Day 24

Saturday was planned to be our day of trekking. The mountains in the area are unbelievably amazing so we planned to set out and see the views. First, we checked out of our hotel, Sapa Rooms ($25/night) and moved down the street to Cat Cat Hotel. I think Cat Cat is the name of the village just outside of Sapa. The room is much nicer, has a great view and only costs $15/night! So far so good.

As soon as we set out trekking, it started to rain and we realized the fog was incredibly thick. No sense in doing all sorts of walking if you can’t enjoy the view so we ducked into a café for our second breakfast and cards. Still raining we then moved on to another café for lunch and cards. Eventually the fog cleared, the rain stopped and we were on our way. We basically walked downhill the entire way, trying to keep in mind that we had to go all the way back up on the way home. We saw some amazing views though – mountains, low clouds, rice fields, farm animals, Hmong women, young kids, waterfalls, etc. It was amazing and, of course, my pictures don’t do it justice! We hiked along a river until we came to the part of the trail that required crossing the river. Considering it had just poured and it might rain again, we decided the water was too deep and fast to cross. So we turned around and started the long climb back up. My lesson here = stairs are way more difficult than just a plaved slope. The first part was stairs and I was just dying. Luckily it changed to pavement and we made it just fine.

Finally got some pictures posted -- here they are!