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).
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Painful Sunburnt
I believed I got severe sunburnt when drove to Ta Phin Village. Early morning the weather was still very cold and misty, but by afternoon, it turned up to be sunny day, but I forgot to apply any sun screen lotion.
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Beautiful Vietnamese Girl
The bus reached Lao Cai at at about 7.30 pm. So we had about an hour to walk around (or more appropriate: waste) in Lao Cai. And the bus driver was smart too. Instead of train station, he stopped the minibus right in front of a cafe. We went to another coffee shop instead, and met with this nice Vietnamese lady Ha. Her husband Culi Cage owns Wide Eyed Tours, now mainly handling tourists from Australia. She shared with us lots of information about how tour agencies in Hanoi work, and helped me to order a rice wine too. The Vietnamese rice wine was pretty too strong for me.
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.
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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.
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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.