Weekendtrip to Sapa

After being on the road in Vietnam for almost a month, I was pretty tired of changing hostels every night. It had been a new place to stay almost everyday except for my 5 days in Hoi An, and not always the best quality. I felt that I really had to find a good place where I could relax a little, and so I did. Hanoi Rendezvous Hotel was a really nice hotel, and was a bit similar to a hostel with it's little cafe in the lobby. It was definitely the best place out of the three places I stayed in, in Hanoi. I would however recommend you to book in advance at Hostelworld, because this was cheaper than the walk in rate.

 

After Christine left me I used my time to sleep, relax, read, watch Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice and catching up on some emails. The plan was to go to Sapa for the weekend. I heard from other travelers that it was not worth going there, as the weather was not good, and you were not able to get the good view because of all the fog. But I could not skip going just because of the weather. So I left my big backpack at the hostel, and got on a night train to Lao Cai, and from there to Sapa in a bus shuttle.

They were right - the weather in Sapa wasn't very good. It was chilly, and got even colder with the rain and the fog. But I made the best out of it and went on a little hike just outside Sapa, and got some company from a local woman. I didn't do very much more that day, except trying to stay warm and booked a trip for the next two days; hiking between some villages, with a homestay.

 

When I woke up the next morning it was pouring down. The trail was very slippery with lots of mud, and we got more and more wet and cold. I have to admit I was on the thought of returning; why had I paid to go on this trip, when I wasn't enjoying it? But after a while the rain stopped, the weather got better and the rice fields and little villages revealed themself.

We were accompanied by a group of local women on the hike. We tried not to let them go with us because we knew we had to pay them later. But it was impossible, they were stuck to us. It's a bit embarrassing that these women were walking without shoes and had to help us several times balancing in the mud. When we came to our lunch place, the woman that had been helping me, wanted of course to sell me something. I didn't want any of it, as I had enough to carry, so I asked if she had a bracelet. I thought that was something I could buy and carry with me. But she didn't have any bracelets, so I just gave her some money. In the middle of our lunch she came back and had several bracelets with her, and wanted me to pick one. How sweet is that? She pretty much had nothing according to our western world, but she could not accept my money without giving me something back, even though she had been helping me along the way.

We spent the night in what was supposed to be a homestay, but I think it was more made for tourists.

All our wet clothes hanging up to dry.

 

 

Our guide in the kitchen making dinner.

 

We could all help to make dinner. This is the kitchen where the guide and the family living in the house were sleeping. A room with the purpose of everything. (While we slept in the room next door).

 

 

Back in Hanoi I had to figure out how to go to Laos. There were 3 different options. I could get on a 24hours bus ride, which I read on the internet was horrible, and after the night bus from Hue to Hanoi it was not really tempting. Or I could get on local transportation and cross the border on my own. But this wasn't tempting neither, as I read on the internet that the changes were to be kicked out of the bus and being stranded somewhere in the middle of nowhere. So I ended up buying a plane ticket. Even though I wasn't that happy about spending the money on it, I thought it was the best option this time.

I remember when I first came to Vietnam I thought one month was not enough. And you really need a month if you're planning to go from one part of the country to the other. But after a month I was really happy to be moving forward. Vietnam is a very intense country with lots of traffic, and as a contrast to Thailand the people are more aggressive to squeeze the most money out of you. Things aren't quite as organized as in Thailand, and I feel that Thailand has learned to take care of their tourists more than Vietnam has.

But after that being said, Vietnam is a beautiful country. You will really have an adventure and experience a lot if you decide to visit.