Blogs from Sapa, Lao Cai, Northwest, Vietnam, Asia - page 37

After the lively supper in SaPa, and well informed briefing from our guide Dinh, it was time to set off to Ban Ho village. Dinh was a real character - his name is pronounced 'Ding' as in ding dong, or ding dong the witch is dead. He has a penchant for karaoke, which is taken very seriously in these parts, and is particularly fond of 'I'm all out of love', theme song from titanic, hello is it me you are looking for (Lionel ritchie) and various others with a slant towards love songs. We were regularly informed over the trek of his recent marriage to his lovely wife and the 16 day old baby that is producing sleepless nights (and I imagine good post natal contraception) for him. This slight moiuntain goat of a man is ... read more

Hello Hello! Well Patrick and I are in great spirits as we returned yesterday morning (at 4 am!) from a 3 day trek in the province of Sapa. Sapa is province (as well as a town) in Northwest Vietnam, and contains many ethnic minorities/hill tribes. The town itself is situated on top of one of the many mountains in the area, and overlooks a landscape of terraced rice paddies, rivers, and more mountains, including Fansipan mtn, Vietnam's highest at 3000 m. The area is a beautiful green colour, mixed with yellow as the rice paddies encompass most of the region. We booked a 3 day trek, including 2 nights home stay, through Sapa, with a local H'mong girl as our guide. The H'mong are one of the largest ethnic minority groups in Sapa, and are known ... read more

We took the over night train from Hanoi to Lao Cai in northern Vietnam on the chinese border. From here a minibus took us to the village of Sapa where we met our guide, a cheeky little local girl called Chi with a quick turn of phrase. The first days trekking involved a 12km hike through the mountains to a local village where we stayed the night with a local family. We had a fantastic time here with the other people in our group, an australian couple Lynda & John and a German called Thomas. We went swimming in the river with kids from the village before dinner. The family and the guide made a massive feed for us before they brought out the rice wine (think moonshine!!) Needless to say we were glad to have ... read more

Sapa pics... read more

www.diariodeunviaje.com (todo en nuestra pagina web) SAPA (23-26/8) Despues de una dura noche de curvas por una carretera llena de barro por las inundaciones, a las 7:00h llegamos a Hekou. La frontera esta al lado de la estacion de autobus. Desayunamos mientras esperamos que habran la frontera a las 8:00h, despues de una ceremoniosa subida de bandera. Inmediatamente despues comienza una frenetica carrera de gente desde el lado del puente vietnamita (el puente de la amistad que une los 2 paises) intentando ser los primeros en atravesar la frontera, para ir a comprar a China (porque es mas barato) y luego vender los productos en Vietnam. Cruzamos la aduana china primero, luego el puente a pie y la aduana vietnamita. No habia nadie mas pasando la frontera hacia Vietnam, por lo que tardamos poco tiempo (unos ... read more