Sapa, Vietnam

After a 12 hour overnight train ride on the Orient Express we rolled to the end of tracks in Lao Cai. Right on the Chinese border, Lao Cai is approximately 38km from the French hill station of mist shrouded Sapa.  Being a premier destination in North Western, the travelers stampeded their way off the train and filtered into the dozen or so mini busses and cabs waiting to escort us over the rice terraced mountains.



Phu

Once arriving in Sapa, we were greeted by our tour guide, Phu who was an adorable and cheerful young Vietnamese woman.  Given thirty minutes to freshen up we washed off the morning grim, changed into our trekking gear and grabbed a quick bite to eat before exploring the local market and setting out into the six hour expedition.  The weather was in our favor which we considered a stroke of luck from the travel gods considering the clouds had eclipsed the sky for the last two weeks.  The warm sunshine had dried the land making what could have been a mud slide tour a breath-taking trek.



Along with our informative leader, we were accompanied by a small group of H’Mong women who  stroll from their village approximately 8km away every morning in order to meet Phu and her new clusters of tourists.  There was one H’Mong woman dressed in her colorful traditional clothing per person ready to assist the not so graceful or familiar foreigners with the tricky descent.  As we hiked down the steep hills, they paraded ever so casually weaving cane through their weathered hand for future apparel and/or handmade crafts to sell.  The unwritten rule here is when the venture ends you buy a trinket.  This is how the village women create income for their families.  Todd and I made friends with Shura (Todd insists on referring to her as Shug) and Gha.  Both spoke fluent English keeping us entertained with their inquisitive conversation and making us tiny horse figurines out of bamboo leaves.  

Gha, far left and Shura, second on left 

 After a glorious day of sightseeing, it was back to the hotel to shower and get ready for the evening meal.  Dinner was bona fide tour cuisine with standard choices in set menus.  Eatable but nothing spectacular, however it did turn into quite a romantic setting of candle light when the entire town lost power at 6:30pm.  Luckily, kitchens in Vietnam use gas stoves or coals so even without electricity we were able to enjoy our main entrée and go back to our pitch black guesthouse with our bellies full. 

The power outage lasted the night and on throughout the next day which didn’t hinder us from another day of trekking.  Less fortunate on the second day, we awake to the typical forecast of mist and fog.  Two hours later we stopped to gaze at a waterfall that I can’t remember the name of probably because the more entertaining event at hand was Todd munching on a baby bird. He spotted the skinned fellers being cooked over blazing hot coats by an elder woman and couldn’t resist the temptation to sample a local delicacy.       

Overall, I was very glad Todd urged me to visit Sapa.  I remember looking through our travel books in the States and one of the most beautiful pictures was of the rice terraces in Vietnam.  I knew it was a biggie “MUST SEE” and now we can check it off our list!