Beautiful Sapa, everything I expected. Chilly, foggy and green mountains as far as the eye could see... most days. I spent one night at a home stay in the village of BlAH, a black homong tribe. Only the mother could speak English, but her four kids and husband were just lovely. It was an early night, as it always is in most villages, after a little rice wine, falling asleep was no problem. There was a lot of walking to Cat Cat village, a little garbage picking and a lot of awing at the scenery. Just after winter, it wasn't all green, but you got to see the hard work the villagers and animals put into farming. It was hard to plan anything because the weather was not always cooperating... our day trip on the motorbike brought us to Heavens Gate, which was a complete white out with the fog at the view point and a cold misty ride in two hours in the wrong direction... Thankfully no matter how cold I got, there was amazing noodle soup and spring rolls to cheer me up, the pho is becoming a bit of a serious addiction...so was the shopping. North face pants 11$....! As my last trip in Vietnam, I went to Ninh Binh, my favourite place of all. A small town surrounded by beautiful places, such as Tam Coc and Cuc Phong national park.The easiest way to explain Tam Coc Bich Dong is that it's like Halong Bay on land. You get to paddle through this small river lined with limestone cliffs and pass under open ended caves ( having to duck not to get smashed in the face by stagmalites. What is also impressive is that the person who rows the small boat, rows with their feet... kinda the same technique as the laying down bicycles you find at the gym, but harder. Three hours of complete silence just awing...nature does crazy things. Tam CoC was accessible by bike... so it was impossible not to explore the country side while I was out there. Rice fields, limestone, rice fields, limestone, rice fields...etc. all leading to Ngu Nhac mountain. A small pagoda at the base and a slippery climb up to the top. Once I got up there, it was hard to leave. A picnic, birds of pray and an amazing panoramic view. Almost didn't mind the bees... almost. Last and maybe least... Cuc Phuong national park. It's Vietnam's first and largest national park, also one of the most bio diversified and leading in conservation efforts. It might be a great place but we just didn't get along. Starting with the bus ride there, I was asked to pay five times the price, which I refused, which lead to my bags being walked to the front door and almost being kicked off the bus. The bus was full and everyone thought it was quite funny, except me. So I furiously paid double, and the guy still tried to sit we me afterwards and joke around, which made my mood even worse, really not impressed, not surprised either. I then got dropped off at the wrong gate, 20 km away from the gate that had the treks I was interested in. Having only eight hours, I had to trek the only path that was close by. I assume not many people do this trail since the path was overgrown and there was a nest of ground bees which I almost stepped on while crossing over a log. I disturbed their slumber and they chased me out. Luckily no stings, just a slight panic attack. So I sadly gave up in the trekking and went to a cave, the turtle conservation area and the ' monkey rescue centre' instead. Monkeys in small cages, with a cement floor, no vegetation in the cages... made my heart sink. Apparently the monkey are rescued from the wild in areas where poachers are known to be and also rescued from monkey trafficking. Then they are kept until they breed, then released back into the same areas...no stats, no tracking, no info on laws and penalties for poachers...disappointing. They just pointed to the different types of monkeys and told me to take pictures...unfulfilled, back to Ninh Binh (no threats on he bus this time! Yay!)