The angels are smiling down on us today!!! Wahoo!!! The weatherman predicted nothing but rain and thunderstorms for the rest of our time in SaPa BUT....he was wrong! :-). This morning (very early) there was a glimmer of blue sky behind the clouds and so Lynda and I bolted from our beds and headed for the train station. Alas, by the time we’d gone just a couple of blocks the cloud cover was so thick we couldn’t see across the street. So....since we were right beside a street vendor selling Vietnamese egg on baguette, and They smelled delicious, and we were hungry, we stopped and bought four so we could surprise Darlene and Gail with breakfast. The baguettes were so yummy! By about 9:00 a.m. Lynda and I had decided we would make the journey back to the station to catch the electric train and ultimately the gondola to the Fansipan peak. This is the one thing I really really wanted to do in SaPa but believing the weatherman knew what he was talking about had me resigned to the likelihood that even if we ventured up the gondola we wouldn’t get to see anything. But today as we ascended the electric train we left the valley cloud behind us and by the time we boarded the gondola we had the most spectacular views of the valleys, the terraced fields, and the mountains in the distance. This gondola holds the world record for longest span without support and the peak we’re heading to is known as the “roof” of the Indochina range as it is the tallest peak. Once we reached the top the weather had closed in and it was pouring with rain but we were happy as we had seen what we wanted to....the views from the trip up were unforgettable. The place was packed at the very top! People people everywhere...many of them donning green rain ponchos so they could go outside. Neither Lynda nor I were interested in going out into the weather though so once we’d seen enough we headed back to the gondola for the trip down. On the way up we’d met a couple from Toronto and on the way down we were befriended by a Vietnamese couple who insisted we join them in enjoying their bag of boiled chestnuts which were actually quite delicious. Even though they didn’t speak any English nor us any Vietnamese we were able to learn that the chestnuts are from the trees that grow all over the mountainsides beneath the gondola. We decided to spend a little time at the area between gondola and train as the weather was perfect and the views spectacular. We were above the cloud that had settled in the valley over SaPa and all we had were blue skies and sunshine. There were lots of people at this level too (in fact more than there were at the top) but there is so much space here that it didn’t feel as crowded. Once we’d had our fill of these mountainside gardens and temples we climbed aboard the train for the final descent back to SaPa.
Once back in the town we connected with Gail and Darlene and learned all about their adventures from the morning. Gail’s comment of feeling like she was walking around in a National Geographic feature was perfect as we enjoyed our lunch while watching the Hmong people wander around this idyllic little city in their traditional dress. This morning while Lynda and I were hanging around Fansipan, Darlene and Gail had been exploring the weekend market. They told us about the handmade knives and cleavers they’d seen as well as the rustic carvings the Hmong had for sale. There was every kind of fruit and vegetable imaginable at the market too. In fact, none of us has any idea what some of these vegetables are!
We knew our time in SaPa was limited and we were feeling a little nostalgic as today had been perfect. We’d made arrangements with our hotel to keep one of our rooms until 5:30 pm when the shuttle back to the train station in Lao Cai would pick us up. We were soooo grateful for having extended the booking this way. It allowed us to have a place to leave our bags for the day, return to get cleaned up before the very long next leg of our journey, and to put our feet up for a bit as we reflected on our SaPa memories before leaving.
The van arrived to pick us up but alas....where we’d believed it was just for the four of us....it wasn’t. Once again there were 16 of us packed into a 15 seater! As we began the drive down from SaPa we were treated to scenery that is almost indescribable. There were gardens (all type of veggies) that were randomly placed so every inch of land was used but nothing was square. It was like a perfect mosaic. Along the roadway there were sporadic clusters of Hmong vendors selling their wares....likely some of the produce from these mosaic gardens.
Before long day turned to dusk and the fog settled back in so our driver was in for a challenging drive along the switchback road that led down the mountain. At one point we saw an oncoming motorbike lose control and skid/fall at the far edge of the road. Our driver stopped to help but in so doing put us all at peril. There we were “parked” on the edge of the road all in the dark. Within seconds the light inside our vehicle went out so now we really were all in dark! I was in the front seat and so opened my door to at least turn the interior light back on. A couple of us searched the dash for the four way flashers but when we found them we discovered they didn’t work. In the end, two from inside the van turned on the flashlight feature of their phone and waved them out the window to alert anyone coming up on us from behind. We have no idea how the guy on the motorbike is but he must have been good enough for our driver to leave him there. A few minutes after stopping we were on our way once again. The next catastrophe happened within our van. The woman sitting right behind Lynda felt car sick! Luckily she had a bag! Not so lucky was that Lynda had to listen to the woman puke in her ear for the rest of our journey! Ewwwwww!!!!!
We arrived at the train station with plenty of time to spare so located a little restaurant next to the station where we had dinner and where we could still hear our train called. When it was time we made our way back to car 6 and climbed into our respective bunks to begin the long journey to Hanoi. For some reason the train was much rougher than it had been on the way up. We’re thinking that perhaps it is because this trip we were the very end of the train whereas last trip we were nearer the front. Whatever the reason....it was going to be a loooonnnnnggggg night!
Till next time,
Darlorlyngai
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