Back on Lanta

Hanoi

Christmas in Hanoi, what a treat! We indulged ourselves in too much food and drink and lots of peace and quiet. A lovely break from backpacking.

Unfortunately, the Dukoral seems to have worn off (apparently it lasts 2ish months) and Fox threw her back out sometime on Christmas day. She's in agony. Good thing we're off to the beach soon before we head back to the wintery wonderland that is BC.

Hanoi is lovely. We probably didn't see as much of it as we could have, as we did hole up at the hotel on Christmas day. Hanoi feels like the more mature, refined older brother to Saigon. Saigon was vibrant and full of young people scooting around, Hanoi had a more peaceful feel to it. And there are lovely mature trees all over Hanoi, and lots of greenspace and lakes. A city that would require more than a couple of days exploration that's for sure.

Kathryn will miss the pho in Vietnam.  The hot, brothy noodle soup for around $1.00 CAD was de.lic.ious!

Scooters everywhere. That's just Vietnam. Scooters, scooters and more scooters.

West lake promenade.

Men trying their luck with some fishing.

Ho Chi Minh mausoleum. Our impression was that he is respected and revered by Vietnam's citizens.

A Chinese pagoda.

Merry Christmas to all

Boo! Er...actually we mean Merry Christmas!

Christmas day in flip flops...not because it's hot but because it's the only footwear we have other than running
shoes!PS it's cold in Hanoi. Not raining buckets like on the west coast of BC but it's chilly.

Fox's dessert. Mmmm mmmm mmm.

Kiwi enjoying his Christmas day lunch.

And his Christmas day glass of wine curled up in the room.

Fox enjoying her baguette, cheese and wine with some chocolates for dessert.

Happy Christmas everyone.

Sapa - Mostly Cat Cat village - day 3, and a mishmash of others

On day 3, our final day in Sapa, we decieded to walk down to Cat-Cat village, approx a 2 kms steep decent from Sapa, located at the bottom of the Moa Hoang valley. The village is home to the H'Mong ethnic group, and is surrounded in beautiful mountains, and terraced rice patties. The villagers wear a traditional dress, which is stunning, very beautiful with vibrant colours. Unfortunately, we could not surreptiously capture a photograph of their dress, as one generally has to negotiate a price, which generally draws much attention.

So, we conceded, to a photograph of their livestock; 3 cute pigs feasting

Terraced rice patties, which surround the village below

There are a network of trails in and around the mountains. Very muddy on this day

A lone house, situatated high, close to the entrance of Cat Cat village. On a clear day, this will have stunning views of the valley below. Sadly, the sun did not make an appearance on our hike.

Gordon at the ticket office at the start of the hike. One must pay 40,000 VND ($2) each to enter. It had just started to rain; Gordon looking indecisive?

Buffalo on our way down to Cat Cat village; everyone yields to buffalo. We were both fortunate to witness the mystical albino buffalo.

Pardon me, passing through - very polite buffalo

Gordon, in his pajamas, warming up by the fireplace after his hike up Fansipan

On our way out for dinner. Kathryn styling her new puffy jacket purchase on the cat-walk. Many of the stores in Sapa sold authentic North Face apparel for cheap ($30 US for a jacket). The clothing is made in both China and Vietnam. Needless to say, we, along with all other tourists, filled, and in some cases, saturated (Kathryn) any jacket void. At the train station, on our way to Hanoi, every tourist was wearing North Face.

Gordon strolling through the field of roses on day 1.

We are in Hanoi at the moment, settled in comfortably at the Sheraton. We both had a terrible, restless sleep on the train ride from Sapa, and were greatly relieved when the Sheraton permitted a 5am check in this morning.

Sapa -Day 1 (strolling) and 2 (Fansipan)

Train station - Lao Cao at 5am; slight chaos. We had a very enjoyable train journey to Lao Cao from Hanoi (8 hours). We boarded a bus to Sapa at 7am. It is beautiful country with terraced rice patties, and jagged peaks. The road to Sapa was a little precarious, with precipitous drop offs, and only a thin barricade  between the road, and the valley floor far below. Thank goodness Kathryn slept through the bus ride.

One the morning of our arrival, went for a stroll, and captured school children playing happily

Much farming in Sapa. Almost every house we passed had a garden

We walked through a field of roses.

There is a central lake in Sapa. The hotels dominate the waterfront. We were quite fortunate on this day, as the sun made an appearance, and the fog/mist/cloud abated.

A lone pine-looking tree

After much strolling, Kathryn settled into banana crepes, and a cappuccino in a lovely cafe on the main street.
Prior to our arrival in Sapa, Gordon had organized a guide for a summit of Fansipan (Vietnam's highest point). The plan was to summit in a single day, starting early, and hopefully home for dinner. Tour guides will only offer 2-3 day guided packages (food, camping etc), but it can be completed in a longish day (thank you to Mr. Nam for organizing this).

At the trail head. This beautiful building is the license/registration office for the park. Nothing quite so glamourous in Canada? Time - 6am.

The day looked promising; perhaps the sun would make an appearance

Gordon's guide on the trail ahead

Another beautiful image, with the fog/mist rising from the valley.

Climbing higher. The weather was looking very promising. Was hopeful this weather would hold, as from the summit of Fansipan, one is able to see both China and Laos. The peak to the left (in the cloud) is Fansipan

Into the alpine, and out from the rainforest below

Sadly, this was the last photograph before we were shrouded in cloud.

Shortly after summiting (11am), the skies opened, and the rain fell steadily through the decent. Was fortunate, to get half the climb in good weather. It was chilly at the summit (2 degrees celsius), relatively speaking. Was stoked to summit the highest peak in Vietnam, despite my appearance.

En route to Sapa

Fox on the top bunk having a giggle.

Kiwi settling in for the night train.

The Ratraco Train carriage is by far the nicest we've been in yet!

Around Hue

Kathryn charging ahead on our motorcycle tour.

Many tourists recommended this method of touring Hue, and we agree; we covered a lot of ground. After an afternoon on the bike, Kathryn is keen to own her own motorcycle, or at the very least, a pink vespa. Can you see Kathryn now; pink vespa with a chihuahua in the basket? (read the previous post)

A Japanese bridge constructed in the 18 century. Beyond the bridge, we visited a museum, which is by far, the most entertaining and informative of many. Two ladies performed an interactive display of the methods applied by the Vietnamese to sow, tend, and reap their crops of rice. We were both in stitches, as one imitated the ox, and the other with a bamboo whip. At the end of their performance, we sat down with the ladies as they proceeded to prepare and eat betel nut; we declined.

Gordon taking in the views

We visited a American bunker from the war, well situated on a knoll, with a strategic view of the Huong river

Kathryn trying to fit in

Hello

We passed by many road side shops selling colourful incense. We stopped, and watched them prepare, and make the incense.

A Chinese pagoda

We returned to our room after an afternoon to find two towel piglets and towel lotus flower. Gordon removed the towel head of the second towel piglet without noticing the towel detail. Gordon could not recreate the towel head of the towel piglet for the towel shot.