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Published: April 26th 2009
Villages of Sapa
Houses surounded by rice fields in the village of Linh No.Planes, Trains & a Birthday
17 April 2009 -
Well, after some needed down-time, our travel spirits were recharged and it time to move on. Our final destination was the mountain town of Sapa and it involved several modes of transport to get there. First involved an easy flight from Hue to Hanoi, where we would catch our over-night train to Sapa. The Hue airport was small with almost no security checking at all. We landed in the clean spacious Hanoi airport to see our favorite site; someone standing outside holding a sign with our names written on it and our hotel name. This nice guy guided us out to the front made a quick call on his mobile phone and our very nice car pulled up to take us to our hotel in the old quarter of Hanoi. I think all this guy does is meet passengers and transfer them into their pickup cars. Very smooth service.
The drive into the city was about 45 minutes and interesting. Passed lots of rice fields with children riding the water buffaloes alongside the road then as we got closer to the city we saw more interesting action on the
Cozy Cabin
Our travel agent "Tam" and Kathy in our train cabin. She wanted to make sure we got on the right train. motorcycles; much more livestock being moved around. One guy with about 5 big cages strapped onto his motorbike containing about 8 or 10 young pigs. Not piglets, each one was probably about 40 lbs. Then there was the bike with the whole roasted dogs strapped on behind. We also passed huge warehouse/factories with names like Cannon, Yamaha and Panasonic on the side of the buildings and large groups of shift workers getting what looked like a pre shift pep talk. All dressed alike in white coveralls. What we saw from the road is how huge Hanoi is. One big city which haven’t seen yet as we were only there to change our mode of transportation from plane to train. We headed to the old quarter which is …. Intense. Lot’s of people on top of each other, next to each other. Hard to walk on the sidewalk as it was crowded with parked motorcycles and bikes. Then once the sun went down and the day workers came home the sidewalks turned into their living rooms and everyone was out sitting on the sidewalk or their stoop. We had arranged to stay at the Duc Thai hotel when we came back
Last train to Sapa
Our train just about to leave the station... better get back on. from Sapa and they offered to keep our luggage while were in Sapa and included the use of a room before we caught our 8:30PM train for free (being able to shower and put on some fresh clothes always improves your outlook). The Duc Thai is a nice hotel, extremely clean, fairly quiet, western type bathrooms, great staff and only 10 minutes from the train station.
Our friends in Saigon had recommended we use their travel agent to book our train tickets as there are lots of people claiming to have gotten swindled; paying for a deluxe sleeper cabin and getting the basic sleeper cabins on a lower class train. We are glad we took their advice. We contacted Tham, told her what we wanted and she took care of everything. She even met us at the hotel when when we arrived in Hanoi, to hand over our train tickets and answer any questions. The best part is that she also took us to the train station later that evening and once again, we are soooo glad she did. That place is a zoo. There are 2 train stations in Hanoi; make sure you go to the correct one.
This is Sapa
Majestic, Calm, and very real. Once in the station with your ticket voucher (not the real ticket yet) in hand you go to the waiting area (not the station itself) and wait for a company representative to show up (they were 15 minutes late and only have a small placard that tells you what company they work for). Once you find them you can exchange your voucher for the real ticket then you go through a door at the other end of the room and out into the platform area (keeping in mind there are no signs telling you any of this). You have to cross several sets of tracks before you can find your platform then locate your carriage number and show your ticket to get on. Oh, and don’t forget to keep your ticket because you have to show it again to get out of the train station at your destination, or you must pay again. We probably would have figured all this out on our own by joining up forces with other obvious tourists looking lost and frustrated, with similar train ticket vouchers clutched in their sweaty hands, but it’s great we didn’t have to. Tham handled it all and we just
Water Buffalo Crossing
Main traffic circle in Sapa. They stop for no one, but everyone stops for them. sat in the waiting area smiling and patient.
Our train car was the Star Express deluxe and very nice. The cabin was wood paneled with 4 sleeping berths, each one with sheets and a clean comforter. The cabin had air conditioning (which cut in and out during the night but kept it cool enough) and a welcome basket with crackers, water and moist towelette for each person. Each birth had individual hooks on the walls and reading lights. The train was very clean and even smelled clean, making for a pleasant way to travel. During the night, Mike turned 47. Not a bad way to celebrate your birthday; riding on a train through Vietnam. We arrived into Lao Cai (nearest rail station to Sapa) at 5AM, were met by our hotel rep and were sitting in the minibus ready to move out by 5:15AM. The only problem was with our driver wasn’t ready to move out. We had to wait for 2 other trains and more passengers to arrive. The last train was late so we didn’t leave the station until 6:30AM, what a drag. We definitely recommend not booking transfer between Lao Cai and Sapa with your hotel
Art of the Deal
I have this totally under control and right where I want them... Really! and just buying a bus ticket instead. You’ll leave the station a lot faster on the regular bus and it’s only 30,000 dong (less than $2 USD). There is a table selling the bus tickets near where you show your train ticket to get out of the station with a good sign in English.
The drive from Lao Cai to Sapa was beautiful. About 1 hour and pretty much uphill all the way passing lots of terraced rice fields (which are kind of brown this time of year at the end of the dry season, this place has a dry season?) Lot’s of misty, thick fog. We arrived at the Thai Binh Hotel and were immediately greeted by the owner and sat down to a breakfast. We had to wait until someone checked out and they could clean a room before we could get settled in so we headed out for a walk to see the town.
The Splendor of Sapa
18 Apr 2009
Sapa is a beautiful town tucked into the hillside at the lip of a beautiful valley. Lots of hotels and restaurant choices within walking distance of each other. In fact, everything
Redza Women
Ti May, Es May & Ta May pose outside Ti May's house. seems to be in within walking distance of every place in this town. The streets are dotted with hill tribe women in traditional clothing selling their tourists wares. They seem to outnumber the tourists about 3 to 1 which makes for some difficult strolling as you are constantly being besieged “Buy from me! Buy from me!” As soon as it looks like you might be buying something from one of them, they all come running and shove merchandise in your face. You may be starting to make a deal with one lady then all of a sudden you are surrounded by 8 of them. And if it looks like you might be making a purchase from a younger girl, one of the older ladies will swoop in to try and steal the sale. For entertaining people watching, it’s safest to find a restaurant table without sidewalk access otherwise they will always being at your table. This way you can watch them chase down the other tourists and sometimes watching the tourists run away. Sapa is a charming and beautiful place with the one drawback being the street vendors. You have to totally ignore them or say ”no thank you” about
Boy & his Buffalo
With a small stick and big confidance he kept them in line. 5 times before they move on. Humorous at first, it quickly becomes very annoying and puts a whole damper on the joy of walking the streets.
We spent most of the day just wondering around and making plans for the next two days. The place is known for some great 1 days and 2 day treks through the mountains and valleys. You get to stop at several different villages and see the daily life of the various tribes. We scheduled a motorbike trip for 1 day and a trek for the next. Neither one of us slept that great on the train, so it was an early night with an early wake up the next day.
19 April 2009
Today we rented 2 motorcycles, hired a guide and took off into the Sapa mountains. We drove up to the summit at about 6,000 feet and a local waterfall which wasn’t much due to it being the end of the dry season (can this place have a dry season?) but still a nice ride. As we made our way up and down the mountain, we encountered much construction. The big difference here is that almost all of it is
Lunch Break
Village girl eating her rice. done by manual labor and they put up no warning signs or safety cones; you just have to find a safe way around it. We continued on back down the hill and into the villages outside Sapa; visiting 2 different tribes (Hmong and Red Dao). We spoke with some of the ladies and then were invited into their homes.
On riding toward the village I had seen many barns and was wondering why there would be so many, yet no houses. The barns turned out to be their homes. And it looks just like one of our barns but without the stalls. There are usually multiple generations of family in the same home making up around 10 people. 3 places for a fire, 1 for warmth during the winter, 1 cooking hearth for people and the last a huge wok for cooking the animal food and heating water for washing. The beds were wooden platforms with blankets and thin pads and there may be a room partitioned off for sleeping for some of the occupants. Everything was very open and there is usually some of the livestock and dogs wandering through. If they have electricity it is usually just
Day on the Trail
Heading down into the valley for a village visit. for a bare light bulb. After our visit it was back on the bikes and we made our way out of the valley and back to town. On the way we stopped to watch a small boy tending his family’s buffalo in a field while his sister ate her lunch nearby. Ah, what a great day.
Our Amazing (yet muddy) Trek Back in Time
20 April 2009
Today was the day for our big trek; 10 kilometers (7 miles) winding down the valley behind Sapa, where many of the tribe villages are located. Our guide, Chi, who is a girl from the Hmong tribe picked us up at our hotel and were driven about a mile out of town and dropped off near the starting point of one of the trails. It had rained during the night and the trail which consist of rocks and dirt was a bit on the muddy side. The valley is covered with terraced farming and small groups of houses dot the hillsides and the next 5 hours were a journey through some magnificent scenery and wonderful views of the farmers and their families at their work. Each time we
Rice Terraces
Another site on our trek into the villages. passed a group of kids, they would come over to us or wave and yell “hello” from where they were. If children are lucky they are sent to the government school (there is one in each village) for about 5 years for ½ day. The rest of the time they are usually helping with the family farm; either tending the buffalo, other livestock, plowing, or keeping the home. Not all children go to school and it’s not required by law, it is encouraged but left mostly up to the parents. Some can continue on to high school but it’s located in Sapa and you have to pay, so many kids end their schooling with the village school and work fulltime on the farm. We saw no farm machinery of any kind and the only engines we saw were the ones on the motorbikes. Everything is done by manual labor. Lots of farm animals wandering around, lots of pot belly pigs, goats, ducks, geese, chickens, etc and they all seemed to have babies following them. Most of the animals were wandering free, mucking about in the muddy rice fields, the buffaloes leaping from level to level was something I didn’t think
Wanna Trade Places?
I could imagine the buffalo thinking this as we stood nose to nose for this shot. they could do. We asked how everyone knows who they belong to and we were told the owners know which are theirs and the animals know where their homes are.
It’s hard to believe these people walk this trail on a sometimes daily basis. At times it was a nice flat dirt path about 3 feet wide, at other times it was less than a foot wide with a steep drop on the downhill side, other times we crossed a dry riverbed, full creekbeds. My minor fear of heights was kicking in a bit especially crossing the foot bridge (over the river) made up of cables and wooden planks (not all there). And there was plenty of evidence the water buffaloes also went this route which assured me we weren’t too much weight for the bridge. I had to call for a break a couple times when we had an especially long uphill stretch and Mike and I both had our share of slips and near falls. It had rained the day before and the trail was slippery mixture of clay mud and buffalo piles. I also stopped frequently because I had a choice of watching the scenery or
Walking Home
Our guide Che and 2 other women on the trail. watching where I was putting my feet. Couldn’t do both. Our group was made up of 6 people, us, our guide Chi and 3 village women who I guess were going our direction and knew Chi. It took us a few miles to realize they each were carrying a baby strapped to their backs. We were struggling along carrying just our day packs and they were much smaller than us and carrying their babies and having no problem at all. The entire time they were with us we never heard one of the babies cry, only some normal baby gurgles. Now that’s a kid I like!
At several points along the trek we encountered the rice flour mills powered by running water. The water filled a hollowed out tree trunk, when heavy enough the tree swung down to empty the water then swung back up to refill. The other end of the tree trunk had a pounder of sorts which pounded a container of rice to powder/flour. All water powered and a very slow process. The terrace farming is very well done. Rice fields have to be flooded so they have made a bamboo pipe system spilling water from
Kids in Window
Buying a braclet. each level to the one below, along with a natural run-off design. Around noon we stopped in one of the villages, at a small wooden structure which served as both local café and mini-mart. During our lunch stop we had an audience of small children who gathered at the window to watch and try to get Mike (who was sitting near the window) to buy some home-made bracelets. The hotel had packed way too much food for just the 3 of us and we gave the rest of our sliced cucumbers, tomatoes and bread to the kids. This made for a very entertaining break and once over (bracelets purchased & good-byes said) it was back on the trail. Yes, at the end of the day, once back in the hotel enjoying cold Tiger beers, we felt like we had just hiked back in time, seen wonderful things and met amazing people. And…what a perfect way to bring our 3 week journey through Vietnam to an end.
Leaving Vietnam
21 April 2009
Oh man. Mike and I have really been traveling way too long. Too many hotels and too many hotel rooms. We are having trouble remember
Home
Typical style home. our hotel room number and today we almost left Sapa a day early. Multiple times here we have picked up the key for room 201, when we are staying 204. Room 201 was our last hotel. Good thing I was double checking our train tickets as we finished packing and realized the date didn’t look right. We leave tomorrow!! Normally, Mike and I make a good team and save each other from these goofs but this time we both were blind. Feeling a bit silly right now. Good thing we realized our mistake when we finished packing and not when we were at the Lao Cai train station, an hour away from here. It really turns out to be a good thing. If we knew we had another day we would have booked a tour or trek this morning and been miserable because it rained all morning. Not the weather to be out trudging up and down muddy trails. So it all ends well. The only restaurants worth mentioning at this stop (for those of you heading this way) are Buffalobells, Delta Pizza and Chocolate & Begets.
It’s now back on the train to Hanoi, then a flight to
Siem Reap for a week of exploring temples.
Good Bye Sapa - Good Bye Vietnam
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Amy
non-member comment
Happy Birthday Mike!! You don't look a day past 30! :)