sapa

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We took the over night train from Hanoi to Lao Cai in northern Vietnam on the chinese border. From here a minibus took us to the village of Sapa where we met our guide, a cheeky little local girl called Chi with a quick turn of phrase. The first days trekking involved a 12km hike through the mountains to a local village where we stayed the night with a local family. We had a fantastic time here with the other people in our group, an australian couple Lynda & John and a German called Thomas. We went swimming in the river with kids from the village before dinner. The family and the guide made a massive feed for us before they brought out the rice wine (think moonshine!!) Needless to say we were glad to have a fairly easy day trekking the next day. Chi took us to a family home in the village to collect some herbal medicine for her sick brother and we were invited in to see their home. It was a very primitive existence but they all seemed so happy. The trek this day took us to a waterfall for a swim and a few beers where the fridge was a bamboo basket submerged in the water, but it sure done the trick. The water at the waterfall was freezing.. In the afternoon we took an old russian army jeep back to Sapa. My bones are still rattling. The overnight train took us back to Hanoi where we left for Halong Bay next morning.

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