Sep 21, 2012 - Sa Pa

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day. Or more accurately, rain and fog. And they did - mostly. We took the overnight train to Sa Pa. It left about 8:30 pm Thursday evening and arrived about 5 am Friday morning. We had 2 bunks in a "soft" sleeper compartment of 4, the other 2 being occupied by a young Dutch couple doing a similar tour to us. Also on the train were an Australian family of 5 (3 young boys) from a farm near Warrnambool and a young couple from Brisbane. I say "soft" because these were very firm beds indeed, made worse...

Aug 12, 2012 - Sa Pa and the Bac Ha market

Today after breakfast we drove 110kms to experience the famous Bac Ha market where many of the ethnic minorities meet each Sunday. Our guide Cha is again dressed in a wonderfully coloured traditional outfit. On the way to the market as we pass endless rice terraces we are told Flower H'mong, Phu La, Black Dao, Tay and Nung minorities gather to buy and sell local products that can not be found anywhere else. The various minorities all specialise in their own handicrafts which are very colourful. We explored the horse sales and the buffalo...

Aug 11, 2012 - Sa Pa and the hill tribes

Neither of us got much sleep as the train rattled through the night and the berths were quite narrow. I had a horrible headache which lasted all day. We arrived at 4.30 am and then it was another hour in the car as we made our way up to Sa Pa. After some confusion we were able to check into our room at the Sa Pa View Hotel and crashed for 90 mins before freshening up and heading out for breakfast. Our room has amazing views of the rice terraces and Fansipan Mountain, south east Asia's highest and the last major peak in the Himalayan chain....

Aug 10, 2012 - Hanoi - overnight train to Sa Pa

Today after breakfast we met our guide May Pham and a Vivu travel representative. We were now finally able to pay the remaining monies we owed for our tour. All that US$ had been burning a hole in our pockets. We were given a gift of two enourmous bunches of rambutans, they taste a whole lot nicer than they look. We had a full day touring Hanoi, starting with a visit to the mausoleum of the nation's founder Ho Chi Minh. It and most things to do with Uncle Ho are closed on Fridays so we didn't get to see his embalmed body. We did get to see...

Jun 10, 2012 - Mud-trekking in Sapa

Efter en hviledag i Hanoi, var turen så kommet til SaPa og et gensyn med lidt vandring. Sapa ligger i det nordlige Vietnam, og når man ankommer til Lao Cai, som er den nærmeste togby, er man kun 5minutter fra grænsen til Kina. Byen er kendt for nogen af Vietnam smukkeste ”vandre” ture, gennem rismarker, op og ned af og langs bjerge. Bonusinfo er desuden, at det er her man finder Vietnams højeste bjerg, fansipan, på 3,5km. Turen fra Hanoi til Sapa er en langsommelig affære og til at tilbagelægge de 333km skulle der næsten 8 timer til –...

Apr 30, 2012 - Vietnam - Day 29 - Dawn & Melanie's journey into hill-tribe villages

Today marks the first day since we began our travels that Jason and I have not been together. Jason left at 5am to go meet up with David at his hotel. They rented a guide and are going to climb up Fansipan, Vietnam’s highest peak at 3141 meters. Normally the trek can take several days to complete, there are two base camps along the way but these two crazy guys are going to do it in just one day! I on the other hand met up with Melanie at 9am and we went on a guided walking tour from Sapa into the hill-tribe villages to Ta Van, where we will...

Apr 29, 2012 - Vietnam - Day 28 - Mountain town of Sapa

Our journey into to Sapa from Lao Cai where the train dropped us off took just a little over an hours drive, the sun rising over the mountains welcomed us to a new day. The scenery was astounding, rice terraces, water buffalo, tribal villagers and their children welcomed us at every bend of the road. Very beautiful and serene. Sapa, a population of 40,000 and growing is perched on a steep slope. Sapa overlooks a plunging valley of cascading rice terraces, with mountains towering above the town on all sides. Founded as a French hill station...

Feb 23, 2012 - Guided Day-Trek

We were harassed much less this morning, as we were trailed by our guides for the day (Penn and Chow) and we didn't walk far for breakfast. We loved where we ate and we actually went back for dinner too because the bread was so good! We had scrambled eggs with tomato and onion and the real prize-- delicious apple bread. Then, around 9:30, we were off! It was about a 2 hour walk to our first (and really only) stop, Chow's family's home, where we had lunch. It was a very pleasant walk, with beautiful views and our knowledgeable guides. They...

Feb 22, 2012 - Sapa

Today felt like 2 days, probably because it started so early, and also perhaps due to the mid-afternoon nap... We took a small van from outside the train station in Lao Cai up the steep, windy, 20-something kilometers to Sapa. The views were unbelievable!-- green, terraced mountainsides shrouded in fog and mist. We were able to get a room at the Lotus Hotel, which we selected in the guidebook, and it's really nice for just $10 a night. We have 2 large beds, a hot shower, a fireplace!, and a shared balcony with a great view. Sapa is an...

Jan 11, 2012 - Ban Na Tham - Lo or Lao

That afternoon we started back towards Hanoi thru the rural district of Than Uyen located in the Lai Chau Province in the Northwest region of Vietnam. This area is under redevelopment for a dam placement. Entire towns are being relocated. Be cautious when referring to old maps, here are some examples: Lai Chao was Tam Duong Town, the new town of Tam Duong was Binh Lu and Muong Lay was Lai Chau. Of course all of this was within the Province of Lai Chau. Confused? Me too. Our destination was Ban Na Tham, home of the Lao or the Lo people as...

Jan 10, 2012 - Ta Phin - Red Dzao or Yao

We left Sapa and headed north for a side trip to the Ta' Phin - Sapa Region near the Ta Phin Cavern to vist the Red Yao in search of the wedding veil frame. We visited a village which operated unter the Community Based Tourism Development Project cbtvietnam.com It was quite fun, the women greeted our van en masse, they must have had a warning phone call. We all acquired two "friends" for each side of us to escort us thru the village. We walked up thru the valley and our “friends” made sure we cleared the mud in the road. The primary...

Jan 9, 2012 - AM Sa Pa District - Ban Lao Chai

We were rousted out of bed early for a very full day. Our agenda encompassed visiting several villages in the Sa Pa district. I think of that day fondly as “the mud walk”. It was a great example of how Vietnam has embraced and is supporting agri-tourism and homestays for the hill tribe ethnic groups. The first village we visited was Ban Lao Chai, home of the Black Hmong. We had quite an extensive demo to the dismay of our local tour operator. This was a very well put together demonstration and we had a great interpreter so we stayed and...