Beautiful Sapa

---

So the hard sleeper wasn't SO bad. We shared it with Sophie's friend Magnus and 3 other vietnamese men. They were very friendly and it always makes for a more interesting experience when you do as the romans do. One of the men rocked out to Magnus' discman most of the evening... pretty funny stuff. I woke up to find two young boys who had clearly just been watching me sleep through the barred window. They were excited now that this strange white creature was up and moving and so continued to watch and stare as I get up, pack... it would have been really creepy if they weren't only 8 or 9 years old. They didn't leave until their parents called them off the train.
We followed and it was only 15 minutes into the hour drive up to Sapa from Lao Cai, up up up winding through beautiful green rice terraces that I knew I would love it there. It was so incredibly stunning. Northern Vietnam definitely wins for the most beautiful breathtaking spots so far. On top of this, the air was cool - the first time I've felt that since I left home. The town of Sapa itself is very charming and reminds me somewhat of a mountain town back home. Of course add in hoards of hill tribe girls hawking their goods... "you buy from me????" ringing in your ears CONSTANTLY! They are very clever those girls. They remember your names and every other detail of your life you give them and constanly surprise you... running up behind me hours after talking to them and screaming "Susanna you said you'd buy from me? Why you no buy from me... buy for your sister!" Damn it!
We found a great hotel and were lucky enough to get a cheap room on the top floor with a breathtaking view of Sapa and the rice terraces beyond. It was quite surreal. That day, aside from chatting endlessly with the beautiful little girls, we walked up "tourist mountain". Quite funny. It was a pretty neat little hill though. It brought you high up to some great view points and it was filled with beautiful gardens and you could hear traditional music echoing from somewhere. Sapa just has a great vibe. So of course we were extremely disappointed to learn we had to catch the night train the next night. Because we had come on the weekend the sunday train back had filled up early. Wow, I was SO disappointed. This is a place I could spend at least 3 or 4 days. We really wanted to rent motorbikes and just explore the area.
To ease the pain, that evening we enjoyed our favorite Dalat wine (from southern vietnam)and just took in the scenery from our patio. Afterwards we headed out to a bar for some football... or rather for me a little dart action - I'm happy to inform those of you who have ever seen me play darts before, that I'm back. I am hitting the board again, and even better I actually have accuracy! Sorry, but this is really exciting for me.
So the next day we got up early for our trek into the rice terraces and through 3 small villages. As soon as we set out we had a few girls who would accompany us all the way to their village! They chatted to us for quite a while and weren't trying to sell us anything. It was quite nice. Their clothing is a really beautiful deep indigo - unfortunately it leeches onto everything so buying a bag or a headband isn't recommended. So we 'trekked' (sounds so much more hardcore than it actually is!) for about 3 or 4 hours and every second of it I was in awe. The colors were amazing. We were lucky to get a beautifully sunny day since I think Sapa is often a bit foggy and drizzly. So imagine the blue sky, lush green rice terraces, the deep blue of the girls' dress... just surreal. I know I use that word a lot, but really there is no other to describe it!
I can't write much more about it, hopefully the pictures will do it some justice. That evening after satisfying our little tribal salesgirls by finally buying some of their bracelets, we caught the bus back down to Lao Cai and jumped on the nighttrain - this time enjoying a deep sleep in a spacious A/C soft sleeper!

---

Photos

Sapa!
The view from our pinocchio hotel patio!