Oops forgot to post SaPa

Sapa
5 1/2 hr bus trip - double decker sleeper bus novel! Road was a bit like driving on a cross between John Saunders Pde & Gibb River Rd for 6 hrs!
Staying SaPa Hill Hotel great position & comfortable hotel once again staff great but noisy from the road I guess you get that when you stay central to everything. One of the 1st things I noticed in SaPa - lots of electric taxis & golf buggy taxis! Not sure what that’s about didn’t notice any in Hanoi.
Ham Rong Mountain - (Dragon’s Jaw Mountain). Its name is derived from the shape of its peak which resembles the jaw of a dragon. The legend of Ham Rong Mountain Sapa is that there were two dragons playing with each other when a fierce flood came. One dragon flew up to the sky while the other was trapped on earth and turned to stone, looking towards its companion that had flown away. Beautiful gardens & Craig & Darcy both almost got bullseyes on a crossbow archery gallery.

Moana SaPa not sure what Moana is doing in Vietnam but it was a fun display! Something to do with being a photographic studio & love???

Tour with Mun (Red Dai Minority) $US 35 pp. Minorities villages visited were Lao Chai (Black H’mong minority), Ta Van (Zay minority, Giang Ta Chai (Red Dao minority). Saw how cloth is dyed with indigo, rice & corn is crushed & just generally witnessed village life - had lunch in Giang Ta Chai. Watched school kids practice music at school which was a bit weird but apparently part of the tour!

Fansipan mountain stands at 3,147.3 metres (10,326 ft) being the highest mountain on the Indochinese peninsula (comprising Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia), hence its nickname, "the Roof of Indochina" unfortunately the weather wasn’t conducive to risking the cost of getting up there & only seeing cloud. We are visiting SaPa at the beginning of the wet /cloudy season. So we just walked around the town had a chair massage, ate some yummy food (some great food in SaPa) & seemed to upset a street hawker who was hellbent on ruining our day - didn’t happen!Read more