Vietnam: Mountain walks and relaxation


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Asia » Vietnam » Northwest » Lao Cai » Sapa
November 16th 2007
Published: December 26th 2007
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Hanoi lakeHanoi lakeHanoi lake

View from mum and dad's apartment
We decided to take the long way to Nairobi, so visited Paul's parents in New Zealand and then mine in Vietnam. Our first trip out of Hanoi (where mum and dad are) was to Sapa, which is up in the mountains. It started with a 9 hour overnight train trip, which wasn't too bad, we had a 4 berth cabin so could sleep...sort of....they were wooden beds rather thing matresses on top. We arrived at some ungodly hour of the morning (it was like 4.30 AM or something), hopped on a mini bus and was driven up to the top of the mountain. We arrived at the hotel, which from what I could see seemed fairly small, that was until I discovered that all the rooms were raised up into the hill, and the only way up was to walk. I counted it, it was 197 steps from bottom to top. And yes, my legs were killing me by the time we made it to our room. The views from the top were worth it though, it was very relaxing just hanging around on the balconies looking out across the mountains and rice paddy fields. While we were there we took
Paul in HanoiPaul in HanoiPaul in Hanoi

on Mum and Dad's balcony
a walk around and found a waterfall, which Paul had fun taking photos of. After one night in Sapa we went further out of town to a really cool eco-lodge that was build around the edge of a mountain. This was really relaxing, there wasn't much to to but sit around and read and play cards.

Paul and I spent two nights down by the beach, and then visited Tam Coc, which are 3 caves out on the water. We were rowed around in small wooden boats and went through the caves, very cool.

We then had two nights in Halong bay, the first being on a boat, and the views as we sailed around the bay were amazing. Then we had a night on Cat Ba island and visited monkey beach.


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Getting my nails doneGetting my nails done
Getting my nails done

at mum and dads apartment
Rice paddy fieldsRice paddy fields
Rice paddy fields

Sapa mountains, in Nth Vietnam near the Chinese border
Paul in SapaPaul in Sapa
Paul in Sapa

We stayed the mountains at cabins built around the edge of a mountain with views of the mountains from each of the cabins
Cabins in Sapa mountainsCabins in Sapa mountains
Cabins in Sapa mountains

Not a very good day, but the day we arrived it was clear and had a great view.
Hawkers in SapaHawkers in Sapa
Hawkers in Sapa

They had some cute things for sale but unfortunately they could be a bit persistant


27th December 2007

Wow!
Hey Fi, It all looks amazing! How lovely and relaxing for you guys. You look very happy :) Aims McBee

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