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!

near Mui Ne

This is the fishing village of Mui Ne, a few hundred kms north east of Saigon. We arrived at our beach resort in Mui Ne after yet another 5ish hour bus ride. If I never see a bus again that will be too soon! I took these picture from the window of a bus...

We've been here on the beach for a few days and Kiwi was able to get out surfing so he's happy. Tomorrow we're shoving off to Nha Trang (by bus) which is a little further up the coast. Just a quick overnight in Nha Trang before we hop on a 5:30 am train bound for Danang. 1st class tickets were sold out so we're going 2nd class. Lesson learned there, we need to book our tickets in advance.

At the moment we're not sure where we'll spend Christmas but we are all booked for New Years in Thailand. We'll be on Lanta and Phuket for the last 2 weeks of our trip. We considered spending Christmas in Hanoi, a big city style Christmas but we're now leaning to having Christmas in Sapa where it's mountainous, lush and cool. It's north west of Hanoi and there are a few eco-lodges and nicer hotels there that might be a nice setting for Christmas.

Off to have a birthday gin & tonic and dinner!

KF