The green terraces of Sapa in Vietnam

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Upon arrival in Hanoi , the capital of Vietnam , we returned back to hotel where we left the bags, and a pleasant surprise, they let us take a shower before leaving. We're going to buy train tickets direction Sapa in the north of the country. The price at the hotel was $ 10; purchased at the station cost only $ 7.

Going into the first train, along with Paul. We have purchased the tickets cheaper entitled to armchair. If desired berth, prices are increased a couple of dollars. Seats are hardwood, uncomfortable to sleep, so that people run walking on the floor, which is ultimately not the best place to achieve relaxation. We threw in the seats of a top class coach but the conductor came to us instantly to see that we do not have the proper ticket. We returned later and again to get us back, and so on until, in the third, it seems that you hit nice and desists. Why not use the best seats if they are free?

Unable to sleep on a continuous basis, after a while we went to the wagon-bar. It was the most rudimentary, even with a traditional oven. They knew a cute chubby, very cheerful guy, with whom we talked and we got some smiles with the massager. Later, they wanted to try some employees of the wagon, and even a military one. We took a couple of cafe in some glasses that would ask the letter of complaint in my country. It seems that we have cleared just before dawn the obvious change in temperature. The window of the wagon without glass makes us see the mountainous landscape with its morning fog, including, we are at 1150 meters above sea level. We arrived in Lao Cai at 8:00 in the morning. It is a very small population town from which they get the transport direction Sapa. The minibus routes in just over an hour by 2 $.

We were at the end in Sapa, this small corner of northern Vietnam is the cradle of the many curious and ethnic groups are distributed around here. It seems that it was more than low season to see how we choose to leave the room we want from among all those that are free. The entire hotel is for us. The cost, the same as that found almost all, $ 10 with hot water, TV and breathtaking views from the room worthy of recall. We have made several blankets for covering up at night, when temperatures fall several degrees. We are located very near the small central market. They eat some tasty springrolls by $ 0.5. We have all these fond rolls of meat and vegetables suitable to take them with soy sauce. Reposamos then a while in bed before exploring the new town.

Sapa does not have a very large extent, making it an ideal area to walk around in a framework of incomparable nature. The mist still persists and the temperature is kept in the 8th. We give a tour of the small market and one of the few streets with the people that counts. People dressed in costumes typical of the different tribes of the north as the Hmong and Zao. Several of these tribes are shuffled through the center of people waiting to cross with some overseas to offer his or cloth tribal products.

Sapa is located in the mountains of Hoang Lien Son, also known as the Alps Tonnkineses, on the eastern edge of the Himalayas. Upon arriving in Sapa, we will be about 1600 meters above sea level, and best of all, in a refreshing atmosphere compared to the oppressive heat of nearby areas. Sapa is a small mountain village, and a small paradise that often remains shrouded in fog and clouds, and the best times, the sun showing off their splendid terrace planted in an intense greenery, in a valley dotted by rugged houses on the slopes.

The small Sapa, is from the mid-nineties, a magnet for tourism that is growing. The area, with the particular charm of its landscape, is inhabited by tribes who came long ago to the region in search of tranquility, and greater security before the attack other tribes. As the H'mong ethnic groups, the Dao and Tay, conducted a comprehensive adaptation to the scene, mentor, the steep hillsides to turn them to where they grow rice terraces, and an extraordinary struggle for daily sustenance and survival. The labor and agriculture was building the current scenery of Sapa. The custom and traditions of local cultures are preserved intact, offering a colorful one.

To get the most effective way is the railway, starting from Hanoi to the last stop in Lao Cai, the district northwest of Vietnam. From there, an hour's drive separates us from Sapa. Inside the city operates a major market for trade in products where local ethnic groups come to offer their products and supplies. The people and the area of Sapa, form a unique environment where the geography, climate and human activity come together to complement in a unique balance, which is also very colorful, worthy of known.

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