Hanoi to Sapa

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After a few days in Hanoi sight seeing we headed off to Sapa. We were prepared for the December cold with our newly purchased North Face jackets that we bought for an exceptionally good deal at the shop in Hanoi Towers.
Sights of interest that were visited included the Political Prison, the Temple of Literature and the Military Museum. Also of interest was Ho Chi Minh's mauseleum. From here we also visited the One Pillar Pagoda.
I was apprehensive about having to leave my camera with the guards at the mauseleum, not to worry, there's a great little system that magically transports your camera from the front of the builiding to where you exit. You just show your ticket, and there's your camera. Don't go to this spot thinking you can discuss issues with your friends! Like school students you are ushered into two straight lines and required to maintain a solemn attitude at all times. Any deviation from this has either armed guards blowing a whistle at you (!) or them coming up and repremanding you! We topped this visit off with a visit to the HCM Museum as well as visiting his house. This was very interesting, and only cost a few dong - about 20-30,000 as I recall. At the time of our visit the 20,000 dong = $AUD1. Entry to most points of interest around Vietnam was a couple of dollars. Clearly the money goes towards the upkeep of these national treasurers.
We boarded the train for Sapa about 8pm. We were in a soft sleeper - still not sure what was soft about it though. In the sleeper were four single bunks in a two up-two down configuration. This was handy for us, as we were a group of 4. Complementary water was supplied, and there was a point for recharging if need be. Handy if you are travelling with iPod, laptop or phone etc. I guess you could use it for a hair straightener if need be!
Arrival at Lau Cai on the Chinese border was around 5.30am the following morning. We had transport already organised via the hotel and set off for the 90minute drive up the mountain. Lau Cai is on the Chinese border with vietnam on one side of the river, and China on the other. Later I discovered that this was a major place for people smuggling. Young girls are kidnapped out of Vietnam and smuggled over into China. Very sad!
Sapa was wrapped in clouds for the duration of our stay, sadly we didn't get to admire the magnificent views that were promised. We stayed at the Bamboo Sapa Hotel. It was very nice and quite a reasonable price.
We bought breakfast from the hotel upon arrival ($7), checked in and set off exploring the markets and the villiage of Sapa.
As soon as we set foot outside the hotel we were swarmed by Hmong and Dau ladies with babies strapped to their back encouraging us to buy from them. Their wares included embroidered items and all manner of other trinkets. The babies are amazing, so is the way they carry then on their back.
Dinner that night was at the Lotus Sapa Restaurant. Many coctails, beers and a fantastic meal of a steam boat capped of the year 2010. I think dinner for 4 with drinks and dessert was about $50. http://vietnamtourism.com.vn/restaurant/en/Sapa_Lotus_Restaurant/
We trekked down to Cat Cat villiage for a look around, and then negotiated to be transported back up to Sapa on the back of motor bikes. It was bitterly cold, so getting back to the villiage for a hot coffee was fairly important.
The room in the hotel had a massive bed and a nice bathroom. Apparently recently renovated. Only issue, apart from the damp smell was that it was 100 steps up 5 floors to our room, and after alot of walking in the cold it made for sore legs.
The following day we went on a much longer walk down to the bottom of the valley, and through 3 villiages. It was worth getting a guide who was a local from one of the villiages. We walked down, had lunch on the way, and caught a jeep back. It was about $40 for the 4 of us for this 'tour'.
Dinner was at the Gerbera Restaurantl. It looked a bit dodgy once we were shown our table, but it was very busy and this is a very good indication.
Final day in Sapa we wandered around the town. It was market day, when all the people from the outlying villiages come into trade and buy supplies. Also the time when the younger boys and girls search each other out for a possible life ling partner. Visibility was down to about 15 m on some occassions so it made sight seeing a little difficult.
That evening we travelled back to Lau Cai to catch the train home. We were in the same carriage on the return trip. Instead of carriage 1 being at the head of the train (of about 30 carriages) we were now the last. This did make the trip a little less comfortable as we rocked and rolled our way back to Hanoi. At one stage i was fearful we were going to derail! Arrived back in Hanoi at about 5.00am.

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