Sapa

To reach Sapa from Hanoi, we took the overnight train to Lao Cai. We were fortunate enough to meet a beautifully kind Vietnamese couple who were sharing the bunks opposite us in the little sleeping room in first class. The husband, who’s English was not quite as good as his wife, quickly came out of his shy shell when he offered to buy us beers and we accepted. He was so proud and excited to treat us to a beer and dried  meat. He chatted away quickly in Vietnamese while his wife tried her best to translate. They were from Lao Cai and had come to Hanoi to see a doctor because she had been having stomach pains. It was very sweet that they went as a couple and good to hear her health was excellent.

At 5am we arrive in Lao Cai and were annoyingly greeted by a swooping group of touts charging $20 to take us in a mini bus to Sapa. We felt incredibly overwhelmed and decided that there was nothing else we could do but go over to the one cafe that was open and devise a plan.

We knew the cost of transport from Lao Cai train station to Sapa was only $2 so we both were not prepared to pay $20 no matter how tired and disoriented we were.

Upon entering the restaurant with two foreigner couples seated cosily inside, we started to chat with the French couple who were on their way to China. They were incredibly kind and gave us their open bus tickets they no longer needed. These tickets were valid to go to Sapa!!! The bus that had just dropped them off was about to leave for Sapa and was parked across the street. Peter and I quickly thanked them and then made a mad dash to the large coach bus.

We jumped on, took a pick from the immense vacancy of seats and couldn’t help but feel overjoyed with our luck, the kindness of strangers and the warmth of the bus.

The cheeky bus driver rained down on our parade a touch when he pretended our tickets were not valid and asked for $2 each from us. We really didn’t care to argue about the $4 for a 30 min drive up the mountain. The bus driver walked away looking elated that he had scored $4 for him and his sidekick to share. Hopefully they took their wives out for a delicious dinner with it.

There were about three other foreigners sleeping soundly on the bus and received a rude awakening when the tv turned on with blaring Vietnamese music videos of middle aged women and men. Peter and I couldn’t hear ourselves talking and at this point it was still only 5:30am! We chatted with two American girls who said the music had been going on all throughout the overnight travel and they had gotten no sleep! Another reason why the train is much more appealing.

Freezing in Sapa!

A small fire to warm up beside in a log cafe

"I can't see anything!"

We stayed at Cassablanca hotel for $23 a night and did not receive one warm shower. Sapa was so cold and I was not prepared for it. All I wanted was a hot shower to warm up and I went two days with out one. We asked several times about the temperature of the water and were told that the whole town didn’t have any. It wasn’t until later that day when I asked other travelers and they had all been enjoying blisteringly hot showers that I became jealous. We asked for a discount and received an angry, firm and cold ‘no’ from them owner, over the telephone. I wouldn’t recommend staying there.

Hot PHO please!

We hopped on a day tour in a mini bus with a British woman and her daughter very last minute, redcuing the cost for everyone to $5 each. The daughter had been traveling the world for over 8 months and left me feeling very unaccomplished and yet inspired to see more of the world.  

Our day tour took us to see the RED DZAO minority people in Ta Phin Village amongst the amazing scenery of rolling hills and rice fields. We learned that the Red Dzao are the largest of the minority groups. The women shave their heads just above their foreheads and cover their hair with red material.

The walk through the village was was stunning. We received an uninvited entourage of women that accompanied us on our walk through the village. They were giving us small snippets of information on their people and way of life. Every few minutes they would throw in, “Okay you buy something! You buy something later! You buy something from me!” In the end, we bought two items from the woman who followed us around for an hour. She was really lovely and had fantastic humour and dress sense.

Most of our time was spent eating lavish street barbeque dinners for under $5 for the two of us. Our favourites were the sticky rice cooked inside bamboo and roasted chestnuts. We indulged every few hours in roasted sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, fish paste on sticks and of course endless amounts of chestnuts and bamboo rice!

Our second day in Sapa we decided on taking a walk around the city center and found a small sized mountain to climb. It promised a beautiful view and garden at the top. It was $1.50 per person to enter and was incredible. Upon reaching the top, I felt as though I had stepped into Alice’s Wonderland. There were over 10 tea sets places on small logs in the middle of an idyllic garden. All it was missing was the mad hatter and it would have been a dream tea party. Phong Lan Cafe offered us a tea pot for $2 as we sat on tree stumps and enjoyed the quiet calm of being up so high. The tea was green, delicious and our seated position offered us a view of the Orchid garden. Walking around the top of the hill was an endless scene of beautiful flower beds and gardens.

We made our way back to Hanoi in style. The only option for us was to take the “Orient Express,” which cost $25 per person and was quite luxurious. However, we both agreed we would have preferred to pay less for the regular trains first class sleeper for the cheaper price.

We left Sapa feeling refreshed and inspired by the incredible fashion of the minority groups.