Hoang Lien Hotel Sapa

... we saw more and more women wearing the large bright red hats which distinguishes them from the other Dzao. The men seem to dress much more plainly. There were not many tourists in this village and with a bagful of sweets I befriended some of them to let me take photographs. Some of the older women did not like to be photographed. They were acheerful lot as they sat in their small groups hand sewing dresses to sell. I would have loved to have bought a couple of ...

... as well as munched on some sticky rice and pork skewers. BBQ is pretty big in Sapa. The owner of the bbq was very friendly and shared some apple wine which was very good. After eating we hiked back up to the top, well Ryan and I did, the girls rode up (punks). We got back to the hotel and hung out. We went to a coffee shop that was a refuge/hotel for handicap people. It was called "Good Samaritan" . The coffee and pastries ...

... the start point for our trek. The first day would be a 15km trek to the Red Dzao Village where we'd spend the night. Unlike the trek in Chiang Mai, which was up all the way, this one was up, down and around! It didn't help that it had rained the previous night, so I stacked it within 10 mins of starting! Again we got to see some more views of the valleys and also the rice paddies. Unfortunately they had been harvested a few weeks before so wasn't as beautiful as it could ...

... Peru or Bolivia etc) style of clothing.<br><br>The younger girls come into Sapa and try to sell you all their hand made items, and most of them no longer go to school anymore as it's expensive to go to high school so they help on the rice paddies or become tour guides but speak very good english.<br><br>We have another day of trekking tomorrow to Cat Cat village and then back on the overnight train to Hanoi where we will make our way down to Hue (central Vietnam).<br><br>

Arrived in Lao Cai at 4.45am, on the train. Had been in the party carriage with 20 Norwegian mature singles, who came on board with a case of wine &amp; nibblies. Our 4 bed berth was shared with Robert an Aussie &amp; his Irish wife who work as teachers in HCMC. Had a nice chat before falling asleep pretty early.<br><br>Caught a mini bus for 30,000 dong ( $2 ...

... beautiful terraced rice fields with wonderful patterns around the mountains. The breeze was fresh and we didn't mind the little rain that accompanied us! Ping showed us different trees and plants common in the local area, we even tried guava, it was ok!<br>After our long walk, we finally reach our homestay! A woman, in her 50s greeted us at the door of her home! Very basic setting, with bunk beds as high as the ceiling. A small table and plastic patio ...

... la taille. Une large collier rigide em argent et malgre la chaleur, un ruban noir rigide enturbanne autour du crane, ainsi que des guetres en velours noir enroulees plusieurs fois autour des mollets. Les hommes sont plus sobres et n'ont jamais, comme la gente feminine, de hote en osire chargee sur le dos.<br> La petite ville de Sapa, cachee au creux des montagnes, nous laisse perplexes. Le tourisme s'y etant developpe les dernieres anneesm une multitude de petits hotels y proposent ...

... a beautiful array of colours to name but a few. <br><br><br>We hired motorbikes. Raj's shoulder fortunately meant he wasn't tempted, but that did mean Jie and/or Carolyn were going to have to ride. Jie was immediately barred by the shop after approximately 2 metres of out-of-control terror. Carolyn made it to the first bend in the road, where it was revealed she didn't have a plan to deal with turning so simply crashed. We got two ...

... Laos. Hoa spoke the most English and was the interpreter. Her boyfriend Holm spoke some as well, as did the little guy, Chung. <br><br><br><br> We got to their hotel and walked the pig over to a restaurant which they seemed pretty familiar with. The tables stood 5 inches off of the ground and were surrounded by circular straw mats. The place was set up in rustic décor with bamboo and old paintings of the countryside covering the walls, with a fireplace in the middle smoking some ...

... being more like a hostel where a family happened to live. It wasn't very authentic but after hiking up and down hills in the hot sun, we were all eager for a cool shower and some hot food so we weren't going to be picky.<br><br>We had a really nice dinner then drank a lot of beer and rice wine. A few of us stayed up really late, learning/teaching new drinking games and socializing through the night. Finally we crashed on our cots draped in a protective mosquito net.<br>