Diem Bien Pho to Sa Pa Viet Nam

Diem Bien Pho is industrial city in North Viet Nam.  Spent only one night here but two days...arriving in afternoon and departing the next day at 5PM on another Night bus to SaPa.

Diem Bien Pho had the city center very close to our hotel.  Again, appeared to be brand new but almost empty.  Market with everything from live eels to chickens.  For dinner we simply pointed to a dish a local girl was eating, cold noodles in a salad dressing environment.  Very good but we were then told it is not on menu so can't order it again.

The Bus to SaPa was a little different.  Although a sleeper bus  instead of a narrow, short bed for two with a center isle it had two isles and single semi flat seats that were three across.  Not real comfortable.  But the bus got in to SaPa at 2:30 AM.  Taxi to hotel worked out ok but hotel doesn't have 24 hour desk so we walked around town.....sat on steps of hotel until a neighboring one opened at 6AM.   Eventually our hotel openned and we could store our backpacks until able to check it.  Just another adventure.

SaPa is a resort town about 4 hours from the six million people in Ha Noi.  At elevation it is cooler with quite a bit of fog/mist but very pleasant compared to the hot lower land.

We did a two "trek".  They convinced us that us old guys should take a private tour (as we couldn't keep up with the younger tourists) but we did just fine.  Walked among Water Buffalo, Rice Paddies, hill villages and stayed the night in a home-stay that includes dinner and breakfast.   Pleasant walk.  Seems that about 10 years ago area got electricity, satellite TV, concrete paths and small motorbikes.  And cell phones.  These along make a big difference in productivity and standard of living for villagers.

When villagers want a path made concrete for motorbikes or one lane for cars apparently government provides the concrete but villagers have to provide the labor of making the road.  Guess it keeps taxes down.

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After Sapa we take three buses, a ferry and who knows what else to get to Halong Bay.


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