Sa Pa, Vietnam

despite the problems with our train trip we arrived in sapa excited to be in the cool mountain air.  located in the tonkinese alps sapa is at around 1700 meters (5100 ft) and so there was a very noticible and welcome chill in the air.  we got a ride in one of the vans that shuttles people up to town after they filled it up with as many people as possible.  its a very windy road up and a few of the girls in the van required plastic bags.  if were lucky enough to have a window seat however u witnessed spectacular views of the mts that were decorated with 1000's of bright green breath-taking farming terraces.  the terraces were very old and used by the local mountain tribes moung, xa pho, and tay ethnic minority groups among others.

amazing views

we got into town and were stoked to get a room with a sweeping view of the valley and fansipan, vietnams highest peak.  we only had 2 days so we set off on a walk thru the valley on our way to one of the villages.  we quickly realized it was too far for a one day hike so we rented a moto and headed down.  the road was narrow and there were some steep drop offs but fortunately traffic was fairly light.  we enjoyed gorgeous scenery the whole way and got of glimpse of how the terraces are farmed with caribou.

hilltribe

we just toured town after that and allowed ourselves to be sold a few of the lightweight locally made textiles (we passed on the opium).  we ran into a friend of amy's from college, ashely from her lacrosee team (small world).  we made friends with a few of the girls and women who sell in town and of course bought a few more small items.  the next day we were going to go for a trek but a steady rainfall disuaded us and we hung around town and did some yoga on our balcony instead. 

even though we had a short trip, sapa did its magic on us and we were prepared for the train trip back to hanoi.

hilltribe living

lets make a deal

local hilltribe

making a deal

post purchase

terraces

view from guesthouse in sapa

yoga in sapa