We have one night in Hanoi, where we met Robin, Linda and family, before heading NE to the high country. Sapa is the target. We reject a wildly unimpressive option to take the overnight train and book a nine-seater luxury van for the six hour drive! Leaving Hanoi, we passed the Nhat Tan Bridge for the fourth and penultimate time. Lots of paddy fields in various stages of preparation. Little plastic covered propagation areas where the rice plantlets are being readied for planting out. Some plots being trampled systematically by water buffalo to make them soft and muddy. Just the occasional patch being planted by serried ranks of ladies in conical hats. It’s really a bit too early for that! We heard that the farmers do not own their paddies. These are allocated by central government on the basis of need (or just possibly, who they know!). They are all effectively tennant farmers. Maybe big families get extra plots. Reading between the lines, the government can “reposess” an allocation and give access to that area to another family. Sounds like a case of “short and curlies” to me!
Traffic here is relatively motor-bike free. Lane discipline seems poor until the road etiquette is understood. Firstly, they drive on the wrong side of the road. That hadn’t been exactly clear in the city where bikes go every which way! On a dual carriageway with two lanes either side (like the one we are currently on), the traffic stays (largely) in the “outside” lane. That is the lane closest to the central reservation. Overtaking is done (largely) in the “inside” lane. The logic as explained to me is that the (relatively slow) motorbikes drive (largely) on the outer edges of the road. Through traffic drives (largely) as far away from the bikes as possible! Follow that if you can!
Three stops at highway service stations where they sell a wide range of goods we really don’t need!
… including some rather large footware!
Getting into the more hilly areas, we hit a few tunnels …
… and fail to get onto a newly constructed bridge … because it’s so recent that it’s not yet finished and open to traffic. So we, and a load of heavy lorries, wend our way slowly down into the valley and torturously up the other side. It’ll cut 20 minutes off the journey time, when the bridge is completed!
Having left the sulphurous, smog-laden atmosphere of the area around Hanoi, our vision is now obliterated by increasingly dense mists as we climb into the clouds! We just can’t win! The roadside is more or less the only zone where commercial activity can take place. Both verges for miles on end are covered in planters filled with orchids. Preparations for Chinese New Year in a few weeks time. On the steep hill sides we get vague images of terraced rice paddies.
Overtaking on blind bends seems to be endemic on this winding, hilly route. How everyone misses everyone else remains an enigmatic mystery!
Finally, the road lurches into the outskirts of Sapa. The style of building is largely, darkly basic. Small trade businesses occupy every available nook and cranny. As we arrive in the centre of town, the increasing evidence of tourism is apparent. Rows of restaurants, coffee shops, massage parlours, new buildings, hostels and eventually hotels. The largest of these, Le Coupole, is to be our lodgings for the next few days.
Our living room …
… and bedroom.
A really lovely room, very posh. Very colonially French but the view from the balcony is non-existent. Just clouds. We have to imagine the town spread out in front of us – and the more distant mountainous terrain.
But we can see the pool. A magnificent space dominated by huge statues of swimmers and divers and six huge chandeliers. Every pool should have such illumination!
In the morning, Robin and I set off looking for the Silk Path Grand Hotel – the big sister of our first hotel in Hanoi – the one which was so narrow that we had to enter the front door sideways on (although in my case that didn’t make much difference!). In plan view, it was only a few hundred metres away. But every metre ahead was also a metre up hill! The view of the town from up there was better than yesterday.
Briefly! Five minutes later and the mists swirled in!
This Silk Path Hotel is a rather grander affair than it’s baby sister. About half of the whole hotel in Hanoi would have fitted into the foyer here!
Back to our hotel … the view of the high mountain range came out of the clouds long enough to get a photo from our balcony …
The two wings of the hotel were joined on the tenth floor by an open air bridge linking the bar (top right) with the dining room (top left) …
We walked round town quite a bit, using the quieter back streets where possible (for personal safety!). There are flags and bunting all over the place. The gold stars on red represent the Vietnamese flag. The hammer and sickle is the emblem of the communist party. There are several reasons for all this flag flying. Firstly, the national general election is due in a week’s time. Second, Chinese New Year follows a couple of weeks later. And thirdly, the people of Vietnam really like flags.
An evening stroll round the lake in the middle of town with colourful illumination…
Tomorrow is our last whole day in the mountains. We are hoping for a clear-sky day as we plan to visit Fansipan, the highest point in Indochina.
An early breakfast and a short walk from the hotel brought us to the monorail station for transport to the cable car. The hotel provided WOW fast passes but this delayed us by 10 minutes! However, from then on, boarding the cable car and subsequent funicular was super-fast!
Here we are emerging through a cloud layer with a bunch of enthusiasically happy-looking tourists!
… and on up the final stage …
… to the top …
We were so lucky with the weather, beautifully clear, but COLD! The water being used to clean the top steps was turning to ice as we watched. Not a clever bit of maintenance in sub-zero conditions!
Next day we transferred back to Hanoi (after a bit of relaxation on the hotel roof) …
… for onward travel to Phú Quóc.
What a holiday. Such an experience.
And not a bad pool or hotel. I was surprised the other one was grander. Your rooms looked ace.