Relaxing Mountain Getaway

After a few stressful weeks in Hue, including the theft, my illness and some work challenges, I was very excited that we had a four day holiday this past weekend.

I traveled up to Hanoi to see my friend Pat for a day and then we planned to head up to the mountains in Sapa. It was so strange to be back in the city after spending nearly three months in Hue. Walking around the familiar part of Tay Ho district in Hanoi and seeing some of my friends up there, it seemed like another lifetime ago that I first traveled to this bustling city and began my training. In some ways I feel like I have grown and accomplished so much in the short time that I have been in Vietnam and in some ways I feel like I have so far to go. Ever had that mixed feeling?

Pat and I booked a three day tour for our Sapa trip. It began on Friday night with the overnight train up to the mountains. We then took a scenic mountain tour up into the highlands of Sapa. Sapa itself reminds me very much of a cute little European town as it has a lot of French influence. In terms of the actual landscaping of Sapa though -- I cannot even begin to do justice to how unique and breathtaking it is. I suddenly felt as if I was in a completely different country.

Part of the tour that we booked included a local guide from one of the villages that trekked with us through some of the Sapa villages. Our tour guide spoke English extremely well, despite never having learned to read or write, and she was so friendly, informative and caring throughout the two days of trekking with us. Pat and I got extremely lucky in that we had the guide to ourselves so the entire tour was very personable and we didn't feel like tourists being herded around like cattle. She truly made the whole experience really memorable and special.

Coming back from Sapa, we had the unfortunate experience of having cockroaches in the train cabin. Oh well, I guess the entire trip couldn't be free of some "bugs".