Day 212, Sapa, Vietnam

On the scooter

Sapa.....We rolled in on the train this morning about 6.30 and were met by a minibus to take us to Sapa town, about 35 k's from the train stop.

Coming into town, it took our breath away. Established as a hill station by the French in 1922, Sapa was built to make the most of the views over the valley and of the surrounding mountains. The French colonial buildings have fallen into disrepair and there is lots of construction sites with new hotels going up, but this does not take away from the magnificent views. 

The 'wrong' waterfall 

After an early check in ( Sapa House Hotel, excellent!) and breakfast, we set off into town to have a look around. We decided to hire some scooters as we wanted to visit the Silver Waterfalls, about 12 kilometres out of town. Hire is cheap, $6.00 each per day, so one each. Such fun, we both grinned the whole way up! So easy to ride and traffic not so busy here.

Silver Falls

We arrived at what we thought were 'the' waterfalls, a man tried to charge us for parking the scooters on the side of the road (what the heck) and then we walked up the steps to the waterfall. Quite pretty, but neither thought stunning. As we left we saw the sign around the corner for the Silver Waterfall, 2 kilometres up the road. Oh, oops. So away we went again, and this one involved a 1 kilometre walk. And this one was definitely wow. 

The ride on the scooter there and back was so special; the views of the mountains and across the whole valley, just spectacular.

Back in town to have a late lunch and return the bikes and by now we were getting cold ( we are high up in the mountains here) and ready for a hot shower. 

Later we walked into town for dinner and sort accommodation for Inger as I am going back to Hanoi tomorrow night and she's staying on till Sunday night. Town still humming with locals and visitors, as well as local tribes women who sell their handicrafts on the side of the road, along with their children bundled up asleep. We spotted one young girl, no older than 3 or 4, with a baby strapped to her back! She looked like she could barely walk herself, let alone carry a baby.