Arrival in Sa Pa

Sa Pa town

After flying to Ha Noi, spending the night and then catching the night train, we arrived at Lao Cai station where we were picked up for the transfer to Sa Pa.

What?

The transfer took about forty five minutes to get to Sa Pa and another forty five minutes to an hour to travel through the gridlock that is Sa Pa and drop everyone off at their hotels, we were last.

Tiger country

When we arrived at the hotel, it was still to early to check in so they suggested we walk up a nearby hill and then come back in two hours, seemed like a good plan so we went for it. First though, we booked an afternoon trek at the tourist office.

This looks more like it

Back to the suggested hill, when we got to it we found out we had to pay, not much so we handed over our money and received a 'map', possibly the worlds worst map!

Oh no, bit of a let down

Once inside we began to see the error of our ways, appalling concrete sculptures, including one of Mickey Mouse, and masses of Vietnamese enjoying themselves.

Final kick in the teeth

The only bonus was that once we found the viewpoints, after much trial and error thanks to the 'map', we were rewarded with some fine views.

Finally we're out, they'll not be seeing us again!

Never again.