The bus to Sapa was an experience (and that's just a polite way of saying crap). It was cold, it was bumpy and there were people sleeping in the aisles! Luckily I did have a decent seat/bed (in that I had one to myself). I arrived into Sapa early in the morning and went and found some accommodation. Sapa is famous for it's beautiful rolling hills covered in fantastic green rice paddies. Unfortunately in Jan/Feb Sapa is covered in cloud and so these Rice Paddies were nowhere to be seen. I decided to go and see some of the sights around the town! I visited Catcat village, a few Kms from town, again I should have seen lots of fantastic rice terraces but they were covered in mist. It was still, however, a really nice walk, at times some terraces did appear from behind the mist and there was a cool waterfall near the village! I returned to Sapa and walked around the town, it was a really nice town. It had a relaxed atmosphere (a contrast to Hanoi where I'd just come from).

At the top of the town there were some look out points and other points of interest so I headed up there for a look around. It was nice and at times some of the mountains appeared from behind the clouds! I decided that because I was unlikely to get amazing scenery while I was in Sapa I would go for achievement and climb the highest mountain in Vietnam (Fansipan). So I booked a trip and treated myself to a nice meal and an early night!

The following morning I met Tom and Georgia, an Australian couple who were also doing the climb and we were joined by a Vietnamese couple and set off for the mountain. After a short drive we reached the starting point of the climb. The first bit of the climb was fine, not too difficult and we got some decent views of some of the valleys and a little bit of the mountains above! After lunch the climb got a bit more serious. The hills were really steep and we climbed up and then down and then a bit more up and then down again and then even more up! It was definitely tough and my legs felt it but I struggled on and reached the camp for the night. It was a tin shed, it was cold, it was dark and it was very, very foggy. We played some cards, ate a fantastic meal and then got a pretty early night. The following day we were headed for the summit. Again it was a fairly gruelling walk but enjoyable nonetheless! We had set off early and after about 3-4 hours we reached the highest point in Vietnam (actually the highest in Indo China). There was a pretty decent sense of achievement although the views were non-existent so after posing for a couple of photos and trying not to be blown off the mountain we head back down. The return trip to the camp was ok and the rest of the descent was enjoyable - the weather was a bit clearer so I got to enjoy some of the scenery.

When I finally got back to Sapa I treated myself to a long shower and another slap up meal and then booked my bus to start my epic journey to Laos.