Sapa Trek #1

"Trek" as we understand it is a multi-day walk. We have done a few. What they call treks in Sapa can be as short as a day-hike, and that is what we opted for on this visit. The first day was from Sapa down to Cat Cat village and the waterfalls there. Mostly downhill. I would have preferred entirely downhill. But it was only 5k, or maybe 5 miles, and the taxi back to the hotel was there waiting for us at the end.

Perhaps the best part of our Sapa experience was 

our guide, May, a 29-year old Hmong single mother, 

whom we had engaged through the tour company; 

she met us at the hotel upon arrival; she understood 

our interests were mostly cultural and not athletic; 

her English, learned from tourists she said, was the 

best we encountered in Vietnam

Our hike is in there somewhere, down to Cat Cat villages; 

several hundredsteps, hard on Vicki's knees, but she held up

Hazy, even in the afternoon

Construction everywhere in Sapa, from small to large scale

Curiosities along the way

More good fortune: Vicki's articulated walking stick, purchased 

last summer in darkest East Anglia, finally gave out in Sapa; but 

for 6U$D she found an even better replacement in this market 

stall; probably very close to where they're manufactured

Valley view

Us, there

One of the things Vietnamese tourists do in Sapa is to rent indigenous 

peoples' costumes and do selfies; we'll see more of that 

Rice is a one season crop in Sapa; everything would be more
green in July; and hotter

An up and down world

Indigo, in someone's garden; May knew all the plants

On a mountain-side, terraced world, retaining walls are everything

Water feature: fish farm

Returning from labors on the mountain-side above

Cat Cat Falls

Divergent footwear for the trail

Traditional bridge construction

Less traditional (welding in center)

Upper falls

Could be a scene from Maine, or the Appalachians, or the
Rockies, no? OK, ignore the bamboo

Us, there, again

French outpost from 1922

Just as we arrived, there was a traditional dance...more sticks
and baskets...

Selfies in costume

Among several water wheels at the falls

And a water-powered mortar/pestle grinding machine...

the old fashioned way

On To Sapa

After our debarquement (bien, not mal) the luxury van took us back to Hanoi and the O'Gallery Premier hotel, where we had booked an extra night and stowed some of our gear. Next morning, another luxury van picked us up for the trip to Sapa and our two treks there. Sapa is in far northwest Vietnam, up in the mountains, home to a variety of indigenous peoples, Hmong and others. A French outpost was established there in 1922. In more recent years Sapa has become a tourist destination, partly the scenery, partly the trekking, partly the indigenous villages. We were there for all three, although our trekking ambitions were quite modest: downhill, please, and take the taxi back up to the hotel. Sapa is terraced on a mountainside at about 5,000 feet, with noticeably thinner air than we've been accustomed to.

Another day, another luxury van; and more interesting fellow travelers, including
a couple from Kent who shared a number of British garden destinations with us

There were two rest stops along the way, neither as interesting as the marble 

shopping center nor the water puppets 

But there was still plenty to see and learn; for example,
Vietnamese bus tourists do not wear shoes on the coaches;
the bus provides flip-flops for them to wear at the rest stops

Thus; not very sanitary if you ask me

Both the rest stops en route to Sapa seemed oriented toward nationals and not
us foreigners

Vietnamese driving in the mountains was a thrill ride, buses leap-frogging buses
on blind corners, 15% grades, etc.

The rest stops were these huge three-sided buildings; this one had a huge tiki
warehouse within

In the valleys and for most of the way, rice; lots of rice

Bongs for rent, or sale...

Bus station is a great place to change/rotate tires

Anyhow, the luxury van deposited us in a timely fashion at our hotel, the Chau
Long Sapa hotel, which was notable for several reasons...a big beautiful room

A bath-tub, only the second we've encountered these two months

A portable fake fireplace

A nice balcony

View from the balcony, overlooking a bit of Sapa (it's not a quaint mountain village
anymore)

Not least, this, a lighted, high-tech toilet/bidet;
disappointingly, unlike the rest of southeast Asia, the color
did not change every five seconds...pink, green, yellow,
etc.

Instructions on toilet lid

Remote; the heated seat was enough for me; I did not try the other operations
for fear of bodily harm

View from our table in the dining room; bonsai everywhere

The sad thing was, for the first night and day, we were evidently the only people
there, in all the 60-some rooms; rather than set up the customary breakfast
buffet, they just brought it to our table

A display of Hmong skirts in the restaurant

Azaleas blooming in the lobby

And a big aquarium

Street scene outside the hotel

Interior courtyard, four of the seven floors; beautiful place, nice people; I hope
they can weather the storm...