Duyen Hai Hotel Lao Cai

... that are very similar to the Peruvian mountains where the peasants farm potatoes. The rice in Sapa can only be harvested once a year (whereas in the rest of the country, it's done twice a year) because of the cold weather of the mountains. The rice here is strictly grown for consumption and not for sale. Some families have enough for the year but others don't, it all depends on the number of children they have. Our guide, for example, only has 2 kids so ...

... quit their jobs to do 3-, 4- even 9-month trips to SE Asia. Most were fed up with the rat race and just wanted to experience life differently. It's admirable, really, takes a lot of guts to do that. Many Brits and Aussies, some Germans and a few French but surprisingly very few American tourists in VN so far.<br><br>Today makes a week that we've been gone, it feels longer because everything is SO different. Enjoying every day... beats being in the office!<br><br>

... using toothpicks as currency ha ha<br><br>I personally found the first day to be a little more difficult just because it had rained the whole previous day so it was pretty mucky and slippery. Around the valleys there's no paved path for you to walk on you're basically walking on mud and rocks over mini waterfalls and streams. <br>The second day we went through the jungle, visited two different ...

... on a motorbike to take me back to town. They always know where to wait - I could probably have got it cheaper, but I was tired and for about 1.50 I wasn't going to argue - he was very happy :)<br><br>That's all for now, I'll update you again after Halong Bay, assuming the weather allows me to get there...:)<br><br>Love Karen xx<br><br>****, I've just caught the end of a news report about the typhoon - I didn't realise how bad it was.<br><br>

... moto. <br>Les gens sont ici extraordinaires, ou que l on s arrete ils nous saluent, essayent de discuter et nous offre de l alcool de riz. <br>Le fait d avoir sa propre moto et Qiu comme guide nous permet d eviter les touristes tout de meme nombreux dans cette partie du Vietnam. J ai en effet fait la connaissance d un Viennois qui voyage seul et qui a pris un tour organise par un hotel. Il m a confie que c etait mal organise, qu on le traitait comme un ...

... The scenery was pretty awesome, with staggered rice paddies covering the whole mountain vista around us. After a fair bit of walking we arrive in a village, which is connected to the main road and as such annoyingly touristy, where we sit down for a break and a cracking BLT in a little cafe overhanging the river. Setting off again, it starts to rain and we make for another, more remote, village along the river where we'll be staying for the night ...

... women walking down the road, dressed in their traditional garb. Which is sandals with a black piece of cloth that is roughly 6 inches wide and 3 feet long. It is wrapped around their shins several times and tied up with string. A black pleated skirt with an over coat usually lined with brightly colored threads of silk. With a black turban/hat type thing wrapped around their hair that is tightly woven into buns. They are known as the Black Hmong people because they dye their clothes ...

... back in Sapa in the afternoon and the group split up to explore the town. Al and I wandered through some markets for a while and saw a street barber that gave straight-edge shaves and since my face was pretty stubbly anyway, I thought it would be a great local experience so I asked him for a shave. He sat me down and, thankfully, pulled out a brand new razor. He lathered my skin and meticulously shaved every square inch of my face. <br><br>I was really nervous that he was ...

... were so far up in the mountains it was quite cold and was a really nice break from the hotter parts of southern Viet Nam. Being so high up also meant we were closer to clouds and since it was the rainy season there were huge downpours daily. Our first day we were welcomed with monsoon-like weather and the streets literally gushed with water like a river. Since we were so short on time we somehow braved the rains and tried to check out the covered market ...

We are a group of oversea Vietnameses, We often take advanturous tour and this time to Vietnam is Fansipan.<br><br>Get pick up at Laocai train station and transfer to Sapa, we stop at Sapa Pathfinder Travel, got a room for shower, breakfast, prepared our gears for the coming moutain trek.<br><br>Driving by Jeep along a up-down, zig-zag road to get the mountain pass to start our hike. The first sight to us is the large mountain, the trek ...