5.30 am wake up from the train and people nagging at you to get their transfer to sa pa. lucky we had ours booked so we just needed to look for Ryan's name and then hop on the bus. It took an hour to get to sa pa, up the windy mountain road. It was our first glimpse of rice terraces and the views. It was just amazing to see how many and how high they went. That must be a lot of rice. We also saw children walking to school in their tribal dress. I can't imagine having to walk up the road back to their home, yet I'm going trekking.

We arrived in sa pa which is the mountain station that is growing bigger with the increase in tourists. We got dropped off at a hotel and had free breakfast and a shower before heading on the trek. We met out guide ker who would help us plan our route and take us. We said we wanted to do medium hard and trek the rice terraces.

We started by heading down the main road and then is started raining. We had stopped at a small store where I got a poncho and we waited for some more people as there were police checking at the gate. I should also mention we had two other local women tagging along as well. When we got off the road we hit the track, which was a lot of mud and some rocks. It was very slippery and not something to be done fast. The locals walked in plastic flip flops and U.S. In our trekking boots. They were quick to go down, Ryan and I, not so quick. Carefully trying not to fall. After a while we got use to the amazing scenery and didn't stop every 5 seconds to take a photo. We had a few breaks on the way and a couple of slips before a longer break before lunch.

After 10minutes of sitting we continued to walk to lunch and crossed the bridge into the village. We sat down for lunch and were immediately bombarded by women and children trying to sell us things. I felt obliged to buy from the two that helped me on the trek but no one else. Ryan and I bought the children bubbles and were showing them how to use them. It took them a while to warm to the idea and then they enjoyed them.

For lunch Ryan had local food and I had fried.rice which I think was from a packet. I was still not feeling great so I didn't eat much. After lunch we had a choice of long or quick and we chose quick because we were so tired. We stopped on the way to see how the local clothing was made form hemp. Our guide would use the strings and connect them to make a big long string of hemp. She did this as she walked. They also use plants as a natural dye to get the colours.

We continued to trek along the path going through the small village of Ta van. Once through the village we reached our homestay. We were greeted with green tea, a welcomed refreshment. Ryan and I were just happy to take our boots off! After sitting for a while a couple of men from Spain joined us. Ryan and I then took a nap before being woken up for French Fries. After this we helped make spring rolls and then it was time for dinner.

For dinner there was so much food. Chicken, pork, cabbage, spring rolls, tofu and rice. I again wasn't feeling well so I didn't eat much. The local gave me some tiger balm to rub on my tummy. Ryan loved all the food except for the tofu. He ate lots but there was still so much leftovers.

At the dinner our guides two daughters came. One was 2.5 and one was 5. We were playing with them, the young one SiSi getting most of the attention. We gave them a key chain and a slinky each, which they both loved to play with! They were both so cute :)

After dinner the local bought out happy water or rice wine. I had one shot and Ryan had five. After that I had a shower and went to sleep! Our beds were mad tresses on the floor with mosquito nets, no fans as it is quite cool on the mountain. I think a big sleep was well deserved after 6 hours of trekking!