The first thing we noticed when approaching Sapa were some detached wooden mansions and villas perched on a hill top or hillside, behind thick pine forests and almost invisible on this
foggy morning. Old and new villas with red roofs appear and disappear in the green rows of
pomu trees, bringing the town the beauty of European towns. Sapa is an old French hill station set amongst the Hoang Lien Son mountain range (the highest in Vietnam). Home to the Black Hmong ethnic minority and surrounded by small villages inhabited by many other colourful hill-tribe minorities. Over the next two days we embarked on several light treks exploring Sapa and the surrounding area, including the local markets, different minority villages, spectacular valleys and fine examples of tribal agriculture.

We trekked through the Muong Hoa valley visiting small villages along the way and admiring the fantastic scenery in between. One of the villages we visited was Ta Van which is located about
5 kilometres from Sapa, at an altitude of 1, 816 meters. The indigenous people(Giay) here share many cultural features with their Chinese neighbours and were very friendly. I was even invited to share a dance with the local schoolchildren and became quite a star!!!


Another village we visited was Lao Chai ,a village of black H’Mong ethnic group, located about 7 Kms from Sapa. In this village we met more hospitable people who made us feel very welcome and were happy to tell us about their culture and customs. Cat Cat village, cruising on the Boa Nsai River and seeing the Thac Bac (silver) waterfall all added to our adventurous few days.

All too soon it was time to say farewell. I was not feeling at all well by this stage....sensing I was getting flu like symptoms I wasn't looking forward to traveling on the train again.