Hello again from Vietnam! Have just spent two days and one night in the north of vietnam in a tribal town known as Sapa. Sapa situated high up in the mountains is popular for its stunning scenery, the three types of tribal people that live there and the opportunity for trekking through the rice paddys of the minority villages. To get there woodsy and i borded an overnight sleeper train which lasted around 10 hrs and arrived in Sapa early in the morning. First day there we checked in to a luxury hotel on the summet of the mountain! This set us back around $4 each which provided us with a spacious room with our own bathroom (little things like this are luxury for backpackers), and a balcony over looking the mountains. The views of the numerous rice paddys were amazing! While here we hired motobikes for the day and went cruising around the mountainside! Its was an awesome experience if not intially a comedy of errors as woodsy and i got to grips with riding a motorbike for the first time. On our little road trip around the mountains we stopped off at a village of one of the tribes and were soon welcomed into their homes! We sat in their wooden homes for around an hour or two chatting and drinking tea and rice wine (very strong home brew alcohol made from rice). The people were part of the Zay tribe and were very friendly and welcoming, if not constantly trying to sell us hand made pillow cases, braclets and jewelley. Over the two days in Sapa we met so many people of different tribes, but it was the children that really impressed us. They spoke excellent English with really clear accents which they had learned only through talking to tourists. When trekking through the rice paddys they would walk long with you trying to sell things, but mainly were asking the same questions of...... were woodsy and i were brothers, how old we were and if we had girlfriends. Overall Sapa was an fantastic experience and a definate highlight so far. Now back in Hanoi woodsy and i have bought a open bus ticket down the east coast of Vietnam to Saigon! Only set us back $22 and includes six stops! Leaves tonight and first stop is the town of Hue, which is known for the fighting that occurred there in the US war. Will let you know how we get on!