Sapa was truly spectacular! We caught the overnight train for Hanoi up to Sapa which initially reminded us of an alpine town in the summer. There we met Zu our guide for the trip and she was brilliant. She belonged to the Black Hmong tribe which the local people in the photos are from and they made us very welcome.
Zu took us from Sapa on an 18km trek through the local villages, the rice padis, the bamboo forest, the waterfalls and the thermal pool. There was so much to see and the rice padis were amazing.
We stayed overnight with Zu at a homestay which is were a local family live. They served us a big meal with beer and in the evening we played Chopstick card game with Happy Water (local rice wine). It was great fun and something very new for us both. It was super to see how local people lived and find out about their culture which is incredibly different to ours.
The next day we made a shorter trek followed by a swim in the river. We then made our way back into Sapa for a few hours before getting the overnight train back down to Hanoi. What a trip!
