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| Women at the Bac Ha market |
This adventure began in the afternoon, after returning from doing the Ha Giang loop. We were picked up at 4:00 by a VIP big bus where we had to remove our shoes & put them in a plastic bag before getting on the bus! During the 7 hour bus journey we had one stop - as you left the bus, shoeless, there was a crate of slip on plastic shoes to wear while going into the rest stop. I sat in the front of the bus which was a bit “hairy” as it was dark, raining, lots of traffic & too much horn honking!
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Bus with crate of sandals
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We checked into the Sapa Legacy Hotel, right on the lake in the city centre for 4 nights. $35/night incl. breakfast buffet. Quick sleep, then up for a tour to the Bac Ha Sunday market - a 2 hour drive into the mountains to experience a big local market.
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| View from our balcony, fog moves in & out |
We wandered thru the market behind our guide Su, as she explained which fabrics were handmade & which were not & how to barter if buying. A lot of the older local women still wear the traditional clothing - so colorful & beautiful!
This market is mainly for locals, so lots of fruits & veggies, traditional clothing, live animals as well as souvenirs for the tourists.
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| Puppies, kittens, chickens |
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| Live pigs in tiny cages, also seen on the back of motorbikes |
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| Cinnamon for sale - it’s the peeled off bark of cinnamon trees |
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| Some “interesting “ food items, nothing & I mean nothing is wasted! |
We found the market fascinating & fun to wander around (& I was enticed to spend some money - then I had to figure out how to cram more into my already full bag!)
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| Some pretty nice looking knives |
We had lunch in a local restaurant then on to see some traditional houses - where we happened upon a wedding party where we were invited in to take a look. The men around a big table drinking “happy water” - locally distilled alcohol, women in their own group, also with a plastic jug of “happy water”, Robin just sat himself down amongst the women!
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| At the wedding party |
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| Women, happy water jug, Robin |
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| For cooking |
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Entrance to the house having the party
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We made a quick stop to see tea bushes & small cinnamon trees and we got to try chewing some flavourful cinnamon bark.
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| Short bushes are tea, trees are cinnamon |
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| Saw a lot of this in the north - trees are logged & peeled to create thin sheets of wood, this is then trucked to China for processing |
We spent the next day walking around Sapa - checked out a Trade Show selling warm clothing & household items, had lunch & decided to visit Cat Cat village. Basically a recreation for tourists of a mountain village, complete with a cultural show, souvenir shopping & strangely the option to rent or buy the elaborate traditional dress & wear it as they toured the village, all the while snapping many photos. The village was built along a river with several waterfalls, bridges crossing the river & an old hydroelectric plant.
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| Lake in Sapa |
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| The weather is misty, foggy & cooler here, many motorbikes have these covers on them |
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| In the trade show |
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| Loaded up & heading home |
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| Robin getting his $5 haircut |
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| Banana flowers |
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| Many shops advertising costumes & makeup |
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| Cat Cat Village |
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| Weaving demonstration |
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| Traditional house |
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| Dancing show |
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| We played a little “fast & loose” with food safety - choose skewers from the display (no ice) then we cooked them on a table top charcoal grill |
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| Raw |
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| Cooked, tasty! |
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| Nighttime lights & fountains on the lake |
Despite the foggy weather we decided that getting to the top of Fansipan mountain was a must do. It’s the tallest peak in Indochina at 3147 m. You can do a multi day hike to reach the summit but we opted for a much easier route - first a funicular, then a cable car up the mountain, then an optional funicular to ascend to almost the peak. From there you walk, thin air, 10C, windy & so foggy you couldn’t see much of anything. But we made it! Then over 600 steps to return to the cable car station. All along the way were several beautiful temples, pagodas & statues so even though we could not see the mountains we were happy with our visit.
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| Raw cotton being made into threads |
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| Selling bracelets |
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| Many succulents used in the landscaping |
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| Taking the 1st funicular into the fog |
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| View of the funicular from the ground |
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Station in Sapa
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| Cable cars to go up, way up |
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| So foggy |
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| Huge Buddha statue made of copper, near the mountain top |
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| Pagoda with Buddha relics encased inside |
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| So many stairs to go down! |
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| Inside one of the temples |
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| We made it to the top! |
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| Pretty foggy! |
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| Map of the area |
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Very creepy - straight into “nothing”!
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| The sky cleared a little on the way down, able to see the distant mountains but nothing close |
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| How it looks on clear days |
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| They even get snow occasionally |
We enjoyed the sights that we saw in Sapa & area but we did not like the weather - too foggy, misty & cool. The city is built on mountain sides so lots of hills to walk, another downside. But definitely interesting & worth the journey. From here we board a train to return to Hanoi, still living the dream!
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| Not in order, funicular to the top |
