Hanoi 7 - Cat Cat Village Sapa

弟弟 is well enough to want to participate in today's program - visit the Black H'Mong village of Cat Cat, some 6km from Sapa. I am up early to take in the fresh air and also to photograph some sights around the hotel. Outside, there is a drizzling shower which seems to be receding. Nevertheless we don our gear preparing for the worst.

The o.a.t. I think is in the order of 26 - 28 C and not so hot. No doubt as the day wears on the sweltering heat will bring us some discomfort. This is summer in Vietnam, after all.

Beautiful sights, from my personal view. Perhaps even more impressive views here than @ Mt Merapi in Jogja because of the expansive valleys below and we are standing on > 1000m high ground.

Turning off to the trek to Sapa, near the local market ground.

Again it is an easy walk/trek initially down slopes and on paved roads. We can see in the distance the moisture is evaporating into mists as the temp warms. I think the showers will eventually stop, soon. The scenery along the trek is serene, mostly of terraced padi fields, farmers working on their lands with water buffaloes, animals and kids wondering here and there, lush green natural beauty and the tall, menacing mountains in the background .....

The highest peak in Vietnam - Fansipan (3194m), is obscured by mists.

This Russian made jeep needs a bit of TLC .....

Looking down slopes where Cat Cat is.

Soon we arrive at the Cat Cat Village (pronounced as "cut cut") fringe. There is a series of stone/concrete steps we are negotiating down to the village. Here we see their crafts on display - their tools, the indigo color dye they derive from plant leaves, their traditional homes. Parts of it are all very commercial, of course, for us tourists to see .....

We arrive at the Cat Cat waterfall after passing through the village. There is a cultural barn/hall showcasing H'Mong cultural dances, some small traders are selling BBQ meats, 地瓜，and refreshments.

All of a sudden the waterfall is spilling out mud .....

We get picked up by our tour van back to Sapa for a delicious lunch @ Red Camelia. Then we return to Holiday Sapa to pack our gear and head on out back to Lao Cai for our overnight train ride back to Hanoi. The train leaves Lao Cai at 8.45pm and will arrive Hanoi 4.45am.

 

At Lao Cai town center our group sits down for dinner at this little cafe.

Outside the cafe I see there are SAO VIET long distance buses doing the Hanoi-Lao Cai-Hanoi run. The fare is really cheap @ 250k dong ($12) per way and it apparently takes only 9 hours. There are also buses doing a direct Lao Cai - Kunming run but I can't see the prices. In fact, the Chinese border @ Hekou 河口 is only 2km from Lao Cai and I can get there in a taxi for 30k dong ($1.5). This sounds like a doable run for me next time i.e. Hanoi - Lai Cai - Hekou - Kunming all on buses and the journey will probably take 18 to 20 hours all up.

 We settle into our cabin. 弟弟 is a super Chelsea football fan.

 

My hiking shoes are washed clean as earlier in the day I unwittingly walked over muddy ground. But they are still wet .....

We wait for the aircond to get cool. Meantime we are hot and sweaty. Hanoi + Lao Cai have been really hot as it is summer.  We now have an experience sleeping in soft sleepers and we are confident we can rest well tonight. Unlucky for me I always get the upper bunk for I have to give priority to others!