Sapa

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We arrived up north in Sapa and it was absolutely FREEZING! We arrived at 6:30am and we had to get a one hour bus from the train station to the hotel and i was so looking forward to getting to the hotel to warm up...the hotel has no heating. We couldn't get in our rooms for 2 hours so sat in the reception area for a while, totally freezing and eventually had breakfast, beef noodle soup to warm us up!! We got into the rooms and you could wrap yourslef up in the duvet and when you breathed out you could see your breath, thats how cold it was, just wonderful.
We went for a short bus ride to a waterfall in the afternoon and walked around there altho i wasn't very mobile - managed to crack my knee on the railings of the bunk bed on the sleeper train and it swelled up and i couldnt bend my knee! so that was pretty painful.
Anyway the next day we went on a 5 hour hike through the valleys, amongst rice paddies, little villages, water buffalo, goats and chickens walking everywhere. As soon as you emerge from the hotel people from the local hill tribes approach you trying to sell you stuff, bracelets, hats, bags, tablecloths, shirts, all things they've made and embroidered by hand. When we set off on the hike 4 of them accompanied us! They all talk to you and the same questions come up every time, starting with "where you from?" then, "how old are you?" so i say 22, then they all say "oh, very young!" then "you have brothers and sisters? Are they older or younger than you?" then the conversation dies for a bit until they pipe up "you buy something from me?"
The sun came out on the walk though which was brilliant as I had nearly frozen to death in bed the night before, there were 2 beds in my room and i had about 6 layers on and both duvets...
So we got to our destination, a village called Ta Van where we were staying at a homestay that night with a local family. The views were just stunning up and down the valley and there was a river running through the valley as well where people were fishing, washing their clothes etc. The family made a fantastic dinner for us, lots of plates of different foods, pork with tomatoes and onions, tofu (again!), fried beef and vegetables, spring rolls, rice, and all washed down with homemade rice wine.....god that stuff is potent! More like a spirit than wine and you drink it from shot glasses. The owner of the house is 43 and she kept filling up everyone's glasses every few mouthfuls, everyone has to go "hai, ban, jo!!" which is basically 1, 2, 3 and then you down it - she was drinking everyone under the table!!
We slept on mattresses with the most amazing heavy blankets, about 6cm thick but they were the warmest things ever so slept really well.
The next day we walked a little bit then got a bus back to the centre of Sapa and wandered round the market in the afternoon. We had one more day in Sapa then we got the overnight train back to Hanoi. On the last day we were in a touristy area and decided to have lunch - very limited menu but we were hungry, Bill and I had grilled beef and Elaine and Mike had grilled chicken - unfortunately it was the worst meal we've had yet in Vietnam, Mike's plate of chicken even included the head....! Comb attached!!! So i've decided I'm steering clear of chicken now in places that seem a bit dodgy, which this place did!!

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