On A Cold and Foggy Mountain in Sapa!

I just spent three days on a mountain town called Sapa which is an 11 hour overnight train ride from Hanoi and just 20 miles from the border of China. I did see China from Vietnam. The train journey wins the longest one I've ever been on, previously was the eight hour leg I did from Ljubljana, Slovenia to Budapest, Hungary (still the most stunning). The start of my Sapa leg was a little bit rocky with pissed off folks that were waiting too long for a driver and the driver leaving the van without putting it in park which resulted in a slow roll downhill of the van we we were all still in. I laugh now but not so much at the moment.

I spent the first day of my time on the mountain trying to find warmth that wasn't my room. In hindsight, I should have sucked it up with packing a little more and packed my pack able NF synthetic thermoball..maybe I would see less of my own breath in the air. I ended up finding warmth at one of two cafés that had a fireplace and savored two cups of ginger lemongrass honey tea. The highlight of my second day was going on village treks with 3 Spaniards (Madrid and  Barcelona) and 1 Italian. Wanderlust to me, was having a conversation about pro-cycling with 3 Spaniards and 1 senior Italian, on a mountain village in Sapa, Vietnam over a bowl of pho. "You want to believe Indurain didn't dope because you're Spanish!"- said fellow Spanaird from Barcelona to Madrid. My last day in Sapa, I reunited with Jaccolien from Holland, who I met on the night train here. We joined a larger group to travel 111 kilometers to the Bac Ha Sunday market where you can buy anything and everything. There were buffalos, puppies, pigs, men getting their haircuts, machetes, produce and the aside I didn't like much, the chicken aisle.

What I did like very much were all the colors of the market also had in way of blankets, homemade weaving bags, tapestry and many other forms of textiles for your heart's desire. I am happy to say that I am marketed out. No more markets for the rest of my trip! Later that evening, Jacci and I took the 8:20pm night train back to Hanoi and after arranging some musical beds, we were able to be in the same cabin which we shared with a Canadian father (his wife and 3 kids were in the cabin next door) and an officer trainee (who is leaving his wife and newborn to study in Hanoi).

Sapa is special for its hilltops, varying levels of rice terrace fields, the surrounding simple village life and the mountains. Many of the village women are dressed in these beautiful and colorful pieces. Most of village kitchens are simply made up of a fire and a pot. The fog here is fast moving as well. One minute, you see the mountains, turn around and it disappears back into the fog. In a few months, the highway from Hanoi to Sapa will open up making the trip doable in 3 hours. In a few years, the Sapa airport will open which would draw more travelers. I am happy to make it here prior to all that as I'm sure it will be a different Sapa by then.

Next up..three days in Hanoi before heading back home.