SaPa

We arrived into Sapa at 5am after an overnight bus ride. Being up this early we decided to go to Fansipan - the highest mountain in Indiochina at 3143m. Luckily there is a cable car up to the top which gives stunning views of the surrounding rice field valleys. Unfortunately the weather at the top did not match that in Sapa town and we were met with thick fog. Despite the lack of view of the surrounding valley, we were amazed by the grand temples, Buddhas and pagodas at the top.

On our second day here we went on a road trip through the mountains - seeing rice fields and watefalls. Again the fog was thick and restricted our view for the most of the afternoon. There is a glass bridge at the top of O Quy Ho Pass which we were reluctant to go up given the weather. However the guy at the bottom convinced us the clouds would clear. Of course at the top there was thick fog and we couldn't see a thing. This was probably a good thing as Billy was fast reminded about his fear of heights! After wandering around for about an hour we decided to call it quits. As we were in the queue to go back, we saw the clouds clear a bit so decided to give it another 5 mins to see if we could actually see the valley. And luckily it did! We had clear views for miles and were so grateful we got to see the beautiful valley from above.

Day 3 in Sapa we visited Cat Cat Village - a traditional wooden hut village where the H'mong culture is preserved.Read more