on the way down

In the mountains

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October 8th 2008
To get to beautiful Sapa in the mountains you need to take a sleeper train from Hanoi that arrives around 6 am. You awake to a completely different world- green, quiet and foggy. The place itself is a former French hill station and is now popular for hiking. We booked ourselves onto a one day hike. After meeting our pint sized guide who we thought was 15 (she was 20!) we set out in a small grou ... read more

Asia » Vietnam » Northwest » Lao Cai » Sapa

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The conquest of Vietnam by France began in 1858 and was completed by 1884. It became part of French Indochina in 1887. Independence was declared after World War II, but the French continued to rule until 1954 when they were defeated by Communist forc... ... read more