Sapa - A Synopsis

My last blog post came to you  from the hill town of Sapa. In it I mentioned briefly that I had arrived and was impressed by the place, not much else. This blog entry will be dedicated almost entrirely to the magnificent town of Sapa.

Mists swirl up the valley

We arrived in Sapa on the morning of the 6th and were instantly blown away by the beauty of the place. Rice paddies are cut into the surrounding hills and mist swirls up the valley in the morning. It is a small town inhabited almost entirely my minority people such as the H'mong and Dzao. The markets buzz and the people always smile. You get hassled almost non-stop, but it is oddly enjoyable.

I will be writing this blog post somewhat like a synopsis of events that transpired in Sapa. In order to do this best I will be writing about each day separately. Let's begin... at the beginning...

Day 1

Duc and I, chilling in Moon

Once we had settled in our hotel which sported a view that few places rivaled we headed into town to orientate ourselves. Orientating oneself in Sapa is not exactly very hard to do. There is one road of significance in the entire town. On this road there are bars, hotels, restaurants and the market. Once we had got our bearings we did the most important thing that every traveler must do. We found a good place to eat and ate. The name of the place was Moon and it is owned by a man named Duc. Duc is without a doubt the coolest guy in Sapa. He played covers of Metallica and Guns 'N Roses on his old acoustic guitar while we ate breakfast. He sat and chatted to us and told us about what to do and where to go in Sapa to get the most out of our experience.
We spent the rest of the day walking around Sapa, stopping regularly to sit and take in the amazing views. We chatted with some of the local H'mong women who gave us wristbands then meandered through the market to see what was on offer.

Day 2

A view down on the rice paddies

Day 2 was our first big day out in Sapa. Or rather out of Sapa. We spent almost the entire day trekking down to a nearby village and back. We set out fairly early and had breakfast at Moon with Duc, bought some provisions for on the trek and headed down the mountain side. We walked along the main road for about an hour until we reached the turnoff we were looking for. We turned off the road and weaved our way down the side of the mountain on a gravel road, passing rice paddies and homes. This was a spectacular walk down and almost every corner we rounded we were greeted by a fantastic view. We stopped often to snap photos and admire the scenery. At the bottom of the track we crossed a wide river on a very wobbly suspension bridge and ended up in a small village. We had wanted to head back to Sapa in the valley, rather than on the main road, but the road we were looking for didn't exist. The map was pretty certain it did and we spent nearly an hour trying to locate it to no avail. A bit disappointed not to be doing the loop we'd planned on doing, we trudged our way back up to the main road and back to Sapa. It was a steep walk back and by the time we reached the local bia hoi joint we were ready to put our feet up.

The river and rice paddies

And put our feet up we did. At just R7 for 1.5 litres of beer we felt happy to put away 3 litres of the stuff. Thankfully bia hoi is weak stuff or we wouldn't have managed to walk the hundred metres back up the hill to our hotel. On the walk back we did have to make a pit stop to empty the tanks, though.

Day 3

We spent our third day in Sapa relaxing. After breakfast at Duc's we headed into the market to get some fruit then back up to the balcony at our hotel where we sat and read for most of the day. I took the opportunity to catch up with the rest of the world a bit and actually watched the news for the first time in Vietnam. It was good to see what was going on in the rest of the world and it felt refreshing to reconnect a loose connection. It came loose the next day again, but it was good while it lasted. After a very relaxed day we headed down to the bia hoi joint, sat with the locals and relaxed some more, this time with a beer in hand.

No such thing as a flat path in Sapa

Day 4

The final day in Sapa. We were catching a night train back to Hanoi on this day and had to catch a bus at 17:30 to get to the Lao Cai train station. Time was limited so we rented motorbikes for the day and headed north, further into the mountains. Jeremy Clarkson said the road between Hoi An and Hue was the ride of a lifetime. The pass out of Sapa is better. The road may not be in the best condition, but the views are magnificent and the switchbacks and curves are incredibly fun to drive on a motorbike. All in all the pass is about 50 kilometres long and winds up and out of Sapa before plummeting down towards the Chinese border. We rode for hours, stopping to take pictures of the many waterfalls which cascade down the mountain side, and eventually ended up in a little village at a crossroads. It was at this little village that we were served the worst coffee in Vietnam, but it didn't matter we were loving being on the bikes. We were a little nervous about missing the bus so we headed back. Driving those roads once more was exhilarating and the bikes came alive on the steep roads. It was a bit of a battle driving up the pass as the bikes seldom managed to get over 40km/h even at full throttle, but the drive was unbelievably good.

The drive of a lifetime

Our paranoia about missing the bus turned out to be completely unfounded as we arrived back at 14:45. As there was not much more to do in Sapa we headed to the bia hoi joint again and waited for the bus to arrive.

We arrived back in Hanoi this morning and headed to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum where we saw old Ho's embalmed body. It's a crazy place and no pictures are allowed so I can't share the experience with you, but it was really strange seeing the man this country has deified. It was an almost surreal experience walking through the mausoleum and being able to look at the perfectly preserved body of a man who wanted to be cremated.

Oliver

An Easy Ride

After a week in the beautiful Mui Ne I tore myself from the beach and headed north to continue my travels. My next stop (and current location) was Da Lat, a small town in the misty mountains of south Vietnam. Wrenching myself from the beach has turned out to be a brilliant decision.

Da Lat is unlike any other town I've visited in Vietnam. It is much cooler due to the elevation and the French influence on the town is strikingly apparent. The craziness I've come to expect from Vietnamese towns and cities isn't missing, but is overshadowed by the almost European feel to the town. Rice paddies have been replaced by strawberry fields and flower farms. You could almost be fooled into thinking this is not Vietnam, until you get on a bike.

On the bus to Da Lat I met an Englishman by the name of Gad who has two weeks left in the country and is heading north to Hanoi. Gad knew a couple of guys who are also heading to Hanoi, but have hired bikes for the journey. Gad had made plans to meet them in Da Lat when he arrived and so it was that I met Xan and Joe. We met in a guesthouse called Peace Cafe and immediately got chatting with some of the famous Easy Riders. The Easy Riders could be described as Vietnam's very own Hell's Angels, minus all the leather and tassles. The Easy Rider we chatted, Dunhill, to was such an incredible character and within seconds of meeting Gad had (not very subtly) hinted that he should marry his daughter. He was such a likeable guy, full of smiles and laughs, and soon we'd agreed to do a tour of Da Lat the following day.

A snapshot of the market from an overpass. Still in Vietnam!

Chuffed with our deal, we headed to the market to see what was on offer. The market was a reminder that we certainly are still in Vietnam, but the fresh produce on offer was different to other markets I've visted. After cruising though the market and trying some locally grown strawberries we went to find a place to eat. My first true disappointment followed. The meals on the menu were a bit more pricey than usual so I went for a simple rice dish with chicken and shrimp. What arrived was the smallest plate of rice I've ever seen with half a chicken's left wing shaved over the top and shrimps which were small enough to be partially invisible. The food tasted good, but the quantity was lacking. Sadly, the meal wasn't my disappointment. When we got around to paying Gad mistook a 500000 dong note for a 5000 dong note. This is an easy mistake to make as they are both blue. The difference is that the 5000d note has a white trim on the edges. I had, by chance, been watching the transaction take place as Gad payed for his meal and noticed Gad's mistake. The man who had served us our food also noticed Gad's mistake and quickly pocketed the 500000d note. I saw this and immediately told him to stop and give back the money he'd just tried to steal. He was taken aback at being caught and quickly left the table. The whole experience put a bit of a dampener on the day's proceedings but that was quickly sorted out with a game of pool at the local pool bar.

Buddha watching over the visitors to the pagoda.

The disappointment of yesterday was washed away by the brilliance of today. We met the Easy Riders, Dunhill and Tim, at 8h30 this morning and headed off to our first stop at a nearby pagoda. At the pagoda Dunhill explained how Vietnamese people place the significance of good deeds and good karma over money (makes one wonder about the guy serving us.) He was full of anecdotes and explained how he'd taken a European couple on a tour and ended up paying for their meals, but saying he was happy to do so as it was a good deed. At the end of the trip, the couple tipped him generously and sponsored his daughter's university education in London. It was at this point that he gave Gad his daughter's address in London, which made us all piss ourselves laughing.

A sad blemish on the history of this fine country

The next stop on our tour was at an old war remnant, a house in which a family had hidden northern soldiers from the Americans. The house had been bombed and all inhabitants were killed. Bullet holes are spread all over the remnants of the house and some of the holes still have bullets in them. It was a chilling reminder of the history of this beautiful country and the effect of the war was brought home when Dunhill showed us where a bullet had hit him in the stomach.

From the war remnant we drove on possibly the most amazing road in the country. It was a ribbon of perfection, winding it's way down the side of a mountain. Driving on it was a good enough experience, but we were also treated to one of the most spectacular vistas on the way down. It is on roads like this that a motorbike truly comes alive. Two wheels allow you to flow down the side of the mountain with such ease and precision and the Easy Riders are masters of their craft, making the experience so much more enjoyable. The mountain pass took us out of Da Lat and into a nearby village where we stopped to see the coffee beans being grown and the process of silk making from silk worm to being woven into scarves and clothes.

The view on the way down

A wall of water. Elephant Falls.

Directly after the silk factory we came to Elephant Falls, one of the most spectacular waterfalls in the region. Thousands of litres of water gush over the falls every second, falling onto large rocks and generating a fine mist. We walked down to the base of the waterfall and sat there, enjoying the cooling effect of the mist. The waterfall is even more spectacular from its base and the sheer quantity of water is mindboggling.
Today's blog is going to be a long one, so if you've got this far I urge to bear with me until the end, I haven't even got to lunch yet.

Bet that last line got you nervous. How much longer is this bastard going to write for?

Not much longer. I've got to lunch. We found a little place alongside a dam and sat down to enjoy some much-needed lunch. Dunhill arranged for a selection of everything to be brought to the table for us to sample and eat. A vast amount of food was placed on the table and we tucked in ravenously. Lunch was one of the highlights of the day because we got to share a meal with the Easy Riders and chat and joke as friends. Dunhill kept adding food to our plates, saying 'Make yourself at home' every time he did so. The setting was perfect and the food was delicious. At the end of the meal there was still some food left uneaten, despite the best efforts of six hungry men to finish it. The English lads and I each payed $4 for the meal, which covered us and the Easy Riders. I still find it amazing that R100 can feed 6 people in this country and food will be left over.

Lunch was followed by a trip to a local rice whisky producer. Petrol is less brutal than Vietnamese rice whisky! We each had a shot of the potent stuff which Tim informed us is 70% alcohol. Unfortunately production was finished for the day so we weren't able to see it being made, but we certainly experienced the final product!

By now clouds were rolling over and it looked ready to rain so we made our way back to Da Lat for our last stop of the day, Crazy House. On the way it started drizzling so we broke out the ponchos at which point the rain stopped. Crazy House is a good name for what was on show. It's not so much a house as someone's acid trip converted into a concrete structure. Words can't really describe Crazy House so I'll show you some pictures instead.

It's been a long post, thanks for your commitment to my blog. If you got this far you deserve a medal. I'm not going to give you a medal, but I think you deserve it.

Dong jokes are hitting an all-time low
Oliver

P.S. If I've made spelling mistakes in my blog post or any previous blog post it's probably because all computers are set up in Vietnamese so every word I write is underlined in red. I gave up on checking thoroughly as it would take too long.