sapa

I have just returned to Hanoi after 4 great days in mountainous Sapa, which is 400km north. It took an overnight train to reach Lao Cai, which is on the Chinese-Vietnamese border. This was followed by a 1hr bus trip, which was delayed for a while as a big mudslide was cleared off the road! I met 2 Dutch girls on the bus, and we shared a room together for the first night. The town of Sapa is used as a base to trek to & visit nearby ethnic minority tribes. All the surrounding scenery is so different to the rest of Vietnam that I have seen on my trip. Parts of the mountains are cut into stunning terraced rice paddies. The climate is much cooler here (I had to wear a jacket!) and there are lots of clouds & mist as we are so high above sea level. We walked to Cat Cat village which is quite close to Sapa, and saw the powerful waterfall. However, the water was really brown from heavy rainfull the night before. We headed back to town & wandered around the shops, and were harrassed by the local tribeswomen selling handicrafts. They dress in their traditional embroidered clothes, but I did see one of them talking on her mobile, so I don't know how authentic everything is! The next day we bumped into 2 guys (Aussie & British) that the girls had met in Hanoi, so they joined us on a motorbike ride out to Ta Van & Lao Chai villages. We trekked between the two places, seeing the different minority groups along the way. Some of the villagers trekked the whole way with us in the hope that we would buy something, and I felt so guilty in the end that I gave in! Our drivers then took us out to Thac Bac (Silver Waterfall) which was really cool. We were going to continue along the road, which is supposed to have awesome views but there was too must mist. When we got back into town I had a TINY ride of the motorbike in the street- I didn't crash into anything! Was lots of fun, I can't wait to learn properly, but on roads that don't hug the cliff edge! The girls headed back to Hanoi in the afternoon. I discovered an amazing cafe that does the best desserts (ended up going there 3 times while in Sapa!). The next day Chris (the Aussie guy) & I went out on a bike to see Ban Ho village, which is a little further out from Sapa town. At some points the road was a bit muddy & wet, had to close my eyes cos I was scared! But we made it down safely. This village was a bit less touristy, the people seemed much friendlier & were just in normal clothes. A local showed us how to get to a waterfall (had to climb over the school yard fence!). It was really cool, with a big swimming hole underneath. I was so keen to swim in the cool water but didn't have my togs with me. That night I bumped into an Aussie girl that I met at the swimming hole. On my last day in Sapa, the 2 of us visited yet another village, Ta Phin, via motorbike. We had a little walk around, and got invited into a lady's house. All her friends turned up, so it was cosy sitting around in little chairs! Luckily Therese bought lots of stuff off them so I didn't have to feel guilty. As we were leaving the house, the lady gave us a cob of corn each- was delicious! Her daughter guided us through the caves, which were marked on the tourist map. Wasn't a whole lot to see though! Was very dark & slippery, and we had to crouch down most of the way, but I'm glad I saw it (my legs are still a bit sore though!). After heading back to Sapa town we ate lunch, then relaxed before catching the night train back to Hanoi. I arrived here this morning at 4.30am so I am pretty tired! I still have a few days to kill before my Laos tour starts on Tuesday, so I am heading to Ninh Binh tomorrow morning.