Taking a Sicky

There's a cold bug going around Vietnam which Pen and I both caught while cruising the misty waters of Ha Long Bay. I caught the 'man-cold' version, which came with a fever and much coughing and snorting - enough for me to decide to take a rest day in our comfy hotel in Sapa and try to shake it off.  Fortunately Pen only caught the woman-cold version, which comes with much lighter symptoms, so she's off for the day with Josh and Laura exploring some exotic Hmong villages a few hours away. (Don't worry - although we're deep in the heart of bird flu country, I'm sure this is just a man cold!)

The upside of my sicky is that I finally got a chance to look under the hood of this baby. I discovered setting and customization tools that I was completely unaware of. Top among these is  the comments setting. I had the blog so locked up that it was virtually comment-proof! I'm hoping my reset will allow anyone who'd like to touch bases to post a comment. At least I know what to do if we start getting a bunch of hate mail! Also discovered that I could remove that quaint little border of blue sky and clouds. Haven't seem much blue sky since we arrived in Vietnam so it didn't seem relevant.

About Sa Pa and the Region

Main Street, Sa Pa

SaPa in North West Vietnam draws thousands of visitors who come to see the spectacular scenery and hill tribes of the region. It's a fairly arduous trip  from Hanoi. Trains depart in the late evening with most backpackers opting to sit up. For a few extra dollars we had a four-person cabin with sleeping bunks. Our train pulled into Lao Cai at 6.30 am and was met by swarms of shuttle bus drivers and 'fixers' offering transportation, accommodation and anything else a weary traveller might require. Josh and Laura make excellent use of  TripAdvisor for our travel and accommodation needs and once on the train Laura made a quick Skype call to the highly recommended Elysian Sapa Hotel, which offers rates of C$25 for "superior" rooms with breakfast and the one hour shuttle bus included. Our shuttle driver was waiting at the station with Josh's name professionally printed on an 8x11 sign.

Sa Pa Surroundings

During the one hour drive from the railway station into the mountains we began to see the Hmong and other hill tribe people wearing traditional clothing and regalia. Women with wicker baskets on their backs and a large hoe over their shoulder were already heading out to their terraced fields carved from the steep-sided mountains. As we drew nearer to Sa Pa, most of these women were dressed in their finery and heading uphill to join dozens of their compatriots selling handicrafts to the tourists in the town and on the surrounding treks.

Our room at the Elysian Sapa Hotel

Our third flour room boasts a large window opening onto the main street in the heart of the old town, varnished pine wainscoting and furniture, a spotless marble bathroom, wood grain flooring and very posh drapes. In my experience the same room in North America would go for between C$150 and $250 depending on the city. On the main floor there's a nicely appointed restaurant serving a mixture of local and international dishes. The nicest thing about the hotel is the delightful family who own and run it. They are exceptionally warm, caring and hospitable. It's a mom and pop operation managed by a very dapper son, Tony, who has a good command of English and knows exactly how to cater to the tastes of swarms of travellers young and old. I'll be surprised if we find such a nice room at such an economical price anywhere else on our travels in South East Asia.