Sapa, Vietnam

 Notes from the journal:

6/29

  • Rode to Sapa on a little local bus, sitting in the back with a big pile of leaves and sticks
  • Ate lunch in Sapa and finished walking to hostel. It was indeed very touristy there, as expected, but we were just stopping there to get to our next homestay.
  • The hostel was very concerned about us being a couple and checking into a mixed public dorm room. We had never ran into this before (it’s pretty common for couples and ppl traveling together to stay in hostel dorm rooms but not quite as common as solo travelers) but they kept telling us “no couple activities” and trying to upsell us to a private room.
  • Went to a cafe with great views of Fansipan mountain to have a hot chocolate and read.
  • Ate dinner in town and went back to the hostel to work on stuff and sleep

6/30

  • Met Song, our homestay host outside our hostel and gave our bags to her husband who took them to their house on the motorbike.
  • Walked with Song through Sapa and started walking up the mountains through cornfields, and seeing great views of the town, rice fields, and mountains
  • We learned a ton from Song, including about the marijuana plants that are used to make clothing
  • We walked through a ton of cool landscapes with cows, farms, and a lily farm that sends flowers to hotels in Vietnam
  • Stopped for lunch at a local restaurant on the way and then met up with some girls from Song’s village, who were very kind and guided us through the forest, helping us through the slippery mud.
  • Song’s village and house were beautiful! We showered, washed off all the mud from the day, drank tea from leaves that were collected on our hike, and relaxed out on the balcony
  • Song served a big, yummy dinner and we ate with her family :)

7/1

  • Woke up early and relaxed on the balcony for awhile before eating another big, yummy breakfast.
  • We got to see the string from the marijuana plants that was being steeped in a vat of indigo dye to make clothing and we got to try on traditional Hmong clothing made out of this thread
  • Hiked through more beautiful villages with flowing streams and waterfalls, a bamboo grove, rice terraces, and a river where locals were looking for two boys who had gone missing :( 
  • Stopped for lunch at a restaurant near a waterfall and continued on with our hike until we met up with Song’s husband and rode on the back of motorbikes to the bus station in Sapa


Read if I referred you to this post:

I would recommend against visiting the actual town of Sapa itself, due to over tourism and not much to do. However, it serves as a point to reach Hmong homestays in Sapa. We had a great time with Song and her family and learned a lot about the village culture there!





































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