Sapa Summit Hotel

I'm not sure what to think of things thus far. It's been raining cats and dogs in Hanoi and it has slowed my movement. This helps to bring out all of my insecurities about travel. Why did I come to Vietnam? Why didn't I go to Australia or Spain instead? Or just stay home and rest and save some money that I'll probably need in a couple months?


Night Train to Sapa.

We're hunkered down in our beds, and the night train to Sapa is ****-tay. Emphasis on ******. The carriage i...

We headed North From Ho chi min City by plane to Hanoi and jumped on the Night train to Lao Cai. The train Station is 5 blocks away from the China Boarder. We then proceeded by minivan across the mountains via somethin Pass (the names evades this morning at 7am!) to Sapa fro a 34km ride. All we did was go up and up and up for 26km. Our Hotel the Sapa Summit Hotel. Wea re here for 2 days of trecking in the mountains Enjoy the pictures

I almost canceled my Sapa trip due to my knee injury, but at the very last minute I decided that I had to go. I definitely made the right decision. I know I've made wanton use of the following phrase, but Sapa is absolutely the most beautiful place I have visited thus far. The natural beauty takes on a form that I never knew existed nor could have imagined: Valleys spangled with waterfalls and rivers, foothills terraced with rice paddies, a hill town shrouded in mist, and mountains rising at ...

This won't be long because it really only covers a day, but I wanted an entry for the map because I am a dork. I took the overnight train to Sapa, Vietnan, which is up in the hills near the border with China. It is a bit of a tourist mecca because of all the local hill tribes in their colorful dress, the handicrafts, and the mountain scenery with most of the slopes terraced for rice and other vegetable production. The only thing of note on the train is that all of the conductors converged on ...

From Ha Long we headed back to Hanoi for the night and enjoyed a proper vege meal with our Aussie buddies at a really awesome vege cafe called Tamarind. I know this may not appeal to you all but... how does Malay quesadillas, tropical curry fried rice and crunchy stuffed and fried cheese sound??? Mmmmmmm delicious I tell you... especially after nuts and rice! The next day we did a bit more exploring of Hanoi and headed to the National History Museum... ok we actually ended up at the "National...

Notre sejour a Sapa est maintenant termine! Ce petit village est situe en haut dune montagne cest vraiment magnifique. Malheureusement notre tour etait un peu plate. La premiere journee on a visite un petit village nomme Cat Cat.On etait avec deux australien Thom et Bianca et notre guide de 16ans, Mai, qui etait tres gentille. Elle nous a fait gouter a la canne a sucre, cetait bizarre comme truc mais bon, cest un bamboo remplie deau sucree que tu mastiques et recrache. Apres ca Mai est devenu...

So after getting back from Halong bay, we had four hours to kill in Hanoi before taking the night train to Sapa in Northern Vietnam. We had a sleeper train with 4 beds in a cabin, and once again we were surprised by the cleanliness and the resemblance to what we were promised :). So we arrived early morning in Sapa , around 4"30 am, where the hotel van was there to bring us to the hotel. We checked in and had a few hours to rest again before going to walk around the city. THere were tons of l...

Well, after an overnight train from Hanoi we are currently waiting for our trekking to begin - our guide a young woman "pang" already introduced me to the foot stomping game - as well as the "let me stick you in the arm with a needle game" - both are quite exciting and entertaining. We are waiting at Sapa Summit Hotel - and its just beautiful - its atop of a very large valley thats currently hidden in mist. Peering through the clouds one can make out many rice patties that are literally carve...

People, Ellen among them, sit in the lobby each morning with giddy smiles on their faces waiting for guides to appear with their routes. I study them all with anxiety hoping we'll be grouped together with the older or out of shape. Sadly, most are physically fit. I don't ask what our route will be. I know I'm not going to like it. We're in the town of Sapa, Vietnam, in the Tonkinese Alps. (The dot on the map north-west of Hanoi, near the Chinese border.) The only reason people come to Sapa is...