A well earned sleep in with rising at 0730. I had to put the ear plugs in at about 0330 because of the rooster. We aren't leaving until 1000 so had a few hours to kill including a giant stack of pancakes and getting the kids to frolick in the rice paddies so I could take pictures of them. I managed to get on the bank of one which is no easy feat and walking along the narrow bank of the terrace was even trickier. If I lost balance then I'd be having a bath. Once we had trekked through the main village and about 5km into the trip we had a nice relatively flat, concreted walking path and I thought today would be easy. How wrong I was. We trekked through some awfully thick, slippery ... read more

At Home With the Hmong Tribe

Asia » Vietnam » Northwest » Lao Cai » Sapa July 17th 2015

Rain on the Trek

Wogolin

At 0915 we started our trek from Sapa. It was pretty tough going as we started with some rain making it so, so humid. I didn't even bother with the rain coat and just used an umbrella which was much cooler. Most of the trail was very rocky and muddy making it difficult and it wasn't long before. Our guide is called Mi and she kept up a good pace. These ladies do it every day. Apparently the men stay at home to look after the kids while the women do treks and sell things to tourists. The families make enough rice to feed their families most of the time and they thier own produce but still need extra money to buy meat etc. It wasn't long before I lost my balance on a stream crossing ... read more

sat day 169

Asia » Vietnam » Northwest » Lao Cai » Sapa July 10th 2015

Sarahs182

Today was going to be day one of the home stay with Mai and her family. Feeling a little apprehensive i packed my bags - my large one to leave at the hostel and my small one to take with me. With my headache shifted i made my way upstairs to breakfast and headed out to meet Mai and the others by the church for 9am. I was there and so was Mai and the other Hmong lady but no sign of the girl from the hostel so walking back down i said i would go in to see if i could find her. I found her sitting chatting with another girl and seeming to have no intention of coming outside to speak to the lady she had agreed to go on the homestay with - ... read more

sun day 170

Asia » Vietnam » Northwest » Lao Cai » Sapa July 10th 2015

Sarahs182

Waking up after what felt like a good nights sleep this was the 2nd day of the home stay. Getting dressed and sorting out my bag i headed down the bamboo ladder to find no sign of Mai and her husband. The children were entertaining themselves with some friends from a nearby house in clothes that look like they've never been washed - and running around with bare feet. As i sat just outside the house and read my book about an hour later Mai and her husband showed up with a bag of bananas they had brought from the market. With the fire being fired up a large batch of pancakes were cooked and after being filled with banana and sugar they were lovely. I was told to eat before the children but feeling uncomfortable ... read more

fri day 168

Asia » Vietnam » Northwest » Lao Cai » Sapa July 8th 2015

Sarahs182

With an early start of 06.30 I got picked up from the hostel with a couple of others and driven round to meet the coach. Getting a good seat/bed on the sleeper bus we were soon to be on our way. I hadn't organized myself with any snacks for the 6hr journey as you always stop for a rest break. Well, not stopping and only the Vietnamese being offered water I was pretty famished by the time we got there. I'd found an old banana at the bottom of my bag so that had to do me. As we got closer the scenery changed dramatically, large lush green hills, rivers and hill tribe women selling their goods along the sides of the roads. As we pulled into the station the bus became surrounded by hill tribe ... read more

Sa Pa

Asia » Vietnam » Northwest » Lao Cai » Sapa July 1st 2015

Lao Cai

naylorsontour2015

Our Pick up for train to Lao Cai took us to the train station and we boarded the 10.00pm sleeper train to Lao Cai. We had a small wooden compartment with four bunks but Tom paid double for us to have the compartment to ourselves. There was barely enough room for the two of us and our luggage! We arrived in Lao Cai at 6.00 am to rain and quickly found our pick up for Sa Pa, which was an hour's drive. As you leave Lao Cai you cross a river and on the right you can see a tall building which is in China! The journey to Sa Pa was very picturesque, travelling through the rice terraces and plots of sweetcorn. We passed through the occasional group of small houses and saw dogs, children and ... read more

Brief history of Vietnam

The conquest of Vietnam by France began in 1858 and was completed by 1884. It became part of French Indochina in 1887. Independence was declared after World War II, but the French continued to rule until 1954 when they were defeated by Communist forc...more history

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