Day 102 - Tuesday 20th September 4.07pm
Sipping an orange and pineapple juice, overlooking the most spectacular view of Sapa's rolling mountains, lined with endless greenery and rice paddy fields, stretching up to the 3,143m peak of Mount Phang Xi Pang, hidden by the misty clouds. Give me a woolly blanket and I'll be in heaven!
Sapa is a popular mountain town in northern Vietnam, used as a French hill station in the 1920's for the Tonkinese Alps. The air is very crisp and fresh - something that's taking me a while to get used to! Definitely enjoying nestling into the thick duvet in my dorm at night. The view here is really incredible, you can't quite get enough of it and a camera will certainly never be able to do it justice.
Our journey to Sapa on the night bus was not as bad as we dreaded - last time I came here we had a few nightmares and ended up sleeping squished up in the aisle! A new highway has been built so the journey has also shortened from about 12 to 6 hours. Not that this gave us any more faith in our driver, there were times I had to force Megan to stop looking out the window at the lorries one inch from our bus or the steep slopes below at each tilting bend...
We arrived extremely early yesterday morning, all dreary and confused after a night of broken sleep. So Megan and I spent the rest of the day curled up in a cafe until we could check in, with a constant flow of comfort food and drinks, reading our books and a blissful nap.
Rain was hanging in the air and the whole town was covered in a thick fog, so you couldn't see or appreciate any of the mountains and views surrounding us. Instead I was so excited when we got to our hostel to see lovely thick duvets, instantly climbing in and falling asleep.
As the sky went dark we walked through the market and misty streets to enjoy a warm drink and found somewhere for dinner before the rain got too heavy. As we entered the first restaurant we were told they were closing early as the chef was tired, so ran through the rain for the nearest alternative, coincidently bumping into our roommates and joining them for the evening.
Looking ridiculous in our mismatched mountain outfits, feeling dreary from the overnight travel, we ended up having such a fun night - the highlight of travelling is the characters you meet along the way! Megan and I were asked if we were twins, then realised our new friends were identical to us too, especially sense of humour, my cheeks haven't hurt like that from laughing in a while! After some great food and cocktails we called it a night, ready for a day of exploring (and an unfulfilled plan to get up extra early... As if.)
We started off today in the best way - a steaming hot shower (trust me it's bloody freezing here) and a fancy brunch at Baguette & Chocolat - a restaurant that helps train disadvantaged young people in the area. Definitely the first time I've ever seen banana and chocolate spring rolls on the menu!
We have just finished our hike back from Cat Cat village, which sits in the valley below Sapa. It was a really nice walk, the scenery is so beautiful and the lifestyle is really fascinating - tourism now certainly plays a huge part but you can catch aspects of their everyday traditional life in the mountains. The walk took us past women dressed in their colourful tribal patterns and beautiful waterfalls surrounded by giant butterflies. The steep hike back to the top was a challenge as the sun pushed through the clouds, but I was quite happy to be warm again!
Now it's time to head back and prepare for two days trekking with Mama ShuShu - a local lady we've been recommended who hosts backpackers in her home. Time for an early night before our 6am start.
Goodnight!
Day 103 - Wednesday 21st September 10.28pm
Trying to wash the taste of homemade rice whisky out my mouth, but I've had the most brilliant day in Sapa!
It started by meeting Mama ShuShu at the old church in the early misty morning, where we were joined by two guys from Germany and two girls from the Netherlands. Kitted up in our sexy trainers, backpacks and already sweaty tops, we headed through the town towards the hills separating us from their H'mong village 16km away, accompanied by her sister Mama May and two younger girls. It started off pretty easy, still feeling quite chilly in the fresh morning air, until the jungle climb began. When I say climb, I mean literally a steep muddy slope upwards, clinging onto rocks and trees and people in the hope of not slipping down again! It had rained earlier in the morning leaving us a very funny challenge ahead, one of the girls fell on her bum spectacularly quite a number of times which made me feel slightly less nervous! One of the local girls helped me all the way up, holding my hand and pulling me, even though she was about 4ft tall and wearing flip flops...
The view as we climbed through the trees and ferns and bamboo was amazing - despite the mist it still looked incredible through the valley of paddy fields and up to the mountains opposite. We passed isolated traditional houses, waterfalls, families collecting bamboo and harvesting the rice from the paddy fields. Our group was really great, I'm so happy we all ended up together and our lovely local ladies topped it off!
After a whole day trekking we were all very relieved to arrive at Mama ShuShu's home in Hau Thao, with the obligatory ceiling of corn hanging above the door! Muddy socks off, we went straight into a universal game of cards accompanied by some fresh Vietnamese tea. And probably the best hot shower ever.
We spent the rest of the evening altogether, feeling instantly like one big family, joined later on by two very funny girls from Israel. I think us British completely take for granted that people from all around the world learn to speak English - it's bizarre watching all these countries speaking together and always using our language, we have it so easy!
We could all feel our stomachs grumbling after our long hike, so we helped Mama ShuShu and Mama May preparing the dinner, even though the power had just decided to switch off for a while. I was in charge of cutting French fries and frying tofu, the boys were taught to chop bamboo then we created a great team chain to make Nem Ran - fried vegetable spring rolls, which were absolutely delicious if I do say so myself (obviously from the brilliant rolling skills...) The atmosphere was brilliant - sat in a traditional village house built by Papa ShuShu, preparing spring rolls on miniature wooden stools with the dogs and cat lined up to enjoy the warmth of the kitchen open fire. Who needs electricity and wifi!
Dinner was as delicious and filling as we hoped, sitting altogether on more mini chairs with an abundance of fresh Vietnamese dishes covering the table. Mama ShuShu likes to get everyone involved in her own homemade whisky; you can imagine just how piercing that was to your taste buds! Cheers-ing in a whole ray of languages was very amusing, especially as Mama ShuShu began to hiccup between every other word!
Both Mama's are brilliant, they're really lovely people and have only learnt English through talking to tourists and leading treks to their village, which I think is amazing. It was great to chat to them this evening, even with their very limited English; they both have an interesting life story and culture, and a cracking sense of humour! To keep me warm they tied the traditional scarf around my head and said I could try on their full tribal costume in the morning, I am already hoping we can come back again one day to visit them!
Day 104 - Thursday 22nd September 7.51am
What a view to wake up to! You can hear the children arriving at school just below, see the ladies out cutting their rice harvest, and the sun has even spread to show the high mountains on the opposite side of the valley. Simply observing everyday life here is fascinating - this place is one of my favourites.
3.46pm
Our third day of walking is complete, my legs are burning! Mama ShuShu guided us through the villages and paddy fields, down to the river in the valley, past the beautiful waterfall and back up the hill for noodle lunch. It was great to watch the local life from an arms length away, especially families harvesting the rice and the cute kids waving from their bamboo houses.
Mama ShuShu also showed us how they make hemp thread from the marijuana plants and indigo dye for their clothes. For the indigo plant, if you simply rub the leaf against your hand the colour will stain your skin, first green then turning teal, blue then a deep indigo.
The mist is settling in and my muscles have cooled right down, ready for a hot shower before our long night travelling ahead!
6.39pm
Absolutely buzzing after the most amazing motorbike ride on the 11km back to Sapa, adrenaline is pumping through us all and everyone's thinking "Let's go again!" It was the best way to end our adventure, winding through the bumpy roads on the mountain edge following the river valley, the scene was incredible and the sights we passed along the way of local life couldn't help but make me smile. Sapa I don't want to leave!
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