Sapa, Vietnam

Sapa is a relatively small town (less than 40,000) in the north of Vietnam in the mountains that boarder China. The surrounding area is home to small villages of Vietnamese natives. We arrived in the morning and after catching up on some sleep (overnight train), we headed up a trail to the top of a mountain that overlooks the city.

One of the nicest things about Sapa was that the temperature is significantly cooler than anywhere else we'd been in SE Asia. Very nice to be able to walk for more than 30 seconds without sweating. As always, Mark managed to find a dog to play with.



We had all afternoon, so plenty of time to stop and smell the flowers.



The following day we headed out on a 2 days trek. There was no shortage of water buffalo used by the locals for plowing their rice crops. T wasn't pleased about this.


The main industry in the area is rice. The hillsides are covered in terraces with some pretty elaborate irrigation systems which all feed out of natural rivers.




Despite Sapa being nice and cool, we quickly dropped to lower elevation and were back into humid bamboo forests.


Only one way to fight the heat.



We arrived to our homestay at about 3 in the afternoon (our guide informed us we were her fastest group ever...no big deal). It was such a cool spot. Tiny little village surrounded by rice fields with a huge waterfall behind it.



When this chicken was nesting, they swapped its eggs with duck eggs (i think the mother died), but the chicken and the ducklings were none the wiser.


For the rest of the afternoon we headed out the waterfall...



Sorry Marieke, you're pretty than T, but he's got a big advantage when he keeps taking Mark to romantic spots like this.




The next morning we headed out early and hiked into the fog. A nights rain and muddy clay paths made for a grueling first couple hours until we reached the summit.






Ban Ho village from above...


Unfortunately T was left in charge of bringing sunscreen on the hike...and in a shocker to us all he forgot it. After getting pretty burnt the first day, T and I were forced to resort to natural means of sun protection. Yes, i know, it looks ridiculous...but it actually worked really well.



Dermott, if you read this, this place is for you. Waterfalls everywhere!!!!


And a final picture with our guide Dom. Don't let her tiny stature fool you..she whooped our ass on the hikes, and she didn't in running shoes.


A last meal before the train. The view from the hotel restaurant was amazing...