Sa Pa

HK Buslines – Comfortable though delayed arrival

After a lot of last minute hassles (details here), I was successfully picked up from my hostel in Hanoi (Lake View) at 845am. We were then shifted to the main bus from the pickup van. The journey started with lots of enthusiasm of seeing the world famous rice terraces of Sapa and the hope of having some dry days after getting chased away from Central Vietnam by the monsoons.

The VIP cabin was indeed luxurious and worth the extra 120k VND that went into the ticket price (normal tickets are 330k). I ended up paying 450k.

What was disappointing was the late arrival and several stops the driver took along the way. We ended up reaching only after 430pm. A journey which should have taken about 6hours ended up taking 8hours.

Megaview Homestay and the stairs

When we got dropped down at HK Buslines office in Sapa town, cold weather welcomed us. The time was 430pm and it was already semi dark and foggy. I really loved the weather although I was half down with cough and cold by then. 😁

The good thing with HK Buslines is that they provide a free hotel drop and pickup service similar to Futa buslines which I took in Saigon. In another 30mins, I was dropped off at my hostel.

Surprise surprise: I was looking down at 50 stairs and a 200 meters walk on downhill slope to reach my hostel with no road connectivity from where I was dropped off in the main market (apparently, there is a road from the opposite side which reaches till the hostel). It was a daunting task with all the luggage that I had. I thought for a few seconds (cursed my luck a little bit) and mustered the courage to start descending down the stairs – good for me that it wasn’t uphill.

The hostel was decent with an attached washroom in the dorm room (which I don’t like personally). 90k for the bed was a good deal.

The hostel gets sold out pretty quickly, hence, reserve your bed a day or two in advance. The dorms are a little bit cramped up and do ask for duvets if you don’t find one on your bed (which was my case).

The bathrooms were clean enough however it was cleaned only once a day. 60k for a simple yet nice breakfast – you can chose from a set menu.

They have a number of private rooms as well and there is a nice view of mountains from their terrace.

Evening walk by the lively Sapa Square

Bollywood Spice Restaurant – Miss

Very quickly, it got dark and it was time to find my perfect dinner place. After some research and reviews scrutiny, I landed up at Bollywood Spice.

I didn’t like the food there and the fact that neither the owner nor the staff were Indian inspite of running an Indian restaurant. Probably the chef was Indian – I am not sure. The food was costly as well comparatively.

Precious lesson learnt – one thing I have learnt on this trip – one can’t trust good online reviews. Poor reviews definitely means poor experience, however good reviews might mean one of these two things – great experience or fraud/influenced/paid reviews. Word of mouth is the only thing that can be relied upon.

Incessant rains and fog – even after changing plans from Central to Northern Vietnam (sheer bad luck)

Next morning, I woke up with the vision of rice terraces in my eyes only to find that it was drizzling and visibility outdoors was almost zero due to dense fog cover. As I was travelling the last few days non stop, I though I could use a rest day very well and that is what it became – self care and self grooming day.

Thong Dong Restaurant – Super Hit

The only beautiful thing to happen on this day was me landing at Thong Dong Restaurant. This place has wonderful reviews everywhere and for once the reviews proved to be genuine :). Peculiar minimalist ambience and great food. The crowd was of a different level there – refined and elegant. If you are in Sapa, you shouldn’t miss this place at any cost. Its very conveniently located near the downtown. What stood out was the inspiring & thought provoking quotes written on the walls and in the letters neatly stacked in envelopes on every table. I fell in love with some of these quotes.

The portion size was plentiful yet tasty and priced very very modestly. 115k for a main dish and shake was a steal. The shakes and drinks are available in distinct special flavours – not your standard drinks and I totally loved my shake.

Ganesh Sapa Restaurant – Miss

This was my first trip where I ate so many meals in Indian restaurants – strangely not a single Indian meal in the first 2/3rds of my trip and then very frequent visits to Indian restaurants (I hate to admit it – probably I was home sick or home-food sick).

This restaurant was a flop – the mint chutney was sub par and vinegar onion was stale. Bhindi masala was average. Luckily the owner here was Indian however the staff members were locals.

It kept on raining the whole day to the extent that I had to borrow umbrella from Megaview to go out for lunch and dinner. After having dinner, I checked the weather forecast countless times – only to find more rains forecasted in the next couple of days 🥲 Hence, the approach for next day was decided – to take stock of the situation in the morning and if it is raining still, take the morning bus back to Hanoi. If it is sunny, then rent a bike and explore around.

Normally, I am not this impatient with my travel planning, however I was badly suffering with cough and did not sleep peacefully any night here in Sapa due to non stop fits of coughing. Going back to Hanoi would take me to a warmer weather and probably relief from cough.

Beautiful and festive downtown area of Sapa town

Welcome sunshine – Plan to catch Hanoi bus postponed

Whenever I woke up in the middle of night which was numerous times due to broken sleep on account of my health, I could hear the sound of rainfall outside invariably. When it was about dawn, it was really pouring down heavily and I was certain by now that I will get ready, pack everything and get on the first available bus to Hanoi.

I finished up my breakfast and just when I was about to go to the hostel reception to buy the bus ticket, the miracle happened – the sun came out shining bright and I immediately rushed to the terrace to see the views around. Sapa looked beautiful from the terrace. I soaked up the sunshine which was short-lived as the sun started playing hide and seek again – I decided to take a chance and stay back for the night in Sapa and explore the beauty around.

I went to extend my stay at the hostel only to find out they are sold out for the night which made my plan even clearer – day trip of nearby areas of Sapa and take the night bus back to Hanoi in the evening.

Bike trip to Ta Van, Lao Cai Village and Love waterfall

This was the most beautiful part and the purpose of my Sapa mini-trip. Originally I had planned a three day bike trip – first day around nearby villages of Sapa and the next two days for a stay-over ride to Bac Ha which is around 100kms from Sapa. Owing to the rains and my not so cooperating body, I had to fall back to just a one-day trip around Sapa.

Bustling with enthusiasm and to make the most of the sunshine, I packed my stuff, stored them at the hostel’s reception and I set off towards Ta Van.

Pro-tip: Do a thorough check of the bike you are renting – with a test drive and check all its functions. In the haste to not waste a single minute of sunshine, I rushed on the first bike that was offered to me and it was the worst condition bike I had ever driven – one example of this was – I had to struggle for 15mins to open its fuel tank and the bike key would come out even when the bike was running with engine on 🥸 Rental 100k.

La Beaute Homestay and restaurant

My school friend had recommended that I visit La Beaute and I took my first stop here. Great landscapes and amazing hospitality. As the staff was good friends with my school friend, I got a very nice treatment there.

I treated myself with a sumptuous lunch enjoying it with the glorious views of the rice terraces and the ever so precious sunshine (I had waited the entire day yesterday for the sun). After nice conversations, I planned to take off for the next destination which was decided based on the great inputs shared by Yum, the beautiful lady who was in charge of running the place. She curated the complete itinerary for me for the day and neatly jotted it down on the maps app.

I am still thankful to Yum, as only because of her valuable inputs – I enjoyed my most memorable day in the northern highlands of Vietnam after years (last time, I had such an amazing day in Northern Vietnam was back in 2019, when I had self driven the complete Ha Giang Loop on a 135cc semi automatic scooter in two days only). Pictures below are testimony to how beautiful Sapa looked that day.

The only missing aspect was the rice plantations which had already been harvested in late September – early October. All these landscapes would have looked very different with the golden crops in the paddy fields. But I suppose that’s saved for another time.

Some more shots from the same bike trip

Cat Cat Village – Miss

I skipped going into the village as I assumed it to be over touristy and paying entry fee to see nature didn’t sound right to me. Entry fee was 150k VND.

Some cloud shots on the way to Love waterfall

Love waterfall

Entry ticket 70k VND.

It is located at 20 mins one way walk (with some stairs as well) from the ticket counter. The route is not very clearly outlined on the sign boards. I was the last one to enter for the day and it was already getting dark – which made me dash to the waterfall with some anxious moments – being alone in the middle of jungle sort of feeling. It was fun overall. One can swim as well as the water is very clean.

Shots on my way back to Sapa town

Not-taken cable car to Fansipan

This is the first item on every person’s itinerary for Sapa. A fellow traveller on the bed next to mine showed me the pics that he had taken the same day – from the cable car, the views were good, however from the mountain itself, nothing was visible due to extreme height and fog. I thought in my mind that I did not miss much. Additionally, it would get super crowded because of its popularity. I try to stay away from the tourist hot spots as I feel the nature’s beauty gets spoiled once a very large number of people start to visit a location.

HK Buslines – Before-time arrival in Hanoi

I bought the return ticket to Hanoi from HK Buslines office for 420k (VIP Cabin). The last bus leaves at 11pm from Sapa and they provide a free pick up facility from your hotel.

Pro tip: If possible, dont buy the last seat on the lower or upper deck of the VIP cabin bus. These beds were shorter in length and headroom as well – I being 5’10, had a tough time fitting myself into the bed.

Going in sync with Murphy’s law, the bus reached Hanoi at 4am itself just when I hoped and prayed for a late arrival. It took just 5hours this time. For my onward journey, I wanted to reach faster and that is when, it had taken 8 hours 🥹. Does such coincidences happen with me only? Or with all of you?

I reached Lakeview by 430am and the question of early checkin wasn’t even discussed as it was probably ridiculous. I paid 200k for the bed to sleep for the next 5-6 hours – costly but definitely worth it.

Pro tip: Do reserve your beds a day in advance – had I done it, I would have saved at least 50k per night, going by the fact that I paid only 133k a night for the next two nights at the same property.