Blogs from Northwest, Vietnam, Asia - page 5

It was my second evening in Hanoi. I took an overnight train to Sapa. I love traveling by trains, well, when it is possible. I did the same when I travelled to Chiang Mai from Bangkok in Thailand. To me, it brings a whole lot of different dimensions to my travel. I look out the window of my train traveling in the darkness in the middle of the night, I see just the silhouette figures,- trees, hills, forests all passing by in the darkness. Sometimes a level crossing appears with shower of lights, shops, and traffic waiting at the crossing,…just a touch of civilization for a moment. Then it is gone, …gone forever in the darkness. It’s mesmerizing! With an alien world of darkness out there, I stray around in a mystical world….”hello darkness my old ... read more

Nous voilà sur Diem Bien Phu(Vietnam) une ville pas énormément charmante, du coup dès le soir bus de nuit pour le Nord, Sapa ! Le bus arrive sur Sapa à 4 heure du matin sous la pluie on peu du coup redécouvrir le soir le froid ont trouve un petit abri en attendant de voir Mama tchi une Mong à nous avons donné rendez-vous pour un trek futur dans sont village, pour notre première nuit ont va rester sur Sapa pour acheter des habit chaud ( Manteaux, gant et collant de montagne). Le point positif du froid c'est que le soir venus notre chambre avait des lits chauffant ! Le Lendemain nous partons pour 3 jours de trek dans les montagnes faite de magnifique rizière en terrasse mais hélas ont ne voit pas très loin pour ... read more

Cloudy, foggy, freezing, rainy. Those were all the words I heard to describe Sapa. Don't get me wrong, I had also heard it was beautiful. But it's December in north Vietnam, and if it's foggy, you can't see anything so don't bother. Back in Saigon, I had met that Kiwi guy, and he gave me a phone number. He told me that when I go to Sapa, I should call that number and say, "Mama Sung, pick me up at the church." With all the tours offered, I decided to wing it and call Mama Sung. Knowing that I would be trekking all day after a night bus and not napping, I decided to take more extreme measures. So, in Vietnam, you can buy Valium over the counter. About $8 for 10 pills. I've never taken ... read more

Our German friends from Luang Prabang had told us wonderful stories of their homestay with Mama Sung in her village near Sapa, we just had to give her a call ? As soon as she answered the phone, I knew we were in for a treat, she had such a sweet and wispy voice and a real joker! We met her at the church, she was speaking with other villagers who belong to her tribe (Hmong tribe) and some were making and selling their handmade items, they all have bucket loads of talent. We introduced ourselves and she had the brightest smile and warmest heart (could tell by her hug ?) She reminded me of a grandma from a fairy-tale. Whilst we waited on another couple who would be joining us to do the homestay, we ... read more

Yesterday was a major highlight of the trip so far! We got up for the usual hostel breakfast then inquired at the tour desk if there were any good areas we could go if we were to rent motorbikes for half a day. The roads here are terrifying so we hoped that up in Sapa where there is less traffic we would have a better chance at surviving! There was a small village called Ta Phin that was accessible only by foot or motorbike and also had herbal baths. So we rented two motorbikes - mom and dad doubled up on one and I took the other - and we set off with some pretty loose directions for how to get to this village. It was misty and cloudy as we left Sapa but as we ... read more