Arrival in Sapa - 27th October 2008

Seeing the terraced rice paddies of the Sapa countryside was the fulfillment of a long held dream

Sapa township

Nick went for a walk across this bridge built of rattan - not me!

My hotel room was on the corner of the top floor. It had balconies on two sides and great views across to the mountains and down the valley.

Arrival in Sapa - 27th October 2008

The main reason I wanted to go to Sapa was to see the terraced mountainous paddy fields. I was not disappointed. Since I was a child looking at National Geographic images I have wanted to visit somewhere like this and I finally got an opportunity to fulfill this dream.

We traveled from Bac Ha to Sapa by local bus via Lao Cai. We were much more successful in negotiating this price and once again had a fantastic trip. It is not very far in distance (110 km) but it took us most of the day. The trip to Lao Cai included an unexpected detour through Son Hai but this did not worry us at all because the trip was a great experience in itself. This route took us through an interesting brick making area, through stands of gigantic bamboo and over a bridge in which the road was shared with the railway. As we traveled on to this bridge I determinedly decided that I was not going to worry about the flashing red light as we had had no indication that the driver was feeling suicidal.

In Lao Cai we avoided some of the ‘helpful’ locals who wanted to install us on a bus but after a lunch stop we negotiated one on our own. The first hour of the trip consisted of driving around Loa Cai with the horn blasting looking for goods and people to transport. Very few people joined us but lots of boxes and a huge amount of produce was piled into aisle and the back area of the bus. By the time we arrived in Sapa we had to climb over huge sacks of smelly potatoes to get to the exit. Fortunately large bundles of deep red roses were added to the pile – these smelt much better than the boxes of dried fish that accompanied us on the previous trip and helped to counter the odor of the potatoes.

It was great to have a city tour around the border town of Lao Cai. I wonder if this is the closest I will ever get to China. It is only about 40 km from Lao Cai to Sapa but it is almost all uphill. The bus was close to reaching its last legs and ground very very slowly up the steepest slopes. Twice the bus stopped suddenly as we ascended the mountain. The driver and crew seemed as surprised as us when this happened but both times managed to get it going again after a bit of fiddling and the addition of many bottles of water from a mountain stream.

Sapa has an altitude of 1600 metres (nearly twice as high as Te Aroha Mountain) and is the coldest place in Viet Nam but it is an area of extensive horticulture. Our vision was somewhat hampered by the mud and dust covered windows so despite the chill we forced these open and were rewarded with incredible views across the mountains and down the steep valleys. The higher we climbed the more fascinating the rice paddies became. On almost all of the outer curves of the mountain folds we could see narrow rice paddy terraces. These create patterns that look like the lines on a topographic map. It was truly awe inspiring.

Despite the fact that it was slow and smelly it was the right choice to travel from Bac Ha to Sapa by local bus. A tourist bus would undoubtedly have got us there sooner, and may have even been cheaper, but it would not have been anywhere near as entertaining. We did decide however that 'discretion is the better form of valor' and agreed that on the return trip we would find a vehicle that had brakes more likely to cope with the steep descent.

When we finally arrived in Sapa we were dropped off quite a distance from the main part of the township. We were very grateful for bags with wheels as we trundled them for several kilometers into town in search of a suitable hotel with views. After some negotiation we got fantastic rooms in the Royal Hotel at a great price. Feeling inordinately pleased with ourselves we went off to explore the town.