Sapa, September 2017

So I headed to Sapa which is an area famous for its picturesque rice fields. My tour included transport from my hostel to Sapa, lunch and dinner on day 1 and a tour of the rice paddies with a local guide. In addition to 1 night's stay at a hotel. Then breakfast, lunch, a tour of another local village and transport back to my hostel in Hanoi on day 2 for $110/£90. Vietnamese dong is the official currency however US dollars are widely accepted. 


My transport arrived at 6:30am, we picked up a few other people and didn't leave Hanoi until 8am. We transferred from a mini bus to another bus. The second bus was something I'd never experienced before. So this bus had 2 aisles and 3 rows of seats but these seats were fully reclinable. It was actually really comfortable just not what I was expecting at all. It takes 5 hours to get to Sapa so I slept the whole way as I'd been up since 5:30am. You get a blanket, water, wifi and a USB port if you're lucky. There are a couple of stops for toilet breaks as well.


We arrived at Sapa town at 1pm and I immediately noticed that Sapa is cooler and much less humid than Hanoi. Sapa is about 25 degrees. My tour guide greeted me and a couple from India that would be touring together. We headed to a hotel for lunch which consisted of a set meal of a bland pumpkin soup, chicken and rice and fruit for dessert. 


We then took a mini bus to the rice fields. It's about a 20 minute downhill winding road from Sapa town. Two more people joined us for this part of the tour.


We walked for about 3 hours around the rice paddies and the local area which consisted of a few restaurants, shops and a school. 
After the trek the rest of the tour headed back to Sapa town to go to their hotel. I had decided when I booked this tour that I would stay in a home stay which is a Vietnamese house with a local family. 

After the others headed to Sapa town myself and the tour guide had to walk another 30 minutes to the home stay. 15 minutes of which was walking on a dirt track only accesible to pedestrians and motorbikes. I don't think I've ever been somewhere so remote. 
The house was pretty dark, the bedrooms were very basic and there wasn't any atmosphere or a warm welcome. After hours of hiking in the sun I was ready for dinner which wasn't going to be ready for another 45 minutes. At which time I had a bit of a diva Naomi Campbell moment and decided this homestay wasn't for me.


I told my tour guide that I wanted to stay in a hotel, so he made a few calls and we headed back up garden path to the main road for the taxi back to Sapa town. I made it to the Sapa Lodge Hotel and luckily arrived just in time for dinner. I checked into my room which had everything I'd wanted. Comfy double bed, water, tea, plasma, ensuite and air conditioning!

After dinner I wandered around Sapa town which has a strip with lots of souvenir shops, restaurants, bars, hotels and motorbike rentals. At night Sapa is much cooler at around 18 degrees as opposed to 27 degrees in Hanoi. 


I ended up getting a 45 minute full body massage for the grand price of 160000 Dong/£5. I then headed back to my hotel and got some kip before the long day ahead. 

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