Sapa
Off again on another long trip to Sapa in our van.. We climbed the Hoang Lien Son mountain range which houses Vietnam's highest mountain, Fansipan. It is some 3143m high and
would take 3 days to reach on foot from Sapa. The weather became cooler the higher we went and became very overcast. Our hotel, the Goldsea,
was located in a magic spot as we had a wonderful view over the mystical mountains.
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Looking out over the edge of the road gave us an insight of the whole mountainous area and as it was mid afternoon we decided to tour the town. Towns like this have their
own special attraction and Sapa had lots to offer. Unique buildings, Black H'mong people walking about and the comparison between the old and the new. Catering for tourists is becoming
obvious and the many restaurants and shops show change. Wan took us to a restaurant for dinner that was delightful and the staff were just fantastic! A good night was had by all.
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There was nothing planned on our itinery but our entertaining and enthusiastic guide, Wan asked if we would like to take a walk down to Cat Cat Village and
of course we took up his suggestion with pleasure. What a lovely walk as the entrance road was just near our hotel. The views were just outstanding as we wound our way down the
mountain. The mist and the greenery made for marvellous scenery and the further we walked the more small huts and villagers we came across. Wan knew a farmer on the way who invited us into his home to meet his family.
The children were most appreciative of the small gifts we had with us. Climbing down stone steps we continued on until we came to some magnificent waterfalls. The scenery was breathtaking and we spent some time just
taking in the views. After a while we starting to traverse a pathway for sometime and then of course, climb more steps until we came across the group of local bikeriders waiting to take us back up the mountain.
It was a long ride back up and hard to believe we had walked down so far!!
We had time to have lunch at the hotel and walk back into the centre of town for our last look and then off to Laocai to catch the overnight train back to Hanoi.
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