We arrive at Lao Cai train station at about 5am from the over night soft sleeper train from Hanoi. We are picked up by our tour guide and transported up to Sapa some 30 km away to check into our hotel. I am still not feeling tip top but the cold I am having is no better or worse .....
Views of the valley below taken at hotel balcony.
B/F at the Holiday Sapa Hotel. 弟弟 is not feeling well complaining of dizziness and fatigue. SM decides to keep him company and forgoes today's activities.
This morning we set course for trekking to a Block H'mong village - Lao Chai Village, some 10km away from Sapa town; and then trek to a Dzay village called Ta Van some 3 km away from Lao Chai. The trekking is mostly on paved road and downhill and so it is easy going.
Incredible views of the morning mists sitting on the mountain
世外挑园？
Looking back at the numerous hotels @ Sapa town
This Black H'Mong lady and her daughter "Zeng" walk 10 km to our hotel before we set course for her village. Throughout the trekking she would stick close to me as I will be her "customer" when we arrive Lao Chai village when they will try to sell us their hand craft.
Terraced padi fields
Butterflies feeding on some kind of food
The Lao Chai village in my sight
Kids @ Lao Chai Black H'Mong Village
The well-earned feast
The group photo @ Dzay Ta Van village at the completion of our day trek of some 14km. Three of them are from Israel and three from Singapore.
Me and the tour guide + a Dzay family
Back at Sapa SM and I go to the town to buy some bread and medicine for 弟弟. He vomited at the hotel restaurant and has had diarrhea due to possibly some food he ate which did not agree with him.
Late at night we had a Vietnamese doctor come in to check on 弟弟's condition. His name is Dr. Cluy and his mobile number is 0912 587784. The good doctor diagnosed him to have had food poisoning and gave him some medication to stop the stomach pain. 弟弟 also took some carbon tablets which I brought along for the trip, for good measure.
I was given some anti-biotic tablets by the good doctor for my cold/flu which by that night was somewhat made worse due to fatigue.
Footnote: According to Wikipedia, the H'Mong people are an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity (苗族) in southern China. Hmong groups began a gradual southward migration in the 18th century due to political unrest and to find more arable land.
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