The moment we feared so much came ... we parted! But only for a week. While I, still half convalescent of the fever, I follow the route north of Vietnam to Sapa to spend colder, Lety is going to spend a week in Bali with friends. We already know who is the smartest of the couple. As of Bali we will tell in the future, it is a destination scheduled for a couple of months, here we will only talk about the visit to Sapa.
Arriving was an experience. I bought the hard seat ticket, because soft ones were not left and the bunk goes on a budget, without imagining what would wait for me there. I looked for my numbered seat that was none other than the one that was left free in the middle of a group of Vietnamese people who were celebrating (I suspect that nothing special), smoking and drinking beers without stopping ... one of them tells me that he has 9! But the car is not full, so I try to change my place to a more remote corner, where I have time to see a movie and little else, before in one of the multiple stops I start to climb a human tide until completing the train And of course, it's my turn to be the unexpected guest of the Vietnamese party. They receive me again with laughter and lots of questions that one of them translates to me, and they listen carefully to my answers. And between them they offer me everything they carry, beers, chewing gum, tobacco, bananas ...
So I spend the night until get to Sapa, without sleeping practically, although at least we receive a radiant sun and an ideal temperature! (The camera battery only let me take a picture on the train, but imagine the car with several groups of party people, throwing garbage in the hall and without stopping smoking).
In Sapa few things can be done, apart from walking through the square where local women sell their Hmong products, shop around the market, and of course, stick a good walk between the rice terraces typical of this area of Vietnam. So I got a couple of maps and there I went!
I started the route in a circuit of a couple of kilometers that has as a more interesting place a waterfall of little more than 5 meters. Then, with the indications of the villagers and the help of the maps, I went down the valley always walking to the bank of a river, and here the views were wonderful. Although the typical terraces were covered with water and it was not the vision of the green rice fields of the postcards, to contemplate the mountains of 3000 meters in the distance, walking between the stones of the river, and to pass through tiny villages, it was certainly something to the memory. And more after seeing me lost several times and putting my feet in the mud of the rice fields a few times ...
I arrived at the town where my route would end a little later than planned, after traveling about 8 kilometers in about 5 hours! And now it's up to Sapa! But this was the least complicated, I got on a motorcycle that in about 15 minutes took me back to my hotel :-p
And that was my adventure doing a free trekking in Sapa (although if you prefer to do it with a local guide, it will take you a thousand options in Sapa ... and even online, like this one).
I went back to Hanoi, this time, in a soft seat. Nothing to do with going ...
WHILE SO MUCH ... in Bali 4 happy and beautiful girls enjoy an incredible week, between landscapes of charm, delicious food, the odd character and an excellent soundtrack ... churri churri machi ... but this is another story!
Transport. How to get to Sapa from Hanoi?
The hard seat train from Hanoi departs at 200,000 dongs to the train station. Lao Cai, from there to Sapa there is one hour in one of the many buses that wait outside the station and costs 50,000 dongs (haggling is mandatory). The soft seat round the reserve in Hanoi, and cost 210,000 dongs. It is worth going a few days before to reserve the soft one.
Accommodation. Where to sleep in Sapa?
In the Sapa Hostel, 8 $ night.
Free trekking in Sapa
Leave Sapa Cat Cat address. At the ticket purchase office you can say that you are not going to Cat Cat and save you the cost of the ticket (I think 35,000 dongs). Where they put problems with the ticket is at first check point, which is on the left according to casualties. They don't let you pass without a ticket so I went straight down. The route is 2 km circular and there is another check point below, but I found this without anyone controlling so I could pass without problems.
Just after the check point there are two paths that will lead to the same site. Better the one on the right, climbing some stairs, has better views. At the kilometer you reach the waterfall, follow some stairs and turn right towards Y Linh Ho (ask locals). If you continue straight ahead you will reach the first check point. It is an area with several waterfalls, a bridge is crossed and the road deviates, I took the one on the right, by the side of the large river. You walk for about 2.5 km to the junction. You don't get to Linh Ho.
Very nice road next to the river following Lao Chai direction. The road is complicated from the crossing of a bridge. Now we leave the river to the left and it loses sight. I got lost among villages but following the indications of the locals we reach a high point where many trekking groups hired to rest and have a drink stop.
From this point the road is easier, with paved sections, until reaching Lao Chai. About 3.5 km from the crossing. Here you can take a motorcycle to Sapa, or follow the trekking to Ta Van, one kilometer below.
In total they are about 8 km and about 4 or 5 hours, depending on the pace.
When is it better to go to Sapa?
To contemplate the rice fields of Sapa in its splendid green, it is best to go after spring (which is when they are planted). In the months of May-July is when they are full! From there, in August and September, they begin to turn more yellow (although it is still a good time) and the collection is made from October, so in winter, in addition to not seeing the rice terraces with plants, the soil is muddy and it's quite cold!
