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Published: November 21st 2006
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Our cosy 4 berth soft sleeper..
4 berth? Yep. Soft? Debateable. Sleeper? No sleep for us! Hello! Where do I start? We have had an amazing weekend - Sapa was just what we all needed to take a break from the smog and hustle of Hanoi.
Our train left Hanoi on Thursday night at about 10.30pm - 4 out of 5 of us in one sleeper and Claire next door. As you can see in the pictures - the '4 berth soft sleeper' was pretty small, yet still comfortable enough - add an ipod and our speakers to our overtired and tipsy bodies (Claire and Ali had gone all out with their new invention of the Lemon Apple Iced tea with Vodka!), and it was one hell of a ride! Even when the lights went out, I'd say we would have managed a max of 3 hours sleep each, just because of the constant up and down movement of the train!
We arrived at 7am, stepping out into a much cooler Lao Cai, a town at the bottom of the mountains, 40km from Sapa. Finding our designated cafe, our guide had arranged a minibus to take us up to Sapa (~1.5hrs). There were about 15 of us in total in our tour group - and by complete
On the train
The view of the train ahead... co-incidence about 10 of us were in some way involved in the hospital system! The windy roads took us through some very beautiful country, if you could tear your hands away from your eyes for fear of being driven off the edge of the cliff (our driver was just a little bit of a maniac!).
The moment we stepped out of the mini bus at the hotel, we were each individually snavelled by a little Black h'Mong girl who introduced herself and talked to us in fluent English. It quickly became evident that this was the ground work being laid for a guilt trip purchase at the end of the weekend - the little girls were gorgeous, but unbelievably annoying at the same time! A typical conversation goes something like: 'whats your name?' Belle. 'Oh, thats a nice name'. Whats your name? Bahn. 'How old are you?' 20. Oh so young! You remember me - you buy from me'. I couldnt tell you how many times this speil was repeated by various women and children - but I remained loyal to my little girl (who followed us for 2 days straight) and bought a little bracelet from her for $2!
Our hotel in Sapa was the 'Cat Cat Guesthouse' - looking out over the whole valley - breathtaking is the only way to describe the view from the balcony outside our rooms, where we sat to have breakfast when we arrived. It was then that Cath began her '3 shake a day' policy - somehow managed to have either a banana or pinapple shake with every meal!
We had the rest of the morning to shower, rest and wander, and then in the afternoon went with our Black H'mong guides, Sho and Lilly who were only 19 and 18 years old. We walked about 8km down and back from the Cat Cat Village - steep roads down and steep walking back! We saw inside of one of the villagers houses (where their family of about 15 lived!), and how they dyed their material in the indigo dye.
Down the very bottom of the hill were the Cat Cat waterfalls - Claire desperately wanted to swim but the remainder of us refused to join her when we felt how cold the water was!
We refused the offers of the motor bikes to take us back up the hill, and following the
hike up we were wishing we had a waterfall to swim in at the top!
On return we braved the street markets - with women grabbing your arms left right and centre to drag you into their shops. The goods were much cheaper and often hand made which was nice - but the biggest purchase of the afternoon without question were the 25 or so pashmina scarves that we purchased!
$3.50 cocktails and a Vietnamese Banquet later preceded an early night - the day had us well and truely buggered following very little sleep the night before.
On Saturday we left the hotel at 9ish for another longer walk down into some surrounding rice paddies and villages. We were once again guided by Sho and Lilly, and the walk was just amazing (I wish I could think of another word - but it really was, you can see the pictures for yourselves!) We walked for about 4 hours before stopping for lunch - in a small village house on the side of the track - non stop hassling by the village women and children somehow got to me and I bought this crazy hat - I think my 21st theme
My little girl Bahn
9 years old with 8 siblings - this is my beautiful little black H'mong girl! is going to have to be 'a touch of Asia'!
That evening we had dinner at 'Baguette and Chocolate', a restaurant set up to train disadvantaged youth. Two other tour members - Anna and Diana who we got to know very well joined us - and not one of us walked away not feeling sick following the rich desserts and hot chocolates! It wasnt the last time we visited though, and we have managed to track down its sister restaurant in Hanoi - here we come!
Sunday was a free day for us to do as we pleased - sleep in, breakfast with a view, market shopping and then lunch with a view! It rained on and off throughout the day- but did not get cold as we expected! We left Sapa for Lao Cai at about 5 - boarding our train in Lao Cai at about 930pm. Somehow I drew the short straw and ended up in the second cabin with 3 random guys- one of which snored all night and kept me well awake! Before saying goodnight we sang a premature Happy Birthday for Ange - who is 21 today! Arrived in Hanoi this morning and went to
Cat Cat Village
Note the little school surrounded by rice paddies - they sure use every inch of space for rice cropping! clinic - after next to no sleep again!
And so that has been our last few days - jam packed but unbelievable! And we also managed to find another location in this world that experiences as many seasons in one day as Melbourne - fog one minute, sun the next, then cloud, then rain, then hot again! Hope this finds you all well and hopefully finished exams (if not then good luck for the last ones!).
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Danish
non-member comment
Sounds like you're having a great time Belle! It's great to read all your adventures, Vietnam sounds amazing. Keep safe, Danish