Sapa

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Hi all,
Well we have been very cold since we last wrote ,which has been quite homely & led to us buying fleeces & hats! We just made the overnight train to Sapa after a slightly stressful evening. We thought we were well organised turning up to the train 1 hour before it left, but thank goodness we did. The lady on the platform door woudln't accept our tickets which had cost us $120 & was very unhelpful as to why! We eventually worked out after talking to other tourists that you had to swap the vouchers outside for proper tickets with reps from travel companys. Unfortunately no one recognized our vouchers & told us they were false! We had nearly given up hope that we were going to make the train with 5 mins to spare before departure when a guy strolled up to us & started chatting, we told him the situation & he recognized our vouchers & found our rep, we were rushed through to the platform , lucky to get through as the unhelpful lady had locked the doors & wouldn't let us go at first, we had to sprint to the train across several train tracks with all our luggage, good old adrenalin! It took us a little while to calm down & we settled into our little bunk beds, fortunately we were sharing with 2 nice french girls(lucky for Mark!!). It was pretty noisy but we got a few hours sleep & arrived at 5.30am. We took a bus from the station to Sapa, Mark said it was lucky I was asleep as the driver was overtaking on bends on a sheer cliff edge! We had a nap when we arrived at the guesthouse & then went for breakfast at the local cafe- Baguette & Chocolat, Amazing pastries!! We only went there another 6 times in 3 days. Another couple sat next to us & I soon recognised their yorkshire accent, it turned out he was from Tockwith, v close to Wetherby & that they now live in Newcastle & that she works at the RVI as a teacher on the pediatric wards. Then we realised that Mark & I recognised her & vice versa & we had actually worked together, small world! They had also just been working in Tanzania so we had a lot to talk about as you can imagine! We enjoyed strolling around Sapa & having lunch by a nice fire. It reminds us a little of the lake District. It even has an English pub where we went for dinner & enjoyed Bangers & Mash & Shepherds Pie which I had really been craving, yum!! We spent the next 2 days doing some trekking with a really nice guide through the tribal villages, the views were stunning. The first day was pretty tough lots of uphill but good excercise after all the pastries! The local people are so fit, we saw a lady carrying a huge bag of logs on her back, apparently she was 80! The second day was slightly less touristy but abit more tricky underfoot crossing streams & lots of slippy narrow bits, 2 local girls followed us & had no trouble even though they were wearing slip ons, I was struggling with my walking boots! We couldn't resist returning to the English pub & having fish & chips, it was a lovely atmosphere & we met a really nice couple from America on their honeymoon. We are about to leave for the overnight train again, this time we're going 3 hours early!! Hopefully it'll be abit more straightforward. We will be in Hanoi for New Years Eve which should be pretty good as they are celebrating 1000 years of being a city! Hope you all have a great New Year.
Lots of love
Jo & Mark
xxxxx

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Photos

The English Pub
Sue(from Newcastle), Josie & Me

Trekking in Sapa
A local church

Trekking in Sapa
the kids at school doing aerobics

Trekking in Sapa
The view from the highest pass in Vietnam

Trekking in Sapa
The view from the highest pass in Vietnam

Comments

[Linda S]

Happy New Year
Happy New Year to you both! Hoping you enjoyed some lively celebrations. At the moment there is snow everywhere here, but the sky is blue and the sun is shining. Have just cought up with your last three entries - amazing!! Take Care. Lots of Love, the Storey family.