Day 74 - Sapa
Friday, October 22, 2010
Thursday 21st October
We were woken on the train by the train attendants knocking on the door, shortly before 6am. The train pulled into Lao Cai station, about 45 minutes from Sapa, close to 6:30am, and the passengers alighted onto the platform. The front of the train station was full of Vietnamese drivers holding boards displaying passenger names. Abi spotted her driver straight away, but I couldn't find mine. Her driver offered to take me into town if I was stuck, but I kept searching - I'd already paid for the pick-up! Luckily, I eventually found the driver and boarded his mini-van, after exchanging details with Abi and arranging to have dinner on Friday when she returned from her trekking expedition.
Driving through the hills, we eventually arrived in Sapa town, and myself and another backpacker were greeted at Green Tree Guesthouse, underneath the town's market. Fortunately we were able to check-in straight away, and I was relieved to have a shower and wash away not only the dirt from the train but the sunscreen and salt from the cruise.
Sapa is located up in the mountains and near to the Chinese border. It was a nice change to pull on tights and my soft-shell jacket, and I enjoyed a pleasant stroll through the town before ordering breakfast at 'Chocolat and Baguette', a cafe recommended by the Lonely Planet. It was part of my 'responsible tourism' program, as it trained disadvantaged Vietnamese kids. The food was absolutely delicious though, and the tart that I purchased and later ate was probably the best I've ever eaten.
I stopped in at an internet cafe for a while, trying to determine my movements after Sapa. I had booked a night at the backpackers for the Sunday night, and then I wanted to get down to Hoi An, where I would get clothes and shoes made. Overnight trains and buses were available (about 14 hours), but I managed to find a Jetstar flight on Monday afternoon for only half a million dong (that's $25) - almost as cheap as the bus/train. The flight arrived at Danang, as Hoi An didn't have an airport, so I looked for hotels in Danang town. None appealed to me, so I researched how far Hoi An was from Danang airport. It was only half an hour, or a $15 taxi ride, so I decided I would go straight to Hoi An from the Danang airport, booking into a nice guesthouse in the middle of town. I returned to my room at this time, and after reading a few pages of Shantaram I fell firmly asleep for five hours.
As this is a mountaineous and cold town, everyone eats dinner early (and wakes early). As Abi had found the restaurant we ate in Hanoi, it was my turn to find a nice restaurant for us to eat in Sapa the following night, so I headed down the main street to find a restaurant to sample. There were lots of pizza and pasta places but I felt like something different, and ended up stopping in at a Spanish Tapas restaurant. I watched the sunset as I drank and organic milkshake and ate sizzling potatoes with onion and capsicum and a fresh baguette - perfect!
Back in the hotel room, I committed to finishing the final 200 pages of Shantaram - I seemed to have been reading it for ages! What a brilliant book - every page of the 1000 pages gave life lessons and provoked philosophical and historical arguments, and is surely an eye-opener to leading a real life (although, perhaps not to the extent that the author did!) Luckily on finishing I was exhausted again, because the sounds outside my room were making it extremely difficult to sleep - dogs barking, children crying, doors banging, loud music playing, and, worst of all, the men in the room next door (the walls were extremely flimsy) were hocking and spitting every 2 minutes - the most filthy noise in the world!
We were woken on the train by the train attendants knocking on the door, shortly before 6am. The train pulled into Lao Cai station, about 45 minutes from Sapa, close to 6:30am, and the passengers alighted onto the platform. The front of the train station was full of Vietnamese drivers holding boards displaying passenger names. Abi spotted her driver straight away, but I couldn't find mine. Her driver offered to take me into town if I was stuck, but I kept searching - I'd already paid for the pick-up! Luckily, I eventually found the driver and boarded his mini-van, after exchanging details with Abi and arranging to have dinner on Friday when she returned from her trekking expedition.
Driving through the hills, we eventually arrived in Sapa town, and myself and another backpacker were greeted at Green Tree Guesthouse, underneath the town's market. Fortunately we were able to check-in straight away, and I was relieved to have a shower and wash away not only the dirt from the train but the sunscreen and salt from the cruise.
Sapa is located up in the mountains and near to the Chinese border. It was a nice change to pull on tights and my soft-shell jacket, and I enjoyed a pleasant stroll through the town before ordering breakfast at 'Chocolat and Baguette', a cafe recommended by the Lonely Planet. It was part of my 'responsible tourism' program, as it trained disadvantaged Vietnamese kids. The food was absolutely delicious though, and the tart that I purchased and later ate was probably the best I've ever eaten.
I stopped in at an internet cafe for a while, trying to determine my movements after Sapa. I had booked a night at the backpackers for the Sunday night, and then I wanted to get down to Hoi An, where I would get clothes and shoes made. Overnight trains and buses were available (about 14 hours), but I managed to find a Jetstar flight on Monday afternoon for only half a million dong (that's $25) - almost as cheap as the bus/train. The flight arrived at Danang, as Hoi An didn't have an airport, so I looked for hotels in Danang town. None appealed to me, so I researched how far Hoi An was from Danang airport. It was only half an hour, or a $15 taxi ride, so I decided I would go straight to Hoi An from the Danang airport, booking into a nice guesthouse in the middle of town. I returned to my room at this time, and after reading a few pages of Shantaram I fell firmly asleep for five hours.
As this is a mountaineous and cold town, everyone eats dinner early (and wakes early). As Abi had found the restaurant we ate in Hanoi, it was my turn to find a nice restaurant for us to eat in Sapa the following night, so I headed down the main street to find a restaurant to sample. There were lots of pizza and pasta places but I felt like something different, and ended up stopping in at a Spanish Tapas restaurant. I watched the sunset as I drank and organic milkshake and ate sizzling potatoes with onion and capsicum and a fresh baguette - perfect!
Back in the hotel room, I committed to finishing the final 200 pages of Shantaram - I seemed to have been reading it for ages! What a brilliant book - every page of the 1000 pages gave life lessons and provoked philosophical and historical arguments, and is surely an eye-opener to leading a real life (although, perhaps not to the extent that the author did!) Luckily on finishing I was exhausted again, because the sounds outside my room were making it extremely difficult to sleep - dogs barking, children crying, doors banging, loud music playing, and, worst of all, the men in the room next door (the walls were extremely flimsy) were hocking and spitting every 2 minutes - the most filthy noise in the world!
Post a Comment