Cau May Hotel Lao Cai

... he is still complaining about it, a man can not change that fast after all!)<br><br>Just to complete a great start to a day following a noisy night, Pierre leans on the sink marble counter to look in the mirror and the whole thing fell off the wall and comes crashing onto the floor, breaking into many pieces. He jumped back on time to avoid getting his feet crushed and cut. The noise woke up any tourists who were still in bed, thus rising them on time to ...

... having tourists gawk at them. The walk turned out to be easy all the way down but the sun came out and it was quite hot, so on the way up, everyone suffered except Wendy, who is used to the workout and doesn't mind the heat. The Brits, the Aussies and Pierre all had their tongues on the floor. Pierre is NOT a happy camper, he likes trekking as much as he likes pagers and Blackberries, but he knows i enjoy it so he's being a good sport.<br><br>As we walked ...

... but we have to leave by 6.30am so will only be there to sleep. I was trying to wash my hands in the bathroom &amp; screamed when I turned on the tap as the water came out of the shower &amp; sprayed my shoulder &amp; back. Not what I was expecting. Went out for dinner &amp; ordered my usual "coca" - they don't understand coke or coca cola but everyone calls it " coca"<br><br>Have had a great 3 weeks in Vietnam, excited to see China now!

... families have been<br>helped and kids aren't as hungry.<br><br><br><br>There were so many<br>other stories that they shared throughout the night about plants that<br>are so poisonous that if you eat 4 leaves you die &#8211; about how<br>marriages and births have changed &#8211; the beauty secrets of the older<br>women (they shave their eyebrows and part of their foreheads when<br>they get older). It was fascinating!<br><br><br><br>Today we woke up<br>to pouring ...

... route back up the valley took us THROUGH waterfalls and rivers, but I loved every minute. That day was definitely the high-point of this trip for me :)<br><br>Other than that, I just spent time in Sapa, chilling out and checking out the local bars and restaurants with my new friends Rob &amp; Mick, two aging Australian hippies I'd met at the station, travelling with their ukeleles. They were great fun, and heading the same way as me ...

... ist einfach fantastisch. Wir haben eine Frau von H'Mong Tribe auf dem Market kennengelernt. Sie hat uns die Umgebung schauen lassen und das war perfekt um die anderen Touristen zu vermeiden. Das war vielleicht der letzte Augenblick um hier zu fahren; die Hotels entwickeln sich allerding uberall in der Stadt. Das Klima ist viel kuhler als in Hanoi, deswegen sind wir insgesamt 5 Tagen geblieben.<br>Wir fahren heute abend nach Hanoi zuruck.<br>Bis bald<br>Cyril

... was mistreating him with a stick. Hell hath no fury like a ****** off Hmong child with a stick in his hand. <br><br><br><br> I had heard that Cat Cat was pretty touristy, but if you could just get over the ridiculousness of Hmong people selling USB cards and ice cream, that the sights were worth seeing. So I worked my way through it all, saw a pretty cool waterfall and a beautiful river. I had scored a map at the ticket booth on the way in and it showed a trail heading out West of ...

... to travel to sapa with Florie the french girl meet on bus from dalat. Booked a bus for Sunday evening, it never turned up so went on **** again and we won the ashes so rubbed into the Aussies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!<br><br>Monday was a write off got bus to sapa in evening only just as motorbike drive got lost and arrived in sapa to bump into some Irish lads we meet in Hanoi. Sapa is really beautiful with amazing ...

... by a group of native H'mong women. They are dressed in an indigo blue tunic and skirt with felt that wraps around their legs up to their calves. Some also wear a cute little round hat over their hair that's pulled up into a bun on their head. Most of the women are adorned in huge silver pieces of jewelry and earrings that pull their lobes down so far you can fit a walnut in the hole. <br><br> Essentially the H'mong and Tzao natives (the Tzao are dressed ...

... our own. Our cost? Approximately $2.50USD per person including lunch (and beer). The whole hike wasn't bad at all despite the mammoth elevation change. My pics would be much better if it had been a clear day, but I was grateful not to have the relenting SEA sun on my head for the hike. <br><br>The next few days were much of the same with treks headed out in different directions from Sa Pa. Overall, a very nice and relaxing place!