You know, there are two major schools of thought when it comes to traveling and planning – some folks love the security of a firm itinerary, with every destination planned out. The other side is more of a 'fly by the seat of your pants' variety – just making things up as you go.
I'd have to put myself in the middle. Both of my folks are excellent planners, sketching out travel routes in broad outlines, (and with my Dad's military background) often with one or two contingency plans in place.
But on the flip side, once I have the general plan in place for a trip, I do love adjusting as things go... because you never know when you're going to learn about an amazing new destination you've never heard of.
That brings us to Sapa – a complete surprise addition to my general plan of meandering up the coast to Hanoi. All throughout my trip, I kept chatting with fellow backpackers, and almost invariably, every one of 'em was heading up there, so I decided to check it out.
And, boy, was it worth it... Sapa is a town in the mountains NW of Hanoi, very close to the Chinese border, and has pretty much everything a backpacker could want in a destination:
* Amazing scenery? Check – from mountain villages to spectacular terraced hillsides.
* Exotic people? Heck yes – the Sapa region is home to four major indigenous tribes, even featuring great sounding names like the Black and Red Hmong, or the Dzao.
* Bars and other rehyrdation points? Yes, yes, dear God, yes.
* And, most importantly, prices that won't crush your travel budget? Check this out – my large hotel room with floor to ceiling windows and view of the mountains set me back a whole $10 a night.
'course, perfection does have its price, and in this case, it's geography. It takes a fair haul to get up to Sapa from Hanoi, and I chose to go for the slightly posh tourist sleeper train. With a bunk bed, AC, and even plastic flowers for a slightly cheesy touch, it was the best way to go. Plus, at $25, it both saved a day of travel and a hotel cost at one go. Sounds perfect...
...except for one wee thing... our train gave us the unexpected surprise of randomly blaring out LOUD blasts of static at odd times, just to keep us on our toes. Just when you were drifting, drifting off to sleep... the speaker right by your head would treat you to 20 seconds of *KHHHRRRREEEAAAHHHHHKKKK!*
Unlucky us. Within 30 minutes, even the most mellow of us were giving serious thought to creative vandalism to the speaker system.
Arriving in town after taking a shuttle bus from Lao Chai, I sorted out a hotel room, and napped a bit, before hitting the town.
Sapa is perched on a steep hillside, overlooking a gorgeous mountain valley. Right away, you feel its own unique vibe that really captures you within minutes of wandering about. Seeing the locals in their distinct costumes, stocking up at the local market, or selling craft to the tourists, all with a stunning backdrop, well, I was already kicking myself for only spending three days here.
Breakfast was an unexpected bonsu – some pho of course, but also my favorite spring rolls EVER... a funky shrimp/apple combination that worked out surprisingly well.
Then, I headed off around the town.
Which took about 45 minutes tops (Sapa really ain't that big)...
So, just like the proverbial water rolling downhill, I found myself on the path to Cat Cat village about 3km away at the base of the valley. This hike was one of my favorite walks in all of Vietnam, as it took me past views of rice terraces:
… to sharing a smile and broken English with a friendly Hmong woman as I showed her the pics of a nearby dragonfly:
… or the local handicraft shops, with their own incredibly cute kitten, or a woman hard at work weaving a new creation:
Sure, any one of these would be special, but it was when I came across a group of kids playing and brought out my balloons, that made it one of those unforgettable days...
The kids were great – one had been left behind his slightly older buddies, so I figured I'd give him a balloon. He tried the whole “Give me money?” in broken English that kids seem to memorize for tourists... “sorry buddy, but how 'bout this?”
And, just like everywhere else, I was soon swarmed by giggling, laughing kids. The only difference was this time, I had planned a bit – I made sure that I only had a good-sized handful of balloons available, so I could actually leave gracefully when they were gone.
… I don't think they've ever seen this sort of thing before, as they were initially skeptical until they saw that the long balloons could be twisted about.
The rest of the hike was gorgeous as well, taking me into the local village and past waterfalls and pools filled with kids swimming and having a great time.
By the time I finished, I was more than ready to head home – when I wimped out. Looking up at the nasty 3km hike uphill, it was a short internal discussion before I decided that spending $.75 for a scooter taxi was the right call.
Back in town, it was time for more lounging, including scoping out the local handicraft markets and stores for the amazingly detailed fabrics. Dinner was a tough choice among so many good options, but I settled down with a good wood-fired pizza and a drink at the well-regarded Delta restaurante, and tried to make inroads on my blogging backlog. As I'm writing this more than two weeks after the fact, you can see how effective that's been...
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