12th – 13th October 

Hello Sapa, I can’t see you!

Although we caught the bus to Sapa in the morning, we were still on a night bus, by this I mean there are bed-type lay down seats. They’re the weirdest things, 3 rows of double decker bed seats. Comfy enough though and I managed to actually write a load of my blog so it worked out well!

When we started going up into the mountains the mist started looming, and there was thick fog by the time we arrived in Sapa. Sapa is a mountainous region in the northwest of Vietnam, known for its trekking and tribal villages. We had no idea where to go so we WhatsApped the tour agent and within minutes our guide, Chou, appeared. Chou is from one of the local villages we were trekking to and is part of the Black Hmong tribe – she was an excellent host! We met a couple of Dutch girls at a restaurant and had our included lunch before we started the trek. 

We trekked up into the mist, taking in what we could of our surroundings. Every so often Chou would stop and say ‘this is usually an amazing view point’, great, we couldn’t see 3 metres in front of us 😂. We didn’t let that ruin the day though, and had fun learning about the plants they use to get the indigo dye to dye their clothes, the marijuana they grow (used for medicinal purposes only there!), the farming lifestyle of the tribal people and the animals they use, such as water buffalo! There were also maaaaany gorgeous pooches and puppies 😍 along the way. The rice fields are cut around August time so they were bare, but you could just about see some of the rolling patterns through the valley. Unfortunately due to the weather, we had to stick to the concrete paths as going through the rice fields would have been too slippery.

Homestay Experience 

We trekked to one of the many Homestays in the area to spend the evening with a local lady named Mau and her family. The homestay was really nice, reminded me a bit of a wooden chalet in the alps (not as glamorous of course). René and I had our own room with a big bed each and even electricity points! There were others already at the homestay who had trekked there earlier in the day.

We got showered and then ready for an amazing home cooked dinner or rice, more spring rolls, veges and other yummy Vietnamese food 😋, with fruit for dessert. After we gathered round the fire, as it was actually pretty chilly up in the mountains, and had a chat altogether whilst once again being plyed with rice wine. I had 2 shots this time, so as not to be rude and join in. Just as vile as ever! Again, some were doing pretty well and keeping going. Mainly the Brits and Dutch who were teaching in Hanoi for several weeks or months, maybe they’ve acquired a taste…. We went to bed pretty early with another day of trekking ahead. Although it took me a while to settle as their were a million moths in our room from having the light on and a few kept landing on my head in the dark, I had to turn on a light in the unused room next to us to get rid of them!

More trekking followed by a victory beer

The next day we had an amazing breakfast waiting for us of pancakes, syrup & sauce, fruit and scrambled eggs. All soooooooo yummy again! 😋 We set of around 8 and were immediately joined by a group of local young girls, off school for the weekend. All the people in the area learned English from the tourists, Chou wasn’t sure if this was a good thing and I could now see why. After holding my hand down a slope (as I’d previously slipped down a pretty high and steep bit of the path landing in a Spider-Man pose), the little girls got out bracelets and in the cutest whiney voices started chanting ‘you buy one from me’ over and over. They were sent by they’re family, another way of making money. The tour company had told us not to buy as we’d never stop getting hassled.

After a short while we stopped at a nearby village to see one of the houses and learn about how they make the clothing and patterns on them. We watched as a elder Hmong lady meticulously drew out the clothed pattern. They live very simply and I’d imagine it must be very cold here in the winter. There was a room above the ‘kitchen’, which was used for drying out the rice when the kitchen heats up. There was also a picture of Ho Chi Minh up on the wall.

We walked through a bamboo forest, down a valley, over bridges and past waterfalls, it was beautiful (although still foggy). A steep uphill hike brought us to a small restaurant where out final meal was provided, along with a lot of hassling women and girls with fabrics and bracelets. René and I had our victory beers with lunch 🍻. We then said our goodbyes to everyone and thank you to Chou, were picked up and taken back to Sapa town before getting our weird night bus back. May accompanied us back to Sapa and gave us all two bracelets each to remember our time with her (which I’m still wearing now!)

Back to the Hustle & Bustle

Arriving back in Hanoi at 9pm was surreal, it was Saturday and I had completely forgotten that on a weekend they close all the roads to cars & (most) bikes in the old quarter so that thousands of people can descend on the restaurants and bars. It was like a carnival, with balloons, street sellers, live music and so so many people. We quickly got washed up and ready to re-join the hustle & bustle. René & I sat down for a beer & shared sweet potato fries, when we saw 2 of the American girls from the Sapa Homestay! We went for dinner with them, sharing a vegan bbq thing (with added cheese) and a couple more beers on the street, enjoying the atmosphere, then finally turning in after midnight.