Head in the clouds in Sapa
What
an amazing place. The only place I have seen rival to Sapa are Alie's
photos from the Himalayas. While I know the elevation there is
much greater this is the first experience I have had of being in
the clouds. It really is quite special.
Before I get into Sapa a few notes on the second day of our
journey. After our challenging breakfast we returned to the
hotel room to put on our clothes still damp from the previous
day. Why you ask. Well we left the big bag at our
hotel in Hanoi
which left us with the day pack. My clothes for the one week
trip consisted of a pair of jeans, a pair of cargo's and three
t-shirts. Even the toiletries were severely rationed in favor of
medical supplies and a first aid kit just in case. Safety first
when you travel with Mr safety ! So it was on with the damp
clothes from the day before to save our clean dry set for our
arrival in Sapa. While my morale took a little hit Dave kept me
boosted with the promise of a spectacular ride and a hot shower
in Sapa .
The ride from where ever the hell we were to
Lao Cai started
poorly with bucketing rain setting in 15 minutes after we left.
Dave was having trouble seeing so we pulled over to wait it out.
We stopped at a roadside electrical shop being looked after by
two young guys. I could see their amusement but they were quick
to offer us a seat and before you knew it I was drinking green
tea with the boys while Dave was trying to clean the caked on
mud from his shoes and jeans. The boys also drank tea and smoked
a waterless bamboo bong. Yes I said bong which they also kindly
offered to Dave (he politely declined). You can't complain about
the hospitality of the locals. It was an interesting half hour.
Within ten minutes there was again a crowd of around 7 locals
and with Dave and I only knowing how to say hello and thank you
in Vietnamese and they not having a scrap of English we still
managed to have a few laughs.
Back on the road it quickly dried out and in less than two hours
we were at Lao Cai, with
only a 32km road between us and Sapa.
We put off the planned break in Lao Cai and continued on to Sapa
while the road was dry.
What an amazing ride. The climb was consistently steep and the
scenery becoming more and more beautiful. About half way up we
stopped to give the bike a break, Dave was worried about it
overheating. We took the opportunity to get some amazing photos.
Sapa itself is a cute little town. The architecture still has
french or European influences, Dave saying it reminded him of
Switzerland only Hot . It took a little doing but we found our
hotel, check out the view, and I dived into that promised shower
and fresh clothes. The ride while hard at times was amazing and
I feel as though we have seen and experienced a lot more. The
interactions with the locals as we stopped every few hours for a
stretch, a drink and a sunblock top up were priceless with many
of them letting us into their homes to use the loo and freshen
up. The Vietnamese can be incredibly kind.
Sapa itself is a great little town. Walking the main street we
were quickly befriended by a group of three H'mong women. Very
distinctive by their dress and rounded facial features. They are
incredibly cheeky and have a great command of the English
language.We were told with a smile that we had made new friends
and we would be followed until we were ready to shop. It was
delivered with such charm that we simply accepted that fact and
chatted with them as we explored. It was funny as every time we
stopped for a drink or a snack they would disappear only to
reappear once we stepped back onto the street. There was one
particular lady we were getting on really well with. her name
was New (pronounced new with a little flair). Before long, as we
had hoped, we were invited to her village for a visit and to her
home for lunch the following day. After establishing a bit of a
plan for the day we settled on a 9.30 pickup before being
escorted home.
