Sapa & Halong Bay, Vietnam, SE Asia
An overnight train journey and we arrived within 15 minutes of the Chinese border. We were infact at the far North of Vietnam an hour and a half away from Sapa. After a short transfer through winding mountains we checked into our hotel at 7am - 2 hours to spare before our 1st day of exploration began.
An easy 3 hour hike to Cat Cat Village where rice paddies surrounded the road making its way down the mountain. We walked around the village and then to a nice little waterfall before making our way back to the top of the mountain to Sapa Town. The scenery was beautiful throughout the hike and low lying clouds and mist made the atmosphere mystical. We had the afternoon free to look around the town, visit the local market which was once again selling all kinds of produce including cows heads and hooves!
The following day we had a full day trekking, visiting 2 local tribes in & around the picturesque terraced hills, again full of rice paddies and filled the scene with lush green fields. Once we reached the first village we were bombarded with local women and girls desperate to sell you souveniers. They were so persistent that one little girl must have followed me for about 2km before she gave up and returned to her village. It sounds harsh not to have bought anything from here but I promised another lady that I would buy from her, and if you gave in to every litle girl that said "you buy from her, but not from me, that is not fair", you would literally end up with thousands of purses, belts etc that you would know what to do with!
After trekking for the day we took the overnight train back to Hanoi, we were arrived at 5am to head straight onto another bus to Halong Bay. Sapa was not in my original plans, but I am sure glad that I made it up there. It is a beautiful place.
3 hours from Hanoi we reached Halong City to catch a traditional Vietnamese boat to Halong Bay, home to over 3000 islands sitting in emerald green waters. Another UNESCO heritage site, again quite rightly awarded such a status as it is a stunningly beautiful natural wonder.
We sailed around the islands before arriving at 2 large caves. The caves themselves were magnificent, but I was little disappointed with how they had kitted them out for hoardes of tourist to trapse through it day in and day out. Bright, coloured lights had been put up around the cave, and paved stairs meant that a lot of the cave had been dug up to suit the tourists. We were ushered around it like we were on a conveyer belt.
We overnighted on board the boat, and the next morning we made our way to Cat Ba Island. A large island which is the only one that is populated within Halong Bay. We took a short hike around the National Park before going to Monkey Island in the afternoon. A afternoon of moneky spotting, kayaking and chilling on the beach was good fun, and the only time the sun made an appearance. Cat Ba Town was where we spent the night, again another tourist built town with hotels after hotels, plus you obligatory restaurants and souvenier stalls. I enjoyed Halong Bay for its scenery but was a little disappointed with how much of its natural state had been changed to suit tourism. Sounds contradictory I know, seeing as I am a tourist myself, but sometimes it is a little over the top.
Back to Hanoi for a pitstop, just enough time for dinner and a little shopping before catching an overnight bus to Central Vietnam, to the cute town of Hoi An.
An easy 3 hour hike to Cat Cat Village where rice paddies surrounded the road making its way down the mountain. We walked around the village and then to a nice little waterfall before making our way back to the top of the mountain to Sapa Town. The scenery was beautiful throughout the hike and low lying clouds and mist made the atmosphere mystical. We had the afternoon free to look around the town, visit the local market which was once again selling all kinds of produce including cows heads and hooves!
The following day we had a full day trekking, visiting 2 local tribes in & around the picturesque terraced hills, again full of rice paddies and filled the scene with lush green fields. Once we reached the first village we were bombarded with local women and girls desperate to sell you souveniers. They were so persistent that one little girl must have followed me for about 2km before she gave up and returned to her village. It sounds harsh not to have bought anything from here but I promised another lady that I would buy from her, and if you gave in to every litle girl that said "you buy from her, but not from me, that is not fair", you would literally end up with thousands of purses, belts etc that you would know what to do with!
After trekking for the day we took the overnight train back to Hanoi, we were arrived at 5am to head straight onto another bus to Halong Bay. Sapa was not in my original plans, but I am sure glad that I made it up there. It is a beautiful place.
3 hours from Hanoi we reached Halong City to catch a traditional Vietnamese boat to Halong Bay, home to over 3000 islands sitting in emerald green waters. Another UNESCO heritage site, again quite rightly awarded such a status as it is a stunningly beautiful natural wonder.
We sailed around the islands before arriving at 2 large caves. The caves themselves were magnificent, but I was little disappointed with how they had kitted them out for hoardes of tourist to trapse through it day in and day out. Bright, coloured lights had been put up around the cave, and paved stairs meant that a lot of the cave had been dug up to suit the tourists. We were ushered around it like we were on a conveyer belt.
We overnighted on board the boat, and the next morning we made our way to Cat Ba Island. A large island which is the only one that is populated within Halong Bay. We took a short hike around the National Park before going to Monkey Island in the afternoon. A afternoon of moneky spotting, kayaking and chilling on the beach was good fun, and the only time the sun made an appearance. Cat Ba Town was where we spent the night, again another tourist built town with hotels after hotels, plus you obligatory restaurants and souvenier stalls. I enjoyed Halong Bay for its scenery but was a little disappointed with how much of its natural state had been changed to suit tourism. Sounds contradictory I know, seeing as I am a tourist myself, but sometimes it is a little over the top.
Back to Hanoi for a pitstop, just enough time for dinner and a little shopping before catching an overnight bus to Central Vietnam, to the cute town of Hoi An.
posted by Lou @ 11:26 am
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