Sapa: Cameron Highlands on Crack

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Arrived in Lao Cai just after 6am. Mini van picked us up at the station for the hour or so drive to Sapa. After checking in (our room is fantastic; huge with t.v., fridge, double and single bed and a lovely bathroom) we had showers then brekkie (all meals are included in our tour and it's cool here as you get to choose what you'd like off a little menu, we had scrambled eggs and baguette).

At 9am we were split into our tour groups and put with a tour guide, ours was a 27 yr old woman (though she looked more like a girl) called Lam A from Lao Chai village. We were feeling a little apprehensive as there were about 40 Black H'mong tribe women of all different ages waiting to pounce on us as soon as we left the hotel and as we started to walk to Cat Cat Village they walked alongside us and there was about 1-2 of them for each one of us. However it was actually quite nice, we just chatted and asked questions about each other lives, names, where we're from, age, kids etc. Of course we knew we'd be expected to buy at the end but at least for the most part we weren't harassed. So they left us just before we entered Cat Cat Village as they were unable to enter as they were from a different tribe (Lao Chai) and we bought a couple of bracelets. They all just say 'you buy from me' and if you've already bought from one of their friends they'll say 'you buy from her now you buy from me'! They're quite cheeky but we found them to have a good sense of humour and they smiled lots.

The scenery here is potentially the most stunning we have seen, reminiscent of Cameron Highlands but even more beautiful. We walked through the village taking pics of some of the children, the animals (pigs, buffalo, geese, dogs, cats) and the surrounding scenery.The next stop was a pretty waterfall and then we made our way back up the hill which was steep in parts and I was outta puff a few times. It was a 6km round trek and we got back to the hotel just after 12. Our guide is fantastic, she speaks great English and is interesting, relaxed and quite playful, imitating my accent the cheek :p

Had lunch at hotel, had a choice of 20(!) set menus and each one contained enough food to feed an army. We had the afternoon to ourselves so we wandered into town to see the market, the Catholic Church and the lake stopping for a drink at one of the nice cafes. The town is a really sweet mountainside village full of cafes and Black H'mong women trying to sell you bags, belts, jewellery etc.

Went back to room for a couple of hours before tea for shower and I had a nap :P Huuuge meal again for tea. Decided just to watch t.v. and get an early night ready for the big trek tomorrow.

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