Hanoi,Halong Bay And Sapa Adventure

Wow! This time 2 weeks ago Ruth and I were in Hanoi finishing off what was a very exciting 1 week adventure in Northern Vietnam. I have to say I think I am falling in love with Vietnam. There are so many lovely people, the scenery can be breath taking and there so many exciting adventures to be had in this amazing country.

Bamboo such a useful resource. The laddershop

My rose in amongst the blooms

We started out in Halong Bay for an overnight cruise onboard a Junk. This was very relaxing with amazing meals. We did have an interesting walk through a large cave followed by a cooling swim before anchoring up for the night. The Junk cruise on Halong Bay is a big tourist thing so there were hundreds of Junks doing the same as we were. On the way out to the Junks we had to make a diversion trip to a local hospital. One of the other tourists had developed pains in the kidney area. Sadly he had to disembark for treatment, I am not too sure that I would have wanted to be in his shoes. The hospital looked very basic.

"Water taxi for you sir."

Halong Bay. Sailing through a postcard

Thousands of photos sailed by,

This shot is on their money.

Following our cruise, which was scenic and relaxing, we were taken back to Hanoi to wait to catch the night train to Lao Cai. We had a four berth soft sleeper, we were lucky that we were with friends Rob and Erin from New Zealand so there were no worries about trusting who we were sharing with. We did find out that although there was food available on board the train the options were limited, so we would recommend people make sure they have some of their own snacks with them. In my case I found some snacks on the platform and washed down with a drink from the same vendor I was soon fast asleep. We were met by our guide for trekking the hill tribes in Sapa at the railway station in Lao Cai. He took us to a restaurant for breakfast before travelling on to Sapa.

Rice the staple of Asia.

Sapa is a delightful town approximately 36 km uphill from the railway station. Along the way we passed many local people who were starting out on their daily activities. Lots of them walking along the side of the road. Walking is a main means of transport for many of the hill tribe people. Later we found out why.

Our guide a wonderful man,

He taught us much about these people.

After dropping off our bags with unneeded clothes we set off from Sapa on our trek. Day one was 14 km out of town down into a beautiful valley. In this valley was a number of small villages and the rice terraces that we had come to see. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant after about 3 hours of walking. The track was definitely mostly a walking trail up to this point. It was steep, stony dropping from a road down into the main river catchment. All along the way were people working the rice fields, it was harvest time so there was much to be done. Cutting rice, Threshing rice, sifting it to remove husks and bagging rice into bags. All of which is done by hand. We had two local girls attach themselves to us as we walked. They were chatty, and helpful, we found that they do this to trade with us tourists and if you don’t buy they can get upset. Rob wasn’t too happy so we had to arrange for him to get a ride on a motor scooter to the home stay place from here.

Ruth must have packed the MegaMorsels.

She attracted the local kids everywhere she went.

My Shrek impersonation.

Isn't my queen beautiful!

We enjoyed the walk from here which was along a road that was used by local motor scooters, to get in and out to the main road, which was across the river. The pace of life down in here was so different, with so many interesting things happening around us. It was great to soak in the atmosphere. The home stay was a home beside the river which was set up with guests beds on the top floor. These were mattresses on the floor with mosquito nets. The hosts slept on the ground floor. The river had a good swimming hole. It was fun, relaxing and the evening meal was very nice. Our guide was good, making sure we enjoyed the experience and spending time with us after dinner chatting and drinking local tea.

Ruth and the locals

Same hill, Different Impression!
Both Beautiful.

The next day we walked out going further down the river. We had an interesting experience when a local insisted we go up along the path and not through the rice fields. She was not a happy camper our poor guide was upset by these actions. It meant we had to climb uphill and walk through bamboo jungle. Once again full of new, exciting views. We stopped by a big waterfall before crossing over the river and climbing up to the road to eat a local lunch. The van met us and took us back to Sapa. As we left in the van the rain started to fall. With a free afternoon until dinner time we enjoyed wandering around Sapa in the rain. Shopping was very cheap.

Cat Cat Village is an easy access village from Sapa

Lots to see and marvel at.

The next morning was free time again, with lunch and then another trek through CatCat village. After this trek we travelled back down to Lao Cai to catch the overnight train to Hanoi. We explored Lao Cai which is very much a rural service centre. There were lots of friendly people who spoke to us as we wandered around exploring.

Welcome to Hanoi!

Beautiful flowers.

Beautiful people.

Back in Hanoi we had a night in our hotel, before we flew out on the following night. This meant a chance to shop, see the water puppets and do a cyclo ride. On this night we visited night shopping areas and had a scary experience. As we were wandering around looking at shoes and bags I had got ahead a little. I stepped to the side of the pavement to watch the others come through. I noticed a couple of young teenagers take an interest in Ruth. One of them went to slow her down in front while the other approached from behind out of her line of vision. Something about all of this made think it wasn’t right. Suddenly I realised that they were pick pocketing and the girl was opening Ruth’s backpack. Luckily I got hold of the girl’s hand and convinced them that they should leave very quickly. Ruth’s pack was open and her wallet happened to be in this pocket. It was one of those interesting not to be repeated experiences that we can all learn from. The warnings you hear about pickpockets are true and as travellers you do have to keep aware of your surroundings.

The streets full of vibrant life.

Drab buildings colourful people.

We really did enjoy our holiday, and will go back to explore this area of Vietnam some more soon.