We initially been bought tickets for train LC2, which departs from Lao Cai at 7 pm. We thought it’s too early, so requested it to be changed to a later train. So we boarded SP2 train that departs at 8:50 pm. This SP2 train is more expensive express train service (Luc wanted USD $1 more, but I refused to pay, instead asked him to treat it as a refund for the below par standard of Halong Bay tour).
Continue reading
Sapa
Cute Hmong Girls and Small Tout
When the bus wanted to depart to Lao Cai, all the Hmong children gathered around the bus to bid the tourists farewell. Very touching if it’s genuine, but I doubted so, seemed more like a marketing gimmick. They kept asking us to come back to Sapa, and of course also reminded us to buy things from them next time.
Continue reading
Bus to Lao Cai
There were a lot of mini buses and vans running to Lao Cai until 4 pm. We also found a few mini buses that run to Lao Cai between 4 – 5 pm, but don’t bet on it. The buses can be found at around the Church and Main Square. I saw a few mini buses who looked for passenger at around Royal Hotel / Mountain View Hotel too. After 4 pm, we didn’t have much choice. Adeline found a hotel (most likely Queen Hotel) that has a bus to Lao Cai at around 5.30 pm. Other than that, the latest bus to Lai Cai was offered by Mountain View Hotel and Royal Hotel. We booked the tickets from Royal Hotel, as we didn’t have pleasant experience with Mountain View Hotel. However, as expected, as sibling hotel, they shared the same bus, with the same price of VND 25,000.
Sapa Town
Street view of Sapa at junction of Pho Cau May and Muong Hoa. Here, there is high concentration of hotels and cafes. Buildings here are mostly French style.
Dinner at Royal Hotel’s Friendly Cafe
We later had our dinner at Royal Hotel’s Friendly Cafe. We met Gaynor here. She has traveled to a lot of place, including India, and will soon come to Malaysia. The fried rice costs me VND 15, 000. Sapa is really a very ‘tourist’ place rather than minorities place!
Experience with Mountain View Hotel
A lot of tourists recommended Mountain View Hotel. So did 1 of the hotel guest that came to Sapa in the same minibus with us. It was her forth time to Sapa, and everytime she had stayed in Mountain View Hotel, and even the Hmong children there immediately recognized her. Beside, the hotel locates at the wonderful place that it’s possible to view the beautiful scenery of Sapa valley.
Continue reading
Sapa Markets
The Sapa markets had just a little stands on the day we visited, as it’s on a weekdays. It’s run mostly by H’mong minority hill tribe who worn their traditional costume. There was practically no other tourists at the day. As usual, it’s very much geared towards tourist, so bargain hard, and I found nothing special about the market. There is also another market right beside the church, which to me was equally unimpressive, and I believed it’s not ran by minorities hill tribes.
Where is Ma Cha Village?
I tried to find Ma Cha Village, which is supposedly along the road to Ta Phin village. But I unable to find it. It may seemed that what Let’s Go Vietnam travel guide said is true, finding the way between the trailhead and Ma Cha village is difficult. To my surprise, I asked a few local people, and they seemed unsure of where is it too. It may be due to my wrong pronunciation anyway. So hiring a guide if you want to visit Ma Cha village is the better way. It’s a small village housed mainly Hmong hill tribe.
Hang Ta Phin Cave
At the far end corner of Ta Phin village is Hang Ta Phin or Ta Phin Cave. As usual, with the commercialism of tourism, expect Red Dao women waiting there to promote you and plea you to buy their merchandises. Beside, the Dao children also surrounded us to rent us the torch light. The problem was there were a few of them persuaded you to rent from them, so Adeline did have a hard time figure which one to rent. The torch normally cost VND 2,000.
Continue reading
Ta Phin Village
To enter Ta Phin Village, visitors need to pay VND 5,000. To me it was a no-brainer, just like you been asked to pay in order just to get into a city, much more like daylight robbery. Anyway I don’t mind if the money been used to develop the village and their livelihood, which is very much still in native and primitive condition.
Continue reading