After a long and languorous week in Luang Prabang my senses were awoken with a start when we arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam. The capital is loud, hot and hectic with the craziest traffic I have ever seen! There's a consistent flow of scooters from every corner and the streets are packed with cafes, restaurants and markets. It has actually been really refreshing to be back in an exciting city with so much going on and I have rapidly fallen in love with Hanoi and all of it's hidden gems. However, a few days in any major city can be pretty intense and I was longing to stretch my legs somewhere, so we booked a trek among the rice padis in Sapa.
Sapa is quite far north of Hanoi so we had to get a night bus for the majority of the journey. I've been on sleeper trains before so expected a similar experience but it was much more cramped and there was a huge thunder storm all through the night. Lashing rain and flashes of lightning made it difficult to sleep so when we did arrive at Sapa town I was too tired to be enthusiastic about any trekking. However, once we arrived at the rice padis and the hills and misty mountains I was in awe. Thailand has beautiful beaches and the Laos landscapes were stunning but this was so peaceful. The first day of trekking was overcast which was perfect for me as I love landscapes shrouded in mist and cloud, the scenes were so otherworldly.
The first day of the trek was tough going climbig heady heights to gain better views of the rice padis and waterfalls. We trekked all morning for hours ending up in a village where local H'mong tribes live. As well as a tour guide leading the way we also had a group of women from the village helping us along the trek as some of the paths were slippy from the rain. Once we stopped at the village we were guided to sit down outside a school which was closed due to the holidays. The women then unloaded the contents of their bags to reveal the usual tourist "souveniers", embroidered bags, cushion covers and metal bracelets that you can get almost anywhere in South East Asia. We all saw it coming, however I was not prepared for how much we were all pressured into buying something. Usually after a few firm "no thank you's" sellers back off, but these women used guilt and the fact that we were in a secluded area to their advantage. Unfortunately no matter how careful you are out here there will come a time that you are caught out, and you just can't beat yourself up about it or let it ruin the experience.
After two days of trekking Sapa we had a one day break before heading out to Ha Long bay, one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Castaways is one really popular excursion for most backpackers and I've heard that it can get pretty wild. We chose to do a cruise through our hostel Hanoi Rocks. Both offer a really fun way to see the bay and it's a great way to meet other backpackers, as well as staying on a private island overnight. Despite traveling during low season we still passed beaches overcrowded with tourists and locals on holiday, so the fact that we had a private beach alone made doing to tour worthwhile.
The majority of backpackers that I meet light up when they speak about Vietnam and after spending only one week here its easy to see why. Hanoi doesn't have the same suffocating feel about it as other major cities and the landscape so far has been fantastic, filmic. Our next stop will be a Phong Nha national park, but not until we've spent another few days exploring Hanoi for my 26th birthday!
Grace xo
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