Hanoi and Sapa

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Day 27

We arrived quite late last night so after a quick bite to eat we checked into Hanoi Backpackers Hostel. We woke up feeling refreshed after a decent nights sleep and went on a free walking tour of the city to get our bearings. Hanoi seemed very like China in that it was noisy with lots of street vendors but the roads here seemed even more chaotic with hundreds of motorbikes. We quickly learned that to cross a road you just had to walk out and they would swerve around you because red lights did not mean anything!

After quite a stressful walk through the streets around the Old Quarter we headed to '24 hour food street' which was recommended to us for its local specialities! We sat on small plastic chairs around little tables along the street and tried battered frog, which tasted like chicken!

We then walked around Hian Kiem Lake and went across the bridge to a pagoda in the middle. Afterwards we took a stroll to the infamous 'Hanoi Hilton' or, more formally, Hoa Lo Prison, where we learned a very biased, but interesting account of it's history.

In the evening we wasted no time and organised and took a 9 hour overnight train North to Lao Cai to begin a 2 day trek of the Sapa Mountains.

Day 28

The train was comfortable and we arrived early for a big breakfast in Sapa Town before starting our trek. We hiked with a local guide and about 6 other tourists but as we set off, local tribes women also joined us and walked with us to their village where we stopped for lunch. The trek was awesome with some amazing views and took us up through the mountains and through lots of rice paddies and lakes with buffalos roaming around. It felt completely undeveloped with huge families living in small huts along the way and small children with no shoes just walking and playing in the dirt. It was fascinating to see.

After lunch in the village of Lao Chai Su we continued the walk for a couple of hours before having a dip in the lake and arriving at the guides home where we stayed for the night. We had a delicious meal with the group with some beer and rice wine before all going to bed at 8pm absolutely exhausted. Our beds were mattresses on the floor in the upstairs of a wooden hut, but it was cosy and we all slept well despite the bugs!

Day 29

We woke up to a tasty breakfast of bananas and pancakes before heading off for our second day of walking. Yesterday we walked around 14km and got to take in all of the vast scenery but today it was more rocky and hilly and was hard work! We saw the locals working and again were followed by some of the tribes people but we were disappointed to only walk around 6km before stopping for lunch in Giang Ta Chai and having to head back to Sapa Town. Although quite tired, we both felt like we could have trekked and explored a bit more but it was quite nice to potter around Sapa and have some food before heading back on the sleeper train to Hanoi. We both really really loved Sapa and having a proper trek away from the busy cities.

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Photos

What a view!
Looking down over Sapa

Comments

[Hazh]

Classic jumping travel pic!
You can tell mark is an experienced traveller.