Hay hay,

Sorry havn't written for a while... we have been treking around the hilltribes of Sapa!! We had 3 nights 4days in Sapa- the first day we were b*****ed from the o/night train ride so we just wandered around and talked to the locals, checked out the awesome handicrafts (i would import containers full if only we had the $$!!). The next day we hired a moto (6$ for full day, 2.5$ to fill up which lasted for the whole day) and rode around to see the sights- the most amazing scenery!! We went out to 'heavens gates' which is a pass between a massive montain range and also a boarder between provinces. the "road" is more like a dirt track...similar to a aussie bush fire trail winding round and round and on either side there are massive cliffs that seem to have no bottom- very exciting and surprisingly (with Andy's wonderful rally car driving skills) the scooter handled perfectly! On our way back down from the pass the local roadworkers decided to blow some holes in some of the mountains with dynamite... the loudest noise which scared the s*** out of amy...and probably the locals too- they didnt bother to ask the handicraft venders to move their stalls!! so some of those that were camped on the road below were showered in huge boulders and rubble- we just thanked that it wasnt us and hoped that all the people had got out beforehand!! crazy asians huh!!

we then stopped for lunch in town and took the moto out the otherside of Sapa to look at the 'cloud bridge'- again mindblowing scenery but the bridge must have been really really cloudy cause we couldnt find it! the 30km round trip was definatley no waste... we have lots of pics...so you can see. afterwards we went for a drive down into Cat Cat village where amy impressed the locals with her wonderful wobbly scooter skills- nearly cleaned up a few chooks, buffalo and locals!!!

The next day (Sat) we spent just cruising around the town chatting to locals and decided to spend up big on their wares! Sunday we got a bus to the biggest local markets- the Bac Ha markets. the long long long 190km bus trip was on a road similar to that of the pass but we were in a 20 pax van instead- soooo bloody bumpy, no air, thick dust and sickeningly close distances away from the edges of the massive the cliffs. The market was great tho- lots and lots of handicrafts and livestock. The highlight of the day was after the markets when we went into a minority village where we were invited into several houses and given rice wine (ew)! we were lucky enough to see the differences between the different ethnic cultures within one village...really interesting!!! On the way back we also stoped at the chinese boarder in Lao Cai where the cultural contrast here between china and vietnam was pretty obvious- also very interesting.

All in all- Sapa was great!! we had an awsome time! Now we are back in Hanoi...spent yesterday recovering from the overnight train back from Sapa- the most uncomfortable trip yet. We are going around to see the sights of Hanoi today- the museum of ethnology, the temple of literature, Ho Chi Minh complex etc etc and then we are jumping on the bus to Vientiane (the capital of Laos) this arvo- of course definatley looking forward to the 22 hour trip(!!)...

So this is our last post from Vietnam... One month gone (nearly) and we are sad to say bye... we have had such a great time!!! And although we have seen many of the wonderful colours of this fasinating country we still feel like that we have missed so much!! definatley worthy of a return trip sometime in the future!

hope all is well back in aus...missing you guys lots!! xxxxx amy & andy