Hanoi - Sapa - Lao Cai - Halong Bay - Hue - Hoi An - Da Nang
河内 - 沙坝 / 萨帕 - 老街 - 下龙湾 - 顺化 - 会安 - 岘港
16 October 2012 (Day Three - Lao Cai)
We woke up early for a nice American breakfast: bacon and cheese omelette with French toast and of course Vietnamese coffee! We left from Sapa at around 8am for Coc Ly Market which is situated far from Sapa. The drive to Lao Cai spent us one hour and we took another hour from Lao Cai to the market. We did not have a good view of Sapa the other night but this morning was really a good chance for us to enjoy the scenery. Along the way, we also had a far glimpse of the newly completed Coc Ly hydro dam.
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| Scenic view of Sapa on our way to Coc Ly Market. |
Coc Ly Market is a place for the minorities to meet, share one another's experience and trade after the crops harvesting. According to Mr. Son, there are six different minorities gather around here: Flower H’mong, Black Dzao, Tay, Dzay, Ha Nhi and Nung. The market is a bustling place with stalls selling handicrafts, foods, groceries, tools and clothes. A buffalo goes from USD1,000 and horse USD500!
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| Minorities selling local produces. |
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| Caring for newborn while making a living. |
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| View of Coc Ly Market from afar. |
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| A small sugarcane was more than enough to cheer up her day. |
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| A buffalo could sell up to USD1,000. |
We said goodbye to the market for a quick lunch at a small town Bao Nhai. We had a flat tire halfway down the road but the driver was very quick with the replacement. After lunch (we ordered soft drinks which costed us USD1 each), we continued our journey with a visit to a village of the Tay minority (Trung Do Village) by the river. To get to the village, we had to trek about 2km along the countryside, passing by mud houses, buffalo carts and a homestay! In the village, we were told not to take any photograph on babies as the locals believe that the babies would be taken away by the camera flash.
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| Trekking into the countryside. |
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| A curious kid ran out from his house to greet us. |
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| Chay River, with pebbles and stones clearly visible. |
After a short hike, we reached Chay River, the Stone River. Due to the upstream hydro dam, the water is shallow and the river bed, covered in white stones, is clearly visible. We got onto a boat and soon find ourselves cruising along the river among high rock mountains and white breathtaking waterfalls along the river banks. The Chay River definitely plays a big part in their daily activities, as we could see the locals pumping water, mining sand and playful children swimming in the waters. With five of us onboard, operating the boat on shallow waters was not an easy task for the boatman. He had to get off and push and drag the boat whenever it got stranded. And so we decided to tip him VND50,000.
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| Difficult task for the boatman. |
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| Locals pumping water from the river. |
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| The house where we disembarked from our boat. |
We were surprised when the boat slowed down and anchored at someone's backyard? And even more when we found ourselves arriving at the same place we had lunch! After the boat trip, we then took a quick detour to visit the border between Vietnam Lao Cai (老街) and China Hekou (河口). After some photos, as it was around 5pm and definitely too early for dinner (6pm), we strolled around Lao Cai town before walking back to Oishi Restaurant near Lao Cai Station for our dinner.
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| At the border between Vietnam and China. |
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| Quick stroll around Lao Cai town. |
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| Vietnam Immigration bordering China. |
It was then that we realised we've lost our train tickets and that the tickets bought were actually return tickets! Luckily Mr. Son helped us to call his office for a ticket reissue. And so, despite the off-track, we managed to board the overnight train King Express return to Hanoi. (Like the previous trip, the train ride was not easy and the air conditioning was not functioning)
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| Onboard King Express back to Hanoi. |
Little Note: The train tickets from Hanoi to Lao Cai bought by tour agent were RETURN tickets. There was a long lead-time between the boat trip and dinner.
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