Sapa, Vietnam

The second leg of National Day long weekend getaway, Sapa, a remote mountainous area in the north of Vietnam, close to the border to China. The 3D2N tour was booked again from First Choice Travel

7 Aug
At 8 pm, we were picked up and sent to Hanoi Train Station. The train station reminds me of train stations in Indonesia. It looks similar with lots of people around and the noise as well. We were catching overnight train to Lao Cai, the nearest city to Sapa. The train left around 9 pm and reached Lao Cai at 5 am.

The cabin was shared by 4 people, there are a Spanish tour leader who was leading a group of tour from Spain accompanied by a local tour guide. Both of them made a perfect combination and they are so funny and friendly. We had a nice chat with them.

Train Compartment

8 Aug
The train reached Lao Cai at around 5 am, the officer knocked all compartment's doors around 15 minutes before it reached to wake everybody up. We stayed in Royal Sapa Hotel and they gave us free pick up at the train station. It's another 40km ride from Lao Cai to Sapa.

After taking bath in the hotel, we had breakfast and our tour guide picked us up at 9.30am for a hard trek to Ta Van village and Lao Chai village. We are in a group of 7 people. The trek was all the way down but there is no proper road for it and it was raining the night before to make the soil very slippery. It was the hardest trek I ever done in my life. I almost fell a few times. A local tribe lady helped me throughout the trek. However, the view along the trek was really really awesome, worth all the effort to walk. We had our lunch at Lao Chai village, the village that lady is staying. She asked me to buy something from her, but I can't bring too many things with me, so I just gave her VND150000 as tips.

Sapa

Another view of Sapa

The trek after lunch was much better, it's quite hot under the sun. We ended the trek around 3 pm in the afternoon and all the time after that are free.

After having proper bath and a bit of rest in the hotel, we came out again. Yes, we feel guilty to just stay in hotel. We went around Sapa town, had traditional Vietnamese coffee in a local shop, and visited Sapa market. Sapa is a small town. We got back to the hotel by dinner time, we tried the famous Hanoi beer as well. At night, we really ran out of energy and slept very nicely.

Royal Sapa Hotel Room

Sapa Church

Sapa Market

9 Aug
The rooster woke us up in the morning, the morning air in Sapa felt so fresh. We started an easy trek to Cat Cat village after breakfast. It was supposed to be 5 people in the group this time, but two people were missing. So yeah, it was only 2 of us and an Australian old man plus our tour guide.

View behind our hotel

Cat Cat village is home for the Black Hmong people. The trek is very easy, it's a properly built road and stairs. The view is nice althought not as nice as the day before. We visited their shops selling all the handcrafts and leaf paintings, but we didn't buy anything. There is a waterfall at the valley where we stopped to have rest and take some photos. On the way back, we stop again at a small stall where we saw a group of French tourists quarrelling over photographs. It's a pity to quarrel in such a beautiful and tranquil place.

Black Hmong People

Waterfall

Afternoon after lunch is also free time. We decided to go to Ham Rong mountain nearby, just 5 minutes walk from our hotel. It's a nice garden although most of them are man-made. The entrance ticket is VND30000. There are Orchid garden, European garden, Stone Forest, etc. to see. We sat there, had the most expensive instant coffee in my life for VND30000 while enjoying the view of Sapa town.

Ham Rong Mountain

We were picked up to Lao Cai train station at around 6pm, it's a hard bumpy journey that will be enough to make you feel dizzy. The train left at 9.10 pm. This time we shared the compartment with 2 ladies, looks like a mother and a daughter, very quiet ones.