So after walking around in Hanoi the entire day, we finally had to go wait for the train to Sa Pa. The train left at 10 o'clock in the evening and Lisanne and I were so excited to go! The train was really old but the the 'rooms' were really nice. We were joined by two Chinese/Vietnamese women who didn't understood a single word English. They were travelling in a bigger group and were really noisy. It made it so difficult to sleep...
After a long night we finally arrived at Lai Cao where we had to get a minivan with our group to Sa Pa and go to our hotel. There we could shower and eat breakfast. The hotel had the most amazing view over the mountains.
We were all going crazy with the cameras. After breakfast the hike started. It was amazing! We got help from the local ladies of the villages. They were so kind and really good hikers even though they only wore flip flops. Our guide, Tu, led us through the wonderful scenery of mountains and rice paddies. It was an amazing day with so many beautiful views. We even had to go between the rice paddies which was really difficult cause it was so slippery! When we got to our lunch stop we had a really tasty lunch with yet another fantastic view.
Before we got to our final stop, the home stay, we had to cross a river, which we were told would be really shallow but it turned out to be a lot deeper and had a really strong current. It was a little scary but also a lot of fun (when you got to the other side). The kids from the home stay helped us over to the other side. They were so good at finding their way in the water.
When we all got safe to the other side of the river we walked up the river so we could swim. The water was really cold, but really nice and clean.
The family we stayed with was so kind and the dinner was really tasty! Tu kept filling our glasses with plum rice wine, which was so strong that it burned all the way down! After dinner we played Uno and chilled it was really much fun.
Next day I was woken up by the rooster. It made so much noise that I thought we all had to get up, so I went downstairs to shower. I wasn't the only one who thought we had to get up. So thankfully Callum, one of the English guys kept me company until Fred G, another English guy joined us. We played a little Uno and were quickly joined by the kids. It was a lot of fun.
After breakfast which was really good rice pancakes we had to leave the family and hike the rest to get to our pickup point. It was so beautiful and we were so lucky with the weather!
At the pickup point we had pho, which is a rice noodle soup. It tasted amazing even though it was really spicy. Most of the Englishmen in our group had a hard time, which was quiet funny for the rest of us.
The minivan drove us back to Sapa where most of our group had to go back to Hanoi. It felt really weird to be three instead of ten.. That evening after saying goodbye Lisanne, Tu and I went for Bia Hoi, which is their freshly draught beer. After that we went for a special dish called hotpot, which was really good! It was a big kettle filled with a lot of delicious veggies and the you cooked your rice, veggies and fish in it.
Next morning Xavi, a Spanish guy from the group, Lisanne and I were guided to the Cat Cat waterfall by Tu with to more people. It was beautiful but also really touristy. Thereafter we went to a place were we could swim in the river. The water was so cold that you got a shock when you hit the water. It was also really refreshing though. Then it started pouring down. It was insane! We all got soaked in no time.. Tu thankfully new somebody on our way, so we took shelter in his house, while we waited for the raining to stop. After a while it stopped and we continued our hike back towards Sapa.
When we got back to our hotel Lisanne and I had a hard time finding a place where we could stay for two nights. It's apparently really busy in the weekend.
We found a spot in a hostel full of backpackers, where Lisanne met a guy, Oliver, that we had been to Halong bay with. We all went out to eat on The Hill Station, which is an amazing restaurant! They have a nice atmosphere and the food is amazing. We also tried their local rice wine with honey and cinnamon, which made us all a little tipsy. After that we went out to get a drink and play a little pool, which was a lot of fun.
Next morning wasn't that fun.. We were both a little hung over. Thankfully the only thing we had to do that day was to buy balloons. We had arranged that we would return to the home stay that evening and stay with the family again. We hadn't imagined that finding balloons would be so difficult.
The rest of the day we just chilled and waited for Tu to come and pick us up after he had hiked with another group.
In the evening he came on his motorbike. It was a really beautiful ride, and it was really fun and easy.
When we got to the home stay the kids and parents we thrilled to see us again. The Europeans from the group were really kind, and all the kids had a lot of fun with the balloons. After yet another delicious dinner we went outside and played a little Uno. Later the kids showed us how to grill corn. It tasted a little like popcorn. I also tried their sticky cakes and sticky rice. It was really sweet and was a little weird to eat, when you're used to different candy from home.
In the morning we got rice pancakes again. They were really good. After that the group went out hiking again while Lisanne and I stayed back to chill and play with the kids. Two of the girls from the family showed us around. We went to the waterfall, a village and last to their school. It was really slippery cause it had rained all night and most of the day, but the girls were amazing. They helped us every time we were about to fall even though they were only 8 and 11 years old. On the way they bought us a cake/bread. It was really tasty.
When we came back to the home stay the girls wanted to show us the buffaloes. They were so big and lazy.
A short time after we returned we had to go to the main road for our pickup.
Back in Sapa we got our big bags and went directly to the bus, so we could get to Lao Cai and from there to Bac Ha with guidance from Tu.