Sapa Excursion

Me and my fellow travelers (ahem) spent the last few two days in Sapa, which is about 8 hours by train from Hanoi. One night in Sapa sandwiched by two overnight train rides. Sapa is up in the mountains so its misty and chilly, but when the sun comes out its rather hot, ranging from 40s - upper 60s in one day.

The first day we did a half day trek to a few of the local villages. The people here still wear their traditional clothes and there are a few tribes in all, so lots of interesting costumes. The trek was absolutely stunning - miles of terraced rice fields that look like ripples in a river. We hung out with our guide, Chi. We are pretty sure she smoked opium after lunch as her eyes were red and she was so silly. Opium is their biggest crop here so wouldnt be a surprise. A good day though, esp considering how it warmed up.

Dinner last night around a fireplace in a restaurant, then a cold night in the hotel. It was like camping. The three of us shared a room, so someone was in charge of keeping the fire going and we had electric blankets and two electric heaters. Didn't do much good, but still not a bad night's sleep. Maybe better than the overnight train? :) We had a bit of hot water which was nice. Funny how their accomodations are so different than our standards. But hey, only 10 bucks a person.

Today we chilled in the village and ran into some friends of one of my traveler friends. Tonite back on the overnight train to Hanoi. Then need to figure out how to get to Laos. Even lonely planet said trying to take a bus to cross the border into Laos is "hell." Unfortunately the alternative is a plane which is more expensive, but I think it will be worth it.

train back to Hanoi