Finally arrived in Sapa after a hectic 8 hour train trip from Hanoi! Shared a 4 berth cabin with 3 other girls which was ok but the cabins were so small and cramped and it stunk!
Was good to get some fresh air after getting off the train. It was bloody freezing though! A change from the heat we had been used to.
We were split into two buses and had some down time in the hotel for the rest of the day. Did a bit of shopping. Some girlies got massages ... some went for a spa/sauna. Was great to relax.
We went visiting villages on the second day. Little did we know how much the rain during the night had affected the walking track! We were literally skiing down the hill, knee deep in mud! Thank God for the locals who helped us all down. Whoa that was an experience!
We got back to the hotel and went for showers ... alot of us got our dirty clothes dry cleaned to get the mud out and our shoes washed. Helped alot.
We were given some more down time that night until dinner. We ate at a local restaurant ... a few people tasted deer (i gave it a miss) and then we were given the choice of wondering up the street to see some local dancing or chilling at the hotel. I decided to go back to my room.
The next day we woke up and were told by the teachers that they had a suprise that morning. They ended up taking us to a local lake where we could visit the markets, ride big swannie things on the lake, mess around with the shuttle coc thingies or just chill. Was really nice.
After we had a bit of lunch we had time to pack all our stuff from the hotel ready for checkout.
After checkout we visited another local village. (Concrete this time ... NO MUD)!
Then came the hour bus trip to the traino where we had dinner and then boarded our train back to Hanoi!
