Jump Ahead:
Day 4 | Sapa, Cat Cat Village
Day 5 | Sapa, Hmong Villages, Train back to Sapa
Part 2 of this trip was spent exploring Sapa via Lao Cai, right up on the China border. I had signed up for another package through the hotel for a 3-night/2-day tour, with some light hiking involved. The highlight here being the terraced rice fields in the valley (often seen on postcards) and learning a little more about the H’mong minority there. When I mentioned in my last post about this being kind of a risky trip for me, I was thinking mostly about this part. Although I had signed up for a full itinerary, it wasn’t exactly like a formal tour group running the whole thing. There is no pre-tour brief where you meet your guide, there’s not much info about where your hotel is, and you never know who you’ll get passed off to next. All you can do is just go with the flow and keep your wits about you. That’s also why I mentioned earlier that I couldn’t figure out how the whole tourism thing works and if they’re all in cahoots because I kept getting passed off to someone new (that I didn’t know) and just trusting that they’ll pick up from where the previous person left off. How they organized all that around me was a mystery and yet somehow it worked in the end (to my relief). I’ll expand on this a little later. Overall, it was definitely one of my favorite parts of my Vietnam trip, and I did wish I had another day to spend there.
Day 4 - Sapa
Welcome music started playing around 0515, followed by the Train Lady knocking on our door around 0540 (about 5km left to the station). Free coffee/tea in pots but if it’s not clean on an airplane then I highly doubted it’d be clean here. Arrived in Lao Cai around 0600 and waiting outside were too many name cards and pick-up people. There was a light drizzle of rain at the time and a slight kink in my neck from the train ride. I also happened to see the same Korean family that was on the Ha Long cruise waiting for their ride… the Grandma noticed me at the same time so I said hello with a slight nod and a smile. My shuttle driver took a while to show up… or I couldn’t find him just by name cards at first… he didn’t speak any English so I just followed where ever he pointed to. After he snagged a few other people we left in a small van to Sapa (good to have seat belts).
The drive to Sapa was interesting and at the time I still didn’t know exactly where the hotel would end up being. Very mountainous road, a rocky river, with impossibly endless rice terraces in the misty valley. Quite a bit of kids (some very young) walking in school jackets on the side of the road with big trucks, scooters, cars passing 4-5 at a time on very wet, twisty road… just crazy… and it wasn’t exactly a short walk either. Arrived at Freesia Hotel around 0735. The shuttle driver did not communicate much but he seemed to know which of his passengers were going to which hotel (not all the same)… and as I couldn’t confirm if he dropped me off at the right hotel, I just hoped this one was correct.
Welcome drink (cinnamon/ginger tea?) at check-in. Still not sure what the exact itinerary was going to be for the next two days and the hotel could only tell me to be in the lobby at 0930 to meet my tour guide. Noticed another tip box at the check-in counter (I have a lot of thoughts on tipping in general). Was provided with a temporary room to freshen up and although it was a full size room, it wasn’t the room I’d be staying in later. Felt a little bad because I couldn’t drain the sink in that room haha (but figured it out later). Breakfast was a good buffet… they had pho (thank goodness) and while the sauces were a little different looking they tasted similar to home (a little).
Met the tour guide at 0930 and was also joined by Mr. & Mrs. from San Francisco (my favorite city!)… at least it wasn’t a huge group. The first day we were going to be walking down to Cat Cat Village. Our tour guide Mao – 22 years old, married at 18, 5 brothers, 5 sisters (typical family size), middle child – was not from Cat Cat but we’d be visiting her village the next day. The walk down to Cat Cat village was rainy but not too cold… a lot of the steps were pretty slippery. Needed an entrance ticket to get into Cat Cat Village…hmmm? Along the way, there were some girls who were very pushy to sell items but not as many of them as I expected to be honest. Visited the Black Hmong village with waterfall at the bottom of Cat Cat and watched a short dance performance. They also had demonstrations of how they make products with blue dye, “mariana” hemp, traditional fabrics, traditional homes with rye and corn, etc. A few wild pigs, dogs, and chicken just wandering around with us…only saw one cat (3-footed). People wear lots of colorful outfits, and they seemed to especially like North Face here and Hanoi. We were also told the yellow and red outfits were actually Chinese made, brought to sell in Vietnam, and even Vietnamese people not from Sapa don’t know it’s a Chinese outfit. Also, anything machine made cannot be made in Sapa (handmade goods only) so buyers beware.
Cat Cat village seemed set up as a tourist attraction actually… like a (very) mini Polynesian Cultural Center…. considering the entrance ticket, flow of shops, demonstrations, walking path. Fake flower almost got me (planted in ground and big) taking a picture, there were screws and metal door hinges, electrical outlets with a smartphonecharging, etc. One thing that was interesting to learn is that there are 6 different languages spoken among the different villages here (including Vietnamese). Best months to visit with the most beautiful weather and view of crops is June/July we were told. There was also a cable car in town that takes you to the top of the famous Mt. Fansipan but decided it wasn’t worth it that day as it was too cloudy, there’d be no view, and it wasn’t so cheap (600,000VND).
Noticing the amount of new construction going on everywhere, I asked Mao what she thought about the seemingly increased amount of tourism coming into Sapa. She said the general feeling is that of course more tourists is good, but more buildings are bad as they block more of the views… I can understand a little coming from Hawaii. She said she usually does one 2-3 day tour per week which didn’t seem like much, and I’m still not sure how they assign which guides to which groups or who gets work and how my hotel in Hanoi arranged everything. Lot of info gets lost in translation, so I’m not sure about some of the things that were explained.
They offered moped rides back up the hill after we finished at Cat Cat but we decided as a group to walk (to Mao’s disdain I think)… not sure if the ride was free either. Underestimated how much uphill we still had to walk and in hindsight it probably would’ve been better to have taken the mopeds (my bad!). In the we ended up walking about 5 km total and I was pretty wet by the time we got back.
Back at the hotel, I got the key to my room for the night but found someone else’s bags in the room. I checked with the SF couple and turns out they had my bag and I had theirs so rather than switch bags we just switched room keys (nobody used/touched anything in the rooms yet). After a brief power outage (and figuring out the sink drain), I went downstairs again for lunch. Again no free water… have to buy bottled if anything. Got a Sapa punch with my lunch and overall everything wasn’t too bad. Just for reference – 120,000 VND ($5.50USD) for Sapa punch, bottled water (big), and a coke.
After lunch I just took it easy and went for a walk around the town. There wasn’t a whole lot to see.. walked around the local center market (Chợ Sapa) where they sold all kind of random food and stuff… not sure I’d trust their sanitation methods but someone must be eating the food there. Stepped into a local grocery store just to get a feel for what’s they sold and the prices. Walking around the lake was nice and peaceful. Then headed southwest over to Cầu Mây street (tourist main street) and the park down there. After a couple of hours, I just headed back to the hotel for dinner and to call it a day.
The next day was supposed to be a more difficult hike… or at least longer. Hotel and even shuttle driver from train station seemed kind of lacking in services/attentiveness. Had to ask about meal times, no communication from the shuttle driver (not to mention he was little late). Had to keep telling the restaurant to bill the room for drinks.. and what was up with the french fries for dinner? Hotel itself seemed newer though so maybe it was growing pains of this increasingly touristy area. Hoped that the next days hike and villages would be a bit more authentic even though the views were already pretty great so far. Before going to bed I couldn’t get the moisture out of my room which would lead to a bit of a scary surprise in the morning…
Day 5 - Sapa
Day 2 in Sapa started with the same breakfast as the first day. Still had a lot of moisture in the room which led to the scary discovery of a ton of dead mosquito near the front door and bathroom… where why how?! None were near the bed and no bites thank goodness! They were scattered throughout the hotel too… sooo bizarre and the one thing I was trying to avoid. Later found out the Mr. and Mrs. SF had the same problem and yet the Hotel staff said it was the first time they heard about it, hah!
At 0910 the group left for the day’s hike, this time joined by a few other helper “friends”. Just some things I was told and some observations: Our guides learned English from tourists for the most part and some more than others. English classes started just two years ago in their school system so maybe the next generation will be speaking 8 languages? The buffalo here are for work only and the pigs they eat only at New Years. Indigo is what they use for their blue dye. We came across a poisonous snake chilling in the mud near our path and the guides stayed very very far away from it… I can’t imagine what the treatment here would be like for a bite like that. The trail was very slippery and muddy (a weird sort of sticky mud) for the most part… our helper friends were so sure-footed though and just cruised along… they’ll even help you down the slippery areas if you need it. Given their average age I was impressed by how easy they made it look. Here and there you’ll run into some little kids trying to sell you items but they weren’t aggressive about it or anything. There were other groups of tourists/guides the entire way… similar to our group in looks/size. When I say similar in looks I mean there were an equal number and distribution of guides to guests, and almost every group had one guide carrying a baby with them which, in the back of my head I was thinking maybe babies were just for photo ops/empathy? Or I could’ve just been overthinking it and they just naturally had to bring them along. The baby in our group loved chocolate and wouldn’t stop crying until he got some. The guides were all nice, happy seeming people which made the hike more pleasant than it could’ve been. The views were the best part of the hike and I’ll let the pictures speak to that.
We reached the main road after about walking 5.5km (finally out of the mud). Around here we could take in some great views of the river and valley. Was told the fields depend on rain water (higher up) and river water (lower fields) so the seasons are especially important. Heading towards the second village of the day, I was surprised to see a small power station next to the village… and right next to that was a soccer field and pool table… a little more developed than I was imagining. The second village is where our tour guides were from, but not necessarily all living from day to day.
We stopped for lunch in the second village after walking for about 8.1km. This is also where our extra helper friends depart for the day but not before trying to sell you some handmade items. I knew to expect this which is also why I was a little skeptical about the helpers joining us in the morning and bringing a baby along. Still, despite knowing they’d try to sell you something, I still ended up giving 300000VND (~$13) for a bag (they also said the money helps with the village schools). I could argue this purchase to myself in many ways but it’s just not worth thinking about after the fact… and I know many of you are thinking, “what’s $13?”. I considered this my tip basically and didn’t haggle the price as much as I usually would here. She did give me a free bracelet as an extra thank you and I was also thankful for the company along the hike regardless. Also, just know that if you do buy something, all the other ladies will swarm you with their goods after that too. The villages all seemed to have churches, schools, motor bikes… and not totally without modern conveniences. I think I was expecting to see less development but they all seemed to be growing in their own right, maybe in part to the increase in tourism I mentioned earlier. Lunch was a kind of chicken noodle soup… not bad but was a hot day for hot soup… and they were sure to leave a tray of cold drinks next to our table in case we wanted to buy more hehe.. such a big tease. The restaurant also seemed to double as living quarters for someone because there was bed in one corner where the kids would hang out.
After lunch, it was a short easy walk to the next and final village of the Zao (red hat) and Zay (colorful) people. We were joined by a new Zao “friend” who was not much help (easy walk on roads, no hiking here) but very pushy to sell something after. Our own guide Mao didn’t even really interact with her so maybe she was just tagging along. At the end of the walk I swear she tried to guilt trip me into buying something for a good ten minutes… I was actually starting to get irritated. Apparently, the villages down in the valley don’t get money from the shops up in Sapa town so they say it’s better to buy as local as possible if you do shop. They also mentioned that the children in Zao schools live at school because their homes are too far away and I suppose some of the money they make from sales goes into supporting the children in this way. They usually only go home for holidays and important celebrations. Walking through the villages there were baby pigs everywhere, puppies, and even watched as a lady threw a dead duck off the bridge into the river.
We finished the hike at 1510, ending at the home stay where Mr. and Mrs. SF chose to stay. In hindsight, I feel like the home stay and second day of hiking (deeper into the valley) would’ve been better and if time doesn’t permit then skip Cat Cat if you must. The home stay, while minimal looking, was nicer than what my hotel manager in Hanoi had described when he talked me out of doing it (btw price for home stay vs. hotel was same). Seems like there is a good amount of tourism coming up in the villages and on the hillsides so I can see why some feel it ruins some of the experience (but that also means some nicer home stays). I though it would’ve been nice to have an extra day in Sapa.
Anyway, I said my goodbye’s to the group and caught a motorbike back to the hotel. I must say it was pretty terrifying at first… just trying not to get bumped off the back, riding into oncoming traffic, onto sidewalks, etc. Meanwhile, the other locals riding on motorbikes were just holding their babies, eating casually while riding on the back seat… how???
All in all, it was only about 7km of hiking (and 20 minutes on the motorbike)… made it back to the hotel by 1544. The hotel gave me another full room on the second floor just to shower and rest again and I was glad I didn’t have to worry about moisture and mosquitoes for another night. Was also able to clean my shoes outside the hotel and they gave me another free drink while waiting for the shuttle back to the train station.
The shuttle (same driver as first day) picked me and a few others up at 1738. The road back to Lao Cai was even more scary at night with a full shuttle, no seat belts again, and oncoming cars with their constantly blinding high beams. After arriving back at the train station, other people in the shuttle kind of had to figure out their ticket/train on their own…. they all seemed a little confused because the communication from the shuttle driver was not that good again. The train station restaurant where I was supposed to get dinner was expecting me and they also got the train ticket for me… I guess it was worth booking the complete tour as I didn’t have to worry about these things unlike the others. The restaurant was more of a rest stop… and timing was good because I got there at 1840 and the train wasn’t departing until 2140. A lot of people came in after me (I think it was a waiting/rest area too) but there was only one server and since they had no reservations there was also a long wait for their food. I was the only one who had everything ready and waiting with the food/setting already on the table. Oh, and the food was not bad either hehe.
I’m still not sure how connected all the different parties are (hotels, village tour guides, restaurant, motor bikes, shuttles). You buy one tour package from a hotel in Hanoi and the services just keep getting passed further and further down the line. This is one reason why its hard to (near impossible) to search and know 100% what you’re getting into or what to expect. Getting handed off to a new person at every stage can be unnerving if you can’t let go of some inhibitions and yet you can only be so cautious (no choice) and keep your wits about you as much as possible. This wouldn’t work everywhere obviously… Just have to know going into it that you can’t control everything. At least for now everything has been working out ok, even with less information upfront than I’m usually comfortable with. Everything has been taken care of for me so far so on that note, I can say the service was at least good… even thoughtful to a certain extent, like “hotel will pay motorbike”, help with getting tickets at train station, rooms for shower, etc.
Boarded the night train back to Hanoi at about 2110. My roommates this time were two Australians (northern) and one Vietnamese tour guide. I got the top bunk this time (I think better than bottom) and again no curtains/privacy. Things were mostly quiet except for the one Australian guy talking about going to Myanmar… mostly they kept to their books and the Vietnamese lady was just quiet the whole time. Fell asleep much easier this time around even though the ride was as rough as the first time… had a lot to reflect on and think about after leaving Sapa anyway. The last part of my trip finishes off back in Hanoi where I finally got to explore the city itself. Expected arrival back in Hanoi was 0520… just enough time to get some good rest after the long day.