the top, but I’m not comfortable with the fact that the area at the top of Fansipan will be commercialized.

Here is another interview with Ms. Dang My Dung, Vietnamese, in Ha Noi

I really cannot agree with the plan. As a matter of fact, climbing Fansipan is not an easy walk. It is a challenge that requires determination, good health and proper preparation (which may involve adequate physical exercise before the journey).

I personally climbed the mountain last week. It was a very long and hard journey. It took my friends and me three full days to reach the top. What we got out of the experience was not just the scenery, but more importantly the feeling that we had achieved something worthwhile.

So, the cable car is usually for Asian travel markets and Vietnamese local markets, not for the backpackers or adventurers from Europe, Australia or American.