Breaking ground in November, 2013, and fully operational by February 2, 2016, the Fansipan Cable Car project was implemented in less than 1,000 days.

This was truly an incredible feat of engineering considering the level of complexity involved in developing a cable-car through a dense, uninhabited forest and all the way up Vietnam’s highest mountain.

Today it’s an inspiring sight to see the cable car gliding so smoothly high above the Muong Hoa valley and Hoang Lien forest to the top of Fansipan, which stands at over 3,100m above sea level.

Upon opening, the Fansipan Cable Car set a number of noteworthy world records. One for being the three-rope cable car with the highest elevation between the arrival and departure terminals, rising 1,410m on the journey from Sa Pa town to the peak of Fansipan; and another for being the world’s longest three-rope cable car, stretching for a distance of 6,292 metres.

Before the opening of the cable car connecting the southern tip of Phu Quoc Island to Hon Thom, also developed by Sun Group, a leading company in travel industry in Vietnam, the Fansipan Cable Car was recognised as the longest three-ropeway cable car system in the world.

To reach the peak, the whole system is supported by six main pillars, each approximately 1km apart, and all at different altitudes. Each cabin can host from 30-35 passengers while the system’s total transporting capacity goes up to 2,000 passengers per hour.

Now from a great height, visitors are starting to see Sapa in a new way with awe-inspiring views of the gorgeous terraced fields in Muong Hoa valley, the countless houses poking out of misty air, the dense forest all over Hoang Lien Mountain, and much more. Riding on the cable car will truly leave you breathless as gaze across a part of the world that some describe as ‘Heaven on Earth’.

Affectionately called the “stairway to the sky”, the Fansipan Cable Car has reduced the travel time from Sapa Town to the ‘Roof of Indochina’ from a two-day and overnight expedition days to a 15-minute trip. For this reason, the cable car has helped many more people realise their lifelong dream of conquering Fansipan.

Many of the visitors have also been pleasantly surprised by the striking complex of spiritual buildings and statues which have are now located at the summit, for example, the Kim Son Bao Thang pagoda, a 21.5m-high statue of Amitabha Buddha and a new iconic flagpole.