In Sapa Claire stayed with the bags while I went in search of suitable digs. Everywhere I went prices ranged from $5 - $10, and yes, the price was a reflection on the quality. Was there anything a bit more upmarket in this town? We settled for the best of a bad lot, but later met the French-Canadian couple who put us on to the Sapa Summit Hotel. This was a proper comfortable 3 star hotel...and our room was still only $10. Best value room to date - no contest.We laid low for a couple of days enjoying the cooler climate of this former mountain outpost. We were promised there were amazing views down the valley but for now low cloud and rain completely obscured what hope we had of seeing it. We didn't mind though as there was a serious blog backlog to catch up on.
By day 3 the weather was good enough to take a most enjoyable walk down to Catcat village and its associated waterfall. Finally we got to see the sweeping views and were suitably impressed.
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The next day the weather was even better so we took the even longer walk out to Sin Chai village. This was an incredible walk and we were lucky enough to be the only barangs (foreigners) on it. When we arrived at the village we couldn't believe the number of young children who were busy playing games, swinging from tree's and everything else young children should be getting up to. It was a joy to behold, they were so happy and so full of life. Sapa, and the surrounding area, is full of men trying to sell you trips on the back of their moto's and today they must have thought they had a fare in the bag. It was after 6pm when we left the village and they kept telling us we wouldn't make it back to Sapa before dark. Under different circumstances we would have taken them up on their offer but we didn't want this beautiful and isolated walk to come to an end. We got back with time to spare.
The next day the weather was even better so we took the even longer walk out to Sin Chai village. This was an incredible walk and we were lucky enough to be the only barangs (foreigners) on it. When we arrived at the village we couldn't believe the number of young children who were busy playing games, swinging from tree's and everything else young children should be getting up to. It was a joy to behold, they were so happy and so full of life. Sapa, and the surrounding area, is full of men trying to sell you trips on the back of their moto's and today they must have thought they had a fare in the bag. It was after 6pm when we left the village and they kept telling us we wouldn't make it back to Sapa before dark. Under different circumstances we would have taken them up on their offer but we didn't want this beautiful and isolated walk to come to an end. We got back with time to spare.
For our last day in Sapa we took a trip to the Dragon's Jaw. This is a conservation area and the highlight, literally, is a look-out (Cloud-Yard) perched high up on a hill with commanding views of the surrounding countryside.And then it was time to go. We knew we wanted to get to Luang Prabang in Laos but our options were limited. Take the train back to Hanoi and fly or take a 4 day, death defying bus journey through a newly opened border crossing (Tay Trang) in N.W. Vietnam. We chose to fly.
Dao Tribe wear red-headress 
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