Nathan here, after surviving the great Sa Pa shidd of Saturday. Essentially Ive been working with this random dude on Whatsapp whenever we look into getting a private car who initially arranged our airport transfer on arrival that I purchased on bookaway.com . The price quotes are unbeatable; the only downside is a language barrier, so keep your phone charged and google translate at the ready. These are SUVs going car prices; Ill be happy to share the contact info in our final post where we will leave all our links and best practices. Once again this wizard behind the curtain came through and our driver got us to our homestay earlier than expected.
I kept wondering what the payoff was for the travel time; why this market was so special that it warranted 8 hours of travel each way for a 36 hour stay. And if it HAD just been the market, Im not sure that the indigenous crafts and food, coupled with the pristine cloud forests surrounding would have been worth the money and time invested, even though Bac Ha is amazing. Time just aint on our side.
Massive developments frozen in time since The Vietnamese are very proud they have eradicated the disease and can once again back tourists.
wonderful family and friends, especially Ling, Hai, Chow, Chum, and Mr. Fang. What wouldve been a nice overnight in kind, pastoral surroundings quickly evolved into the most wholesome version of a Honeymoon debauch one could ever fathom. We quickly learned, and practiced, the corn wine cheers of Mot Ha Bai Yo!!! Their entire custom of drinking is to engage with every single person at the table, which is kick ass!
The spread of crispy skinned, succlent pork roasted whole and then broken down and served with a green paste derived from foraged herbs, all of the countless garnishes (mustard greens, blood sausage and roasted mushrooms with tripe to name a few) and finally, the widgety grubs served wreathing in some salty sauce capitulated a serene, relaxing day of walking around the Bac Ha valley before the insanity of the Sunday market would unfurl. It was an unforgettable day that, to me, was ten times the payoff for the travel time invested. They wouldnt let us pay our way on account of the honeymoon, and then our wonderful friends drove us back to Hanoi after the market, saving us from deciding between a $200 private car or taking another
We got back to Hanoi before sunset and had more snails and some killer mussels for dinner, before retiring for a great (and long awaited) full nights rest at La Sinfonia del Rey. The next morning, it was off to Cat Ba, with Goodmorningcatba.com making incredible time for a itinerary. More than anything, I was looking forward to sleeping in the same bed for two nights in a row...well maybe not more than anything 😉, but slowing down the pace and soaking up some sun and ocean breeze were all very, very good ideas.
This is abby. There is no reason for me to add any of this at all since it takes me forever, it takes nate like five seconds and he is way better at it anyways lol.
We braved a night bus from hanoi and arrived at sa pa around 5am. Nate was a bit nervous about the night bus at first, no thanks to me sharing stories i had read online about bodies piled onto on another on a hot rickety steel trap,
cockroaches crawling onto blankets and skittering across eyebrows, and high instances of death from making one sharp turn and tumbling down the mountain. But! We got on the bus, and it was VERY nice. Saoviet met us with a spacious, air conditioned bus lined with private cots, each with a blanket, pillow, tv, headphones, window screen and curtain, seatbelt. It waa immaculate, quiet, and there was a clean restroom in the back. Still, i didnt sleep well (by not well i mean i didnt sleep at all), because, you know, its still a moving BUS.
So, after missing our stop in lao chai (oops) we booked the first cab in sa pa to a random hotel.
