Wake up early in morning after a great night sleep. The bed is comfortable and air-conditioning is cold too.
Sleeping berth.
Train corridor
View from the train.
View from the train.
Lao Cai
After we reach Lao Cai, we need to wait for the van to ferry us to Sapa. We stop by to a stall that sell drink just left to the train station. Something interested, a jar of lime with sugar in it. We do order 1 cup to try the taste without think about the hygiene. Actually the drink is great and we order second cup.
Those van behind the picture is the van we going to take to Sapa. Will be another hour journey from Lao Cai.
Sapa
We direct ferry to Sapa O'Chau cafe at Sapa. We have book a trekking tour from them because getting know that they are local operate guide. They also run some program to educate local children with English.
We choose 'The Ultimate Trek - 4 Day'. Actually never think we able to do it or not but just let try it..
Map Credit to http://www.sapaochau.org/
4 Day 3 Night The Ultimate Trek Tour Started
Day 1 - 16 kmOn Day 1 we will leave Sapa at 9am and trek down to Cat Cat village, taking in the stunning waterfall at the bottom of the hill. After a slight retrace of steps (but not all the way back up!) we will take a turn towards Y Linh Ho and begin a 2km walk through rice terraces. Y Linh Ho is home to the Hmong minority, and their established rice terraces are around 100 years old. Rice appeared after the French left at the turn of the century - before this the Hmong traditionally hunted animals for food. This is a perfect opportunity to immerse yourself in true Hmong culture. From Y Linh Ho we will make our way to Lao Chai, an established Hmong minority village which has been inhabited for centuries. See the product of this minority at its best with established rice terraces, homes and a vibrant community. You will be welcomed warmly by Mai and her family who run the first ever homestay owned and run by Hmong Minority in the Sapa region. Sapa O'Chau supported Mai in setting up this homestay and we hope it’s the first of many! - Credit http://www.sapaochau.org/
Sapa, empty space in the middle of the town that many H'mong people selling their handmade item.
The Hmong (RPA: Hmoob/Moob, IPA: [m̥ɔ̃ŋ]) are an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity (苗族) in southern China. Hmong groups began a gradual southward migration in the 18th century due to political unrest and to find more arable land.
During the first and second Indochina Wars, France and the United States governments recruited thousands of Hmong people in Laos to fight against invading military forces from North Vietnam and communist Pathet Lao insurgents, known as the Secret War, during the Vietnam War and the Laotian Civil War. Hundreds of thousands of Hmong refugees fled to Thailand seeking political asylum. Thousands of these refugees have resettled in Western countries since the late 1970s, mostly the United States, but also in Australia, France, French Guiana, Canada, and South America. Others have returned to Laos under United Nations-sponsored repatriation programs. - wikipedia
First trekking is to trek into the local market to find breakfast for us. I demand my guide to bring us where local have their breakfast. Local taste is my way to experience their culture. Our stomach last food is from Hanoi the night before.
Pho Ga - Chicken noodle soup. Yummy, even the soup look plain, but is very tasty (salty and sweet taste soup). Actually is not cheap for local standard. If i'm not remember wrongly, i'm paying USD2 per bowl.
Pho - beed noodle soup
Stir fried noodle with beef and chicken. The portion is huge, i fail to finish it.
I do ask, how do local children afford to pay for it, and my tour guide told me that they charge tourist much more expensive. She refuse to tell me how much local paying for it.
Local H'mong kid having their breakfast.
We walk around the wet market. Pork stall.
Is Crab, not insect. Ha ha, i know they look like insect.
Fish stall
We really start our trekking after the wet market walk. This is the main street in Sapa town. Full of western restaurant.
View of the Sapa town area, we already walk out of the town.
The Sapa town is getting smaller and smaller from my view.
The road look great with the bamboo tree, i should not be happy so early, as this is not the road i going to trekking with.
This is the road condition i will be start to trekking with.
Real trekking started. My guide wearing traditional H'mong dress. She carrying a basket full of her belonging and our lunch. The basket is very heavy even when empty.
Local people farming.
Local construction working that building concrete road funded by Government. Today is a Vietnam public holiday, so they cooking their lunch and relaxing around.
My guide told me this is hanging belly pig. Real name i not sure. Notice that all the pig around having really big belly.
Concrete road build by their government. Malaysia Sarawak native people do have have this luxury yet.
Some local H'mong lady that follow us from Sapa town, they will provide help to us when we need it. What they need is to buy something from them. They walk more than 10 KM just to sell us some handmade item to us that cost less than 5USD.
Local kid, they keep asking for sweet but advice not to give them sweet. Sweet will destroy their teeth. If really wish to give them something, stationery will be great idea.
Local H'mong lady helping us to crossing.
I find out we wearing a wrong shoe, we should wear water proof shoe and not normal sport shoe. We cannot afford it to wet as we need to wear it for 4 days of trekking.
Local House.
Local H'mong and Tai kid.
They are really cute.
At last, we reach our resting point where we will have our lunch after 3 hours of trekking. Wait, this is not a restaurant but just a hut and our guide will made us lunch.
Western style lunch.
After lunch, we continue our trekking to our first home stay. Need around 3 hours more to reach.
When we see non wooden house, mean is a government building. This is a secondary school. Do native Sarawak people have this? I do not think so.
Reach, our first home stay at Lao Chai village.
Local kid playing around, they very shy to stranger.
Actually they are hiding at the corner looking as us.
Picture around the village.
Here is where they cook dinner at.
Another guide that guiding another group of people. She is one of the cook for tonight.
My guide cooking.
Dinner feast eating together with the host.
Stir fried mix vegetable
Stir fried cabbage
Cabbage soup
Vietnam deep fried spring roll
Bamboo shoot slide
Tofu with tomato
Fan fried egg omelet
We do served with home made corn wine 68% alcohol. 3 cup almost kill me.
After dinner, we actually extremely tired after long trekking day.
End of Day 4
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