Sapa, Vietnam

Spectacular Sapa!

Transit to Sapa

I was picked up at 6:30 am from my very nice hotel in Hanoi. I am happy that we will be returning to San Grand Hotel at the end of our trip. The van was very comfortable with giant seats. After all the heat and walking, I was pretty happy to sit and relax for the 5+ hour journey. We stopped twice for drinks, snacks, and bathroom. I visited with an Australian family and a man from Switzerland. On the freeway, we were surrounded by other tour buses and vans. Clearly, Sapa was not a hidden destination!

First of many water buffalo sightings.

Outside of Hanoi, the land became filled with rice paddies. Hundreds of people were out working in the heat. It looks like back-breaking work! After a few hours, the scenery changed dramatically. There were lush green mountains and the road became windy. The driver was careful and I felt very safe. Once we left the freeway, we began the last hour up an incredibly windy narrow road leading to Sapa. It took some skillful driving to navigate the turns and all the other tourist traffic! As were neared town, tons of hotels and restaurants lined the road. It was Saturday and many local tourists were bound for the same place. Sapa's elevation is about 5,000 feet so the temperature dropped at least 10-15 degrees. What a relief!

The flat streets of Hanoi were gone as we climbed up and down the skinny streets of Sapa dropping people off at their hotels. Mine was down a narrow road where I happily checked in with a little upset stomach from the drive. My room is simple but just perfect. I still can't believe it is only $17 per night! I can tell this will be a great spot for the next four nights.

Once I got my bearings, I ordered some spring rolls from the restaurant right across the street. Simple, delicious and about $3 with a beer.

I decided to get walking and explore the town. It felt a lot like Vegas in the mountains! It wasn't what I was expecting. I wandered around the town's lake taking pictures here and there of the interesting tall and colorful buildings.

I bought myself a traditional snack. It was good but I still don't really know what it was. I found a small temple where I once again saw the kinds of offerings people leave.

I found my way to a garden spot for a microbrew. Something about this town felt relaxing even though it was busy. It probably had something to do with being surrounded by people on vacation.

I wandered some more and found Yummy Restaurant for dinner. I absolutely loved my papaya salad and bahn xeo. The kind server showed me how to roll up the ingredients in rice paper. So fresh and delicious.

Sapa lit up at night.

The jet lag hasn't quite let up so I made it an early night and enjoyed the quiet in my hotel room. Not a bad travel day!

An Epic Trek with an Incredible Guide

I began my day with my first pho of the trip. Delicious but not what I'm used to for breakfast. Pho is the most popular Vietnamese breakfast.

I arranged for a guide through Airbnb Adventures. Her name was Dinh and she picked me up from my hotel. She is part of the Hmong ethnic group and lives in a small village without electricity only accessed on foot. We began our long walk down to the valley and she told me stories about her life along the way.

She allowed me to customize my trip and asked if I wanted the easy touristy route or the more difficult route. Naturally I went for the tougher route. I hike all the time. How hard could it be? Let's just say that the trails would not even qualify as trails in the US. It was steep, muddy, and very slippery. I was in good spirits and Dinh was patient and helped me along. I did fall flat on my bum a couple of times. My running shoes weren't really cutting it. This is an example of a "good" path even passable for motorbikes.

The scenery was stunning and I took so many pictures.

I learned about the many uses for bamboo and how many varieties grow. They use it for kitchen tools, making stairs, storing water and so much more.

We encountered many water buffalo on our walk. They weren't scary at all and are revered by the people.

Dinh is about 21 years old. She doesn't know her birthdate because she was born at home in her tiny village. Her family traditionally works for food instead of money and sometimes earns just a bowl of rice a day. She has two small children and had an arranged marriage that has worked well for her. She speaks Hmong, Vietnamese, and English. She met some kind Americans who helped her with her education. She did not spend a lot of time in formal school. She had to walk miles to get there and she wrote with her fingers because she didn't have supplies. She told me all these things not to invoke pity but to shed light on how her people live. I found her smart, resourceful, and strong. She was under 5 feet tall and wore thin rubber boots yet she could navigate the hills like you wouldn't believe. She was full of life and energy, shared her dreams for the future, and the hardships she's endured. She's never been to a big city but enjoys meeting people from all over the world.

I forgot that another Hmong woman followed us for the first two+ hours of our journey. She wanted to sell me something but I had already told her no. Sadly, there are so many ethnic minority people selling goods on the street. You just can't buy from everyone. But this woman was persistent. She did not speak English but was kind and very helpful as I navigated the steep and slippery trail. I felt silly having both women helping this poor American down the nonexistent path. I ended up buying a purse from her.

We took a break at one point where I bought little bracelets from the cutest local children and snacked on a giant cucumber.

We had lunch together and continued walking through more stunning rice paddies, bamboo forests, and challenging hills. Cute puppy running around the cafe.

She also showed me how the Hmong people use hemp and indigo dye to make their traditional clothing. It's an herb that you can use to even dye your hand.

The part of the hike following lunch was my favorite. The weather had cleared a bit more and the views and shades of green were incredible!

At the end of the hike (6 hours later), her brother took me on his motorbike back to Sapa. It was an unforgettable morning that left me feeling grateful for how many opportunities I have been given. I learned a lot about Vietnam's ethnic minority groups and their struggles. It was a deep experience that will stick with me forever. My words here barely do the experience any justice at all.

When I returned the the hotel, I was absolutely filthy and soggy from the hiking. I showered and took my weary body for another massage. I am very spoiled.

I had chicken curry for dinner and called it a day. And what a day it was!

Cat Cat Village and Ham Long Mountain

I am finally starting to sleep in just a bit and made it to 7am. The hotel made me a yummy banana chocolate crepe for breakfast.

It was raining and drizzly but I still decided to walk downhill about 3-5 kilometers to Cat Cat Tourist Village I wasn't sure I wanted to visit this place because I had heard it was quite touristy. Although that was true, I absolutely loved it and can't believe I nearly missed this experience!

As I approached the village, shop after shop was displaying elaborate traditional outfits. Local tourists were renting them and getting all decked out for photo opportunities! For around $10-15, you could rent the whole outfit. I had so much fun watching people pose for pictures in their beautiful costumes.

It cost around $5 to enter the village which was well worth the experience. There were loads of handicrafts, traditional wooden homes, and my goodness, stairs! So many stairs! When I finally approached the river, there were wooden walkways and bridges to explore. I love this kind of thing! There were traditional waterwheels and so many nooks and crannies to explore. And the scenery was still spectacular.

The first thing I came upon was this strange treehouse thing. Turns out it provides some unique photo opportunities. I had to check it out too.

Check out the oversized jerky that was for sale everywhere! I did not try it.

I was so excited to come upon a group of children singing! I took video and pictures and thought they were absolutely adorable.

After more wandering, I heard an announcement about some sort of performance. Lucky for me, it was in the nearby building. I feel like I could count this performance as professional development for my job! I got so many ideas from the beautiful dances, unique flute playing, and bamboo dancing. I even took a turn trying the dance! I am already envisioning how my students are going to learn traditional bamboo dancing next year.

A few more pictures from inside Cat Cat Village.

On the way out of the village, I stopped and purchased three beautiful wall hangings to bring home. There were so many choices and I even bargained a little bit.

On the way back to Sapa, I stopped in at a pretty cafe for another coconut coffee. I wasn't quite sure how to dig into this tall mountainous drink!

I wandered a bit more and finally felt a little hungry. I had some fried spring rolls and a passion fruit smoothie for lunch. So yummy! I was entertained watching the traffic. It isn't uncommon to see a family of four on a motorbike.

After a quick reboot in my hotel room, I decided to spend the afternoon hiking up Ham Rong Mountain. I had to pay about $3 to enter the park and like other Vietnamese attractions, this one was a little confusing too. But in a good way! I wandered along paths going this way and that and enjoyed the shade, pretty terrain, and lack of tourists.

I met some tourists near the top who wanted their picture taken with me. So weird! I was the only non-Asian person in this park. It is fun being around local tourists who are on vacation. One of them offered me an apple type-thing that they picked from a tree. Pretty good. The view from the summit was really pretty of Sapa below.

This is the section where I post weird animal statue things and signs that made me laugh. So random, at least to me!

I almost forgot that I caught another live performance in the park. The music was so loud but I was entertained yet again.

I grabbed an ice cream on the way down the mountain and was pleased that I found this place. It was a very pleasant couple of hours. Naturally, it was happy hour again so I went back to the place with the fancy craft beers and cozy garden with cute critters.

I'd managed to get through another lovely day and capped it off with my favorite meal yet. A delicious cocktail, pumpkin soup, and shrimp noodle stir fry for under $8. The view wasn't too shabby either.

I ended the day connecting with family and feeling a little smug about my success as a solo traveller. Little did I know I'd encounter my first hurdle in the morning.

Banking in Vietnam and Fansipan Mountain

I had an omelet for breakfast and set out on my final day in Sapa. I don't think I've mentioned enough how pleasant the weather has been. I know this will be the last cool place before the rest of the trip at lower elevations. I was down to less than $20 US in dong. It was time to hit the ATM. The first one rejected my card. No big deal. Just try another one. Eight to ten ATMs later I realized I had a problem. I called DH and he patiently tried to troubleshoot some options. Try adding 00 before the pin number because they use six digit pins. Nope. Try going inside the bank. Nope. The bank I used in Hanoi did not exist in Sapa. In fact, there really weren't many banking choices in this town. I was more frustrated than panicked because I was returning to Hanoi tomorrow and knew I could survive on the cash I had as long as my hotel accepted a credit card. Thank goodness they do! Many places are cash-only in Vietnam which is why this was an issue. I calmed myself with another coconut coffee.

I finally remembered that I had a few US dollars with me. I went back to the bank and exchanged them for dong with a good rate. I wish I had thought of that sooner and had brought along more US money. Luckily, I relayed the message to DH and he will come prepared.

The weather was pretty dismal but I still decided to take the fancy gondola up to Fansipan Mountain. At over 10,000 feet it's the tallest in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. I walked for about 40 minutes to the gondola. There was a beautiful temple at the base along with more photo ops.

The gondola ride is the longest in Asia, clocking in at nearly 20 minutes each way. It was recognized by Guinness as the world's tallest, longest and most modern three-wire cable car system. Unfortunately, the weather was terrible so I had to buy a poncho to stay dry. I was still so impressed with the infrastructure atop the mountain. So many temples, a giant Buddha, a staircase waterfall and so much more.

It wasn't quite the experience I was hoping for but I made the best of it. I was tired and bravely hired a $2 motorbike ride back into town. So fun!

I grabbed a snack which shows proof of the altitude here.

I enjoyed sitting in my little window seat this afternoon working on this blog. I finally took a break and went for an aimless walk. Somehow I ended up back at the same massage place for a 45 minute foot massage. So nice! I returned to the same place for dinner and tried a really unique salad and spring rolls. My view changed dramatically during dinner.

That's a wrap, Sapa. I had a great time but will probably never return. I'm so excited to meet up with DH and DD#2 in Hanoi tomorrow!