Slightly Soggy Sapa

Friday, September 24 and Saturday, September 25, 2010

(written on Monday, September 27)

It’s 7am and I’m sitting at the Hanoi airport.  Got here at 5am after sharing a taxi with some people on my train (more about that later) to try to get on the earlier flight to Hue (6:30am instead of 12:30pm) but sadly it was fully booked.  Had I known I could have made it the airport on time, I would have booked the earlier flight, but I thought I’d be cutting it too close.  Oh well.

Haven’t had any time to write about the last few days, well more like I’ve been socializing instead of writing.  I’ll start at the beginning…

I arrived at Lao Cai train station at 5am and found the man holding the sign with my name.  Once again, it was one of those strange handoffs – ok, you go with him – for the bus to Sapa.  They dropped most people in some random part of town and I kept checking to make sure they were taking me straight to the hotel (that’s the service I paid for).  At 6:30am I arrived at the well-decorated lobby/restaurant of Sapa Rooms boutique hotel.  First order of business after dropping my bags and using the loo was breakfast.  Sapa Rooms has a large breakfast menu, full of choices from Vietnamese, eggs, toasties, French toast, etc.  I chose the French toast with caramelized bananas, a smoothie and a cappuccino.  Amazing! 

The weather outside was horrible, so cloudy and slightly raining that you could barely see 100 meters.  Not the best day for arriving in Sapa; made me glad I wasn’t on an organized tour with a trek.  Since I couldn’t check into my room until 10:30, I hung out in the noisy lobby.  Unfortunately, there were construction works going on next door and there was an incredible amount of banging and drilling – not exactly relaxing.  Plus, the internet on my netbook wasn’t working.  So I started chatting with some people staying at the hotel.  A welcoming family (William and Benedicte and their children Alma and Sasha) offered to have me join them for a walk around Sapa town.  Once I’d checked into my room, and grabbed my raincoat, we went out into the mist. 

Cloudy Sapa

The local market, right next to our hotel, sold everything from handicrafts to food.  We wandered down the main street full of restaurants and hotels.  There wasn’t too much to see and sadly the views were completely obstructed by the clouds.  For lunch we ate at a restaurant recommended by two French women we’d passed on our walk.  I ordered pho (noodle soup) and rice with vegetables – way too much food as I didn’t realize the enormous portion of pho.

After lunch, the family went back to the hotel and I took a bit more time to explore town, specifically looking for Baguette & Chocolate, a café/restaurant recommended by Nassar (and the guidebooks).  On the way there I ran into Gary and Shelley from the train.  Once I found it but wasn’t hungry for anything so I simply went back to the hotel.  I didn’t want to spend all day in my room, but the weather was so miserable outside that I couldn’t be motivated to do much.  Plus, I booked a nicer hotel specifically because I knew the weather might be a problem.  I had a very productive afternoon – caught up on my blog for Vietnam, loaded my pictures and watched a couple TV shows on my computer.  It was relaxing, despite the banging.

By the time I’d had a shower, it was dinner time.  Like most of the other guests, I stayed at the hotel for dinner and decided to try the mountain burger since I’d had Vietnamese for lunch.  Don’t think I’ll be ordering burgers again while I’m in Asia; it was ok, but had a weird texture.  My sweet tooth was acting up and I enjoyed the banana pancakes with coffee ice cream for dessert.  Hung out in the lobby for a little before going upstairs to connect to the internet where I was able to post my blog and add my pictures to Shutterfly.  Went to bed tired after a very low-key day.

Didn’t sleep very well, partly due to the noise outside and finally dragged myself out of bed at 8am on Saturday.  Tried the vegetable omelet for breakfast, a good choice but not as tasty as the French toast.  After taking to the hotel manager, I chose the six hour, 9km walking tour to Taphin village which left at 10am.  Caroline (and Philip, another couple with young children staying at the hotel) and her daughter Simone decided to come as well.  In total five of us left with our local guide to take a short drive to the start of the trek.  Even though the weather was cloudy in Sapa, I felt I needed to get out and do something.  Turned out that the area we were walking in was much clearer.  The clouds still covered the mountains, but the views of the villages and terraced rice paddies were spectacular.

Terraced rice fields

We walked for two hours past Matcha village where the Hmong people live, mostly in dry weather through bright green fields where water buffalo grazed and men worked the field in their cone-shaped hats.  The trek was moderate, some steeper hills followed by level paths which were somewhat muddy from the rain.  Local women were scattered among the pathway trying to sell their handicrafts.  I really wanted a picture of three women, but when I asked they said I needed to by something.  So I gave them each 2,000 dong and took my photo.  Compromise.

Three Hmong Women

We eventually reached Taphin village for lunch where we were served pho in restaurant (I was expecting a home).  I’m getting used to the mild noodle soup and it’s a pretty safe bet if you don’t know what to eat or are wary about your stomach.  A group of men behind us started smoking as I was finishing my lunch, and it was so bad I had to move out of the way.  As we left the restaurant, we were bombarded by six women selling handicrafts.  Three of them were related to our guide and the two other women in my group, ended up buying stuff.  I held out since none of it appealed to me or would be practical to carry home.

We walked to the smaller area of Taphin village where the Red Dzau live, known for its herbal baths (which we all declined to take), but the views were soon covered by the clouds.  At least most of the trek was clear.  As we headed to our transport, I gave in and purchased a small bag from our guide’s mom for 50,000 dong. Our driver dropped us safely at Sapa Rooms at 4pm.

The tiredness set in, but I decided to watch a couple shows and relax rather than give in to sleep.  I planned to venture out of the hotel for dinner, so I got ready and made my way down to the lobby.  William and Benedicte were relaxing and I chatted with them before forcing myself to go outside.  It wasn’t as cold as I imagined and I walked to the main street looking for a good place to eat.  Most of the restaurants were fairly empty, and they all had food similar to the hotel, so I decided it would be nicer to go back and have dinner with other people rather than sit on my own.  At least I tried.  I wasn’t too hungry so I ordered pumpkin soup and the chocolate banana cake with coffee ice cream for dessert.  Talked to Caroline and Benedicte for a while.  Was so tired when I got upstairs that after I finished packing, I went straight to bed at 10pm.