Day 164 (Mon 18 Dec) - Sapa

Arrived at the train station at about 6am.

We were bundled into a van crammed with other tourists and soon were winding up the steep roads towards Sapa. Took about an hour and a half.

At Sapa we were dropped off at a hotel where we had breakfast. Our guide was to turn up at 9.30am so we waited round for about an hour, chatting to Julien, a French guy, we'd met on the way here.

Soon enough our guide, Lan, turned up. As guides go we were expecting something slightly more substantial. She appeared to be about 4 foot tall and looked about 10 years old. Casting our prejudices aside we soon discovered that Lan was 17 and although 4 foot tall, quite capable of looking after herself.

Jo was none too pleased to learn that we were to embark on a 10km walk right away. She had been hoping that a jeep would be making an appearance at some point. Not so explained Lan. After reflecting on this setback for a moment Jo composed herself and we soon set off ( [1]).

Lan is a pint sized bundle of smiling energy. Bouncing along the road, saying whatever flitted across her mind she left us both a bit breathless. Good fun though.

As we walked we were dismayed to see hordes of people all following their own guides in packs ranging in number from 2 to 10 plus. The whole path seemed to be teeming with tourists. As Jo remarked it reminded her of being on a school trip.

We soon began to admire the beauty that Sapa has to offer ( [1], [2], [3], [4], [5] ). Mountains rising high above bright green paddy fields and terraces. Lovely! Luckily the weather was clear and bright. We had met other travellers who said that their whole time in Sapa was spent peering through dense mist!

A small hut by a path provided Lan with the opportunity of purchasing sugar cane. Soon all three of us were walking down the path munching sugar cane and, as Lan explained is the custom, spitting the mulch from our mouths ahead of us to see which one of us could kick it furthest.

Had lunch at a 'feeding station'. Basically a hut where each guide prepares the grub for his/her party. Had a really tasty noodle soup.

After lunch we pressed on through a village to our homestay. Here we were made to feel welcome by the homeowners. We dumped our bags up in the loft area where mattresses were strewn, bumping our heads on the beams en route, and settled down in the kitchen area, after Lan gave Sarb a quick Vietnamese lesson.

Had a fantastic meal with Lan, the homestay owner and Key, a young friend of Lan's. During this meal we had to continually toast each other with rice wine. Sarb managed three shots before going onto beer leaving Jo to polish off a few more shots.

Even though Lan was suffering from a headache that she cured using a Vietnamese method (putting a hot ember into a plastic cone, whacking this onto your forehead, the ember cools creating a partial vacuum that sucks out the bad stuff causing the headache and leaving a bright red mark on the noodle) she and Key were lapping up rice wine by the pailful. We were wincing at the thought of what Lan's head was going to feel like in the morning!

Feeling very tired, and a little tiddly, and thanking our host for dinner we clambered up to bed.