After the not-as-good-as-expected Sapa trip, my expectations for Sa Pa were really low, given that we were budget enough to book a 6-man soft sleeper cabin. We hopped off the mini-bus from Ha Long Bay and resupplied at the supermarket before heading back to the cafe we ate on the first day.
Found our way to the travel agency at 8ish and waited a long time for the pick-up. It was there that YS and I decided to start counting cars. The bulk of the cars were Toyotas and Hyundais with several Hondas as well. We also managed to catch a Mini but as what YS said, if you wanna backpack, you musn't get bored easily and must be able to find something to do all the time.
The pickup finally came and we arrived at the train station which was, really, had the L4D feel! The pics aren't up yet on FB but the three of us signed L 4 D and got someone to take a picture for us. It was dark and spooky with empty carriages (cause it wasn't open for boarding yet and everyone was outside). The attendants finally opened the carriage doors and we spilled in, looking for our beds. Yaosheng and I took the top beds while Eric took the middle. The gap between the bed and the ceiling was so low you couldn't sit up so you had to be lying down or crouched at all times on your bed. For this reason, we stood along the corridor outside our cabin and only got onto our beds when we decided to sleep.
That said, the corridor is a decent place to meet people. I had an awesome chat with this British guy and Eric joined in after a while. He's a naval weapons engineer and is only travelling for a few weeks. I was asking him about politics in Britain with the elections coming up and I bet he was surprised when I asked about James Cameron and whether he was charismatic cause he remarked that many British people probably don't even know about that. Then I talked about the political system in Singapore and the similarities to Britain since we used to be a British colony. We were also talking about the sentences given out in Singapore such as caning and the death sentence. The Canadian girl looked aghast when she found out you can be hanged for trafficking more than 5 grams of heroin. Oh through my probing of the British folks we've been meeting throughout the journey, I conclude that the national foods of Britain are - Potatoes, Fish & Chips, Pies. I wonder how accurate that is.
We also met this Vietnamese guy who could speak Mandarin. He exports things to Taiwan so he's been picking up Business Mandarin. A role model indeed. He initially thought we were Vietnamese students after hearing us talk to the Western peeps. So this corridor chatting lasted for a few hours before we finally went to bed. I found the starting part a bit difficult to sleep cause I kept rocking but I got used to it and fell asleep soon enough. The train was surprisingly comfy cause once you woke up you were nearly there.
I got up bright and early and looked out of the window. The Vietnamese guy then woke up and we started talking abit again. He asked me if I was married! Imagine that! But I found out he's married with a kid. It's nice to talk to some of the locals.
We got to Lao Cai and it was nice and cool. We hunted around for our minibus and finally found it and voila! The British guys and the Canadian girl we met on the train were in the same bus! It was also there that we met Hana and Viet, a Vietnamese girl living in Hanoi and a Vietnamese guy who left for Seattle at age 5. Had a nice chat with them on the minibus and we made our way up the mountains for about 30-40min. We reached Sa Pa and checked into our (first) hotel room. The view was absolutely stunning! Sa Pa was by far my favourite place that we visited. There was this common balcony at the end of the corridor where you could just sit and look out at the mountains and terraces.
We had breakfast at the hotel and YS attributes his stomach problems to the fried noodles he ordered. I settled for my (safe) customary baguette. We then met our guide who took us to Cat Cat village to see the local produce and the waterfall. We ate this awesome satay near the waterfall and would've tried the bamboo rice but the two ladies with the same guide took the last two.
We had been going downhill all this while and we now had the task of going back uphill to our hotel! We had the option of paying around VND20,000-30,000 to take a motorbike back but, being the garang soldiers that we were, we decided to walk it out. And it was really quite a long walk but there's a reason for everything. On our way back, we met this Austria couple led by this guide who showed us a short cut rather than taking the long road. The guide looked really really young and her name was Vu. She walked up the slope carrying an umbrella! Stunning! Mount Biang would pose no problems to these ethnic groups.
Finally made it back to the hotel. Had lunch and lay for about an hour before heading off to explore the town. We realised it wasn't that big a town and walked the most part of town for the day. Ended up hunting around for a French bakery to hang out. There were these two bakeries near each other and we settled for the one on the right, following which Eric lamented that the other one had a chiobu. Why wait until we go in and settle down before saying that?! We literally spent the whole afternoon there and there was this guy doing some renovation who was crawling outside of the window, making it seem like L4D again!
In the evening, we scoured the place for a dinner location. Having been at the centre of blame for the stomach troubles of my travelling buddies, I decided to let them make the decision of where to eat dinner. We ended up in this posh-looking restaurant which wasn't that expensive. YS had a beef burger that he insists was buffalo cause of the toughness. Eric and I decided to be gung-ho and order the local rice and apple wine. Eric the apple and I the rice. It came in a whisky glass and I barely finished half of it. It tasted totally like vodka and I most certainly do not drink vodka on the rocks. Eric finished his apple wine (partially because I think he bought our theory that alcohol will destroy all the bad stuff in his gut).
What happened after dinner was pretty interesting. Sapa is such a small town that as we walked up the slope heading back to the hotel, we met Hana and Viet who were hunting for a place to eat and invited us to meet up at a pub down the road later on. We then met the 2 British guys and the Canadian girl and they had one other girl with them as well. Just as we were chatting, the entire town blacked out! We were in darkness! It was so cool! And to make things better, the weapons engineer stripped! He first took off his shirt and I thought to myself, wow it's so cold and he's giving his shirt to the girl? But he then took off his pants, turned around and pulled down his boxers for his friend to snap a photo. In a flash, he had stripped and put his clothes back on as if nothing had happened. Hilarious stuff!
Further up the road, we met that tour guide, Vu. She's actually 20 years old but YS guessed 15 and Eric (amazingly) guessed 10. She was off to play pool with her friends and invited us to join her. With so many invitations, we decided to go back to the hotel to regroup and resupply before heading out again. Eventually, we went to the pub where Vu was playing pool with her friends. They are all so small! Met these 2 French guys who beat Eric and YS at a game of pool. We were then just sitting around until Hana and Viet came then we were all at a table talking and eventually migrated to the pool table. So we played and chatted and finally it was time to go back. It was really quiet at 11ish. And being in the mountains with the great view, I suggested waking up to try to catch the sunrise at 5-5.30am. I set my alarm and I actually stirred but when I drew the curtains, the entire place was misty with rain so I gave up and went back to bed.
And that, marked the end of Day 1 in paradise.
Found our way to the travel agency at 8ish and waited a long time for the pick-up. It was there that YS and I decided to start counting cars. The bulk of the cars were Toyotas and Hyundais with several Hondas as well. We also managed to catch a Mini but as what YS said, if you wanna backpack, you musn't get bored easily and must be able to find something to do all the time.
The pickup finally came and we arrived at the train station which was, really, had the L4D feel! The pics aren't up yet on FB but the three of us signed L 4 D and got someone to take a picture for us. It was dark and spooky with empty carriages (cause it wasn't open for boarding yet and everyone was outside). The attendants finally opened the carriage doors and we spilled in, looking for our beds. Yaosheng and I took the top beds while Eric took the middle. The gap between the bed and the ceiling was so low you couldn't sit up so you had to be lying down or crouched at all times on your bed. For this reason, we stood along the corridor outside our cabin and only got onto our beds when we decided to sleep.
That said, the corridor is a decent place to meet people. I had an awesome chat with this British guy and Eric joined in after a while. He's a naval weapons engineer and is only travelling for a few weeks. I was asking him about politics in Britain with the elections coming up and I bet he was surprised when I asked about James Cameron and whether he was charismatic cause he remarked that many British people probably don't even know about that. Then I talked about the political system in Singapore and the similarities to Britain since we used to be a British colony. We were also talking about the sentences given out in Singapore such as caning and the death sentence. The Canadian girl looked aghast when she found out you can be hanged for trafficking more than 5 grams of heroin. Oh through my probing of the British folks we've been meeting throughout the journey, I conclude that the national foods of Britain are - Potatoes, Fish & Chips, Pies. I wonder how accurate that is.
We also met this Vietnamese guy who could speak Mandarin. He exports things to Taiwan so he's been picking up Business Mandarin. A role model indeed. He initially thought we were Vietnamese students after hearing us talk to the Western peeps. So this corridor chatting lasted for a few hours before we finally went to bed. I found the starting part a bit difficult to sleep cause I kept rocking but I got used to it and fell asleep soon enough. The train was surprisingly comfy cause once you woke up you were nearly there.
I got up bright and early and looked out of the window. The Vietnamese guy then woke up and we started talking abit again. He asked me if I was married! Imagine that! But I found out he's married with a kid. It's nice to talk to some of the locals.
We got to Lao Cai and it was nice and cool. We hunted around for our minibus and finally found it and voila! The British guys and the Canadian girl we met on the train were in the same bus! It was also there that we met Hana and Viet, a Vietnamese girl living in Hanoi and a Vietnamese guy who left for Seattle at age 5. Had a nice chat with them on the minibus and we made our way up the mountains for about 30-40min. We reached Sa Pa and checked into our (first) hotel room. The view was absolutely stunning! Sa Pa was by far my favourite place that we visited. There was this common balcony at the end of the corridor where you could just sit and look out at the mountains and terraces.
We had breakfast at the hotel and YS attributes his stomach problems to the fried noodles he ordered. I settled for my (safe) customary baguette. We then met our guide who took us to Cat Cat village to see the local produce and the waterfall. We ate this awesome satay near the waterfall and would've tried the bamboo rice but the two ladies with the same guide took the last two.
We had been going downhill all this while and we now had the task of going back uphill to our hotel! We had the option of paying around VND20,000-30,000 to take a motorbike back but, being the garang soldiers that we were, we decided to walk it out. And it was really quite a long walk but there's a reason for everything. On our way back, we met this Austria couple led by this guide who showed us a short cut rather than taking the long road. The guide looked really really young and her name was Vu. She walked up the slope carrying an umbrella! Stunning! Mount Biang would pose no problems to these ethnic groups.
Finally made it back to the hotel. Had lunch and lay for about an hour before heading off to explore the town. We realised it wasn't that big a town and walked the most part of town for the day. Ended up hunting around for a French bakery to hang out. There were these two bakeries near each other and we settled for the one on the right, following which Eric lamented that the other one had a chiobu. Why wait until we go in and settle down before saying that?! We literally spent the whole afternoon there and there was this guy doing some renovation who was crawling outside of the window, making it seem like L4D again!
In the evening, we scoured the place for a dinner location. Having been at the centre of blame for the stomach troubles of my travelling buddies, I decided to let them make the decision of where to eat dinner. We ended up in this posh-looking restaurant which wasn't that expensive. YS had a beef burger that he insists was buffalo cause of the toughness. Eric and I decided to be gung-ho and order the local rice and apple wine. Eric the apple and I the rice. It came in a whisky glass and I barely finished half of it. It tasted totally like vodka and I most certainly do not drink vodka on the rocks. Eric finished his apple wine (partially because I think he bought our theory that alcohol will destroy all the bad stuff in his gut).
What happened after dinner was pretty interesting. Sapa is such a small town that as we walked up the slope heading back to the hotel, we met Hana and Viet who were hunting for a place to eat and invited us to meet up at a pub down the road later on. We then met the 2 British guys and the Canadian girl and they had one other girl with them as well. Just as we were chatting, the entire town blacked out! We were in darkness! It was so cool! And to make things better, the weapons engineer stripped! He first took off his shirt and I thought to myself, wow it's so cold and he's giving his shirt to the girl? But he then took off his pants, turned around and pulled down his boxers for his friend to snap a photo. In a flash, he had stripped and put his clothes back on as if nothing had happened. Hilarious stuff!
Further up the road, we met that tour guide, Vu. She's actually 20 years old but YS guessed 15 and Eric (amazingly) guessed 10. She was off to play pool with her friends and invited us to join her. With so many invitations, we decided to go back to the hotel to regroup and resupply before heading out again. Eventually, we went to the pub where Vu was playing pool with her friends. They are all so small! Met these 2 French guys who beat Eric and YS at a game of pool. We were then just sitting around until Hana and Viet came then we were all at a table talking and eventually migrated to the pool table. So we played and chatted and finally it was time to go back. It was really quiet at 11ish. And being in the mountains with the great view, I suggested waking up to try to catch the sunrise at 5-5.30am. I set my alarm and I actually stirred but when I drew the curtains, the entire place was misty with rain so I gave up and went back to bed.
And that, marked the end of Day 1 in paradise.