Hanoi - SaPa Day 4 (Part I)

Arrived at Lao Cai station after 9hrs... didn't sleep well, coz we were sharing with another male passenger. Kind of worried too much : D

Driver was arranged to pick us up at the station, it took us another 1hr to the mountain, Sapa. The road was smooth, sky was clear : ) Good day to start our next adventure.

Was welcomed by a group of ladies in black, traditional costume (Culture Shock!) They started to follow us all the way up to the Hotel. They were the Black Muong, belongs to one of the enthic group from the village. They would follow tourist though some arduous trek, trying to sell their handicrafts and sometime offer to help on the way. You might find them irritating, but they were harmless, they just trying to earn some income. Ofcoz if you tell them off, and not buy anything, they would just go away after "awhile" haha... Personally, I find them quite interesting : ) they could speak good English (they are illiterate tho.), good with handicrafts, and very helpful too : )

The Black Muong ladies

Simple & nice bkf at the Hotel

Pho again : )

It's cold up in the mountain! Especially in the morning, the weather would change drastically in the afternoon. We took a walk to the town before our afternoon trekking.

A small and only church in Sapa

Men playing Chinese Chess along the street. 

See how the Black Muong pestering tourist. 

The young Muong with her baby. 

Down to Cat Cat Village in the afternoon. Cat Cat is a village with Black Muong, abt 5km west of Sapa Town. Surprisingly this place was not too rural as what I thought. There's Spa, foot massage and cafe along the way to Village.

Beautiful Paddies

Pig, pig, pig..everywhere.. lazy around

We saw some kids playing along the road and paddies field. The kids don't like to attend school despite there's school in the Village. Unfortunately, to them going to school can't bring them income : ( and they would still ended up in this small village, doing handicrafts and farming. They would rather sell stuffs to tourist; be a village guide or even work in the field.

I felt sad and disappointed hearing these. Reminded me of Nepal which I came across the Nepalese kids from the mountain, either with no school or have to walk a long distance to school. They were poor and lack of nutrients yet they like to go to school, happy to receive reading materials...sad. But these kids here were so much fortunate yet they do not know how to appreciate it. sad sad...Hope our Singaporean kids would be more appreciative too.

Little girls from the village playing along the road. 

Home of the villagers. 

Little boy without pant running and playing around the house.

Little boy was sick so he got to stay at home : )

While walking down the valley, we saw a van capsized. It was not due to accident but a gang fight with gun shot the night before, luckily no injuries. 

Van down the valley.

The Waterfall at Cat Cat 

A simple meal at a local cafe. 

Passed by a crafting shop along the way. We stayed at the shop for awhile, mesmerized by few pieces of interesting, impressive art and admiring the young artist. : D A pleasant, decent and modest guy, earning a living for his family by selling his piece of art. We bought a few pieces at the end : )

Nice piece of art, craft from rock/stone

Opps..shld have took his front view : D Crafting on my little stone box upon request. : )

My little box, craft from stone

End of Cat Cat village, time to go for a good rest & massage : P Btw, the weather was extremely hot in the late afternoon.... we have to remove our warm clothing layer by layer as we walked back to Hotel. Perspired and almost sun burnt.

Hanoi - Halong Bay Day 3

zzzzz... I don't wanna wake up..I don't wanna leave this boat..

It was only 6am, the sky was clear. Fresh air, quiet and breezy. Saw some tourist doing Tai Chi on the deck of another cruise.

Will be visiting the floating village after our bkf. At the deck for a good view of the beautiful scenery. The weather was getting better, clearer sky.

Start of the fascinating journey.....Mesmerizing... it has became 1 of my fave place.

The kissing icon of Halong bay : ) It was 2 rocks in front of us. But as we passed the rock, wow.. amazing... the image changed, they kissed! So cute, sweet.. & romantic : ) (wish you were here..jls)

Was getting hotter n hotter, I have to cover up :D
"NOTE: Too much UV is bad for skin"  :D

The only school in floating village

Bought some fruits from the seller, she was unhappy when we kept taking pic n not buying anything : p Ok we bought the big dragon fruit finally.

Good Bye Halong bay... I will miss you! Hope to be back again someday!

Dinner before we depart for next destination, SAPA! 

The worst and tough Pork chop I ever eat! ; (

The Train Station at Hanoi

Train Info.:
8-9hrs Train from Hanoi to Lao Cai, Sapa.
4 bed cabin.(Always remember to lock the cabin, beware of pick pockets!)
It would be good to travel in a group of 4, otherwise you have to share with strangers.
Make sure you checked all items & locked the cabin, if any passengers getting off the train before you.
Drinks and snacks provide in the cabin.
It's cold in the cabin, prepared warm clothing.

Hanoi - Halong Bay Day 2

Getting ready for our next destination, Halong Bay. It was listed  in UNESCO World Heritage Site and also being listed as 1 of the new seven wonders in the world, how could I missed this place : )

Did some research about this place, Halong Bay it means " descending dragon" in Vietnamese. It's located in the Northeastern of Vietnam. There's many Tour agency and cruise operators that organized day tour or staying on-board. And we finally decided to  booked the 2D/1N stay on-board with Splendid Suite Hotel,  on Royal Heritage Cruise. It's a small Cruise with only 12 guests on-board. Less guest is better, more exclusive : D

It took us 4hrs from Hanoi to Halong bay, there's a nice English guide with us throughout the journey. Stopped by a local fruit stall for some refreshments and ''nature calls'' : p

Pineapples stall along the way. 

Dipping the pineapples into the sweet & spicy plum powder.   

Another stop at the local handicrafts shop, I love arts and handicrafts. Can't stop myself from getting a few pieces of bags. Well, this is my weakness for handicrafts items : D I simply love them, it's so unique and every stitch is an effort. If only I have place to keep some of the painting.... I would have bought some home!

Even the boy can stitch. 

Nice piece of art. 

Reached the harbour before noon, the place was crowded with Tourist and boats. We have to get on a small transfer boat to our cruise.

Small boat berth and waiting to transfer us over to Cruise

Royal Heritage, here we come!!

See how happy and relax I am : D I'm feeling great!
A totally different kind of experience

The magnificent view from the Cruise

I have never felt like this before, enjoyable, relax, appreciating and excited : D It's really a different emotions as compared to the past. I love the present, so freely. I could go or do anything my way as I like it to be.

Row row row the boat...

And the FOOD, it's fresh seafood! Oh I love seafood : p Sitting in a cruise, with stunning view, sea breeze and enjoying seafood with red wine. Wow...how good can that be! This is "ENJOYING LIFE"!

After lunch we had a tour to the caves, Thien Cung Gotto. One of the  popular caves in Halong Bay. Amazing formations of stalagmites & stalactites. Add a little of your imagination and let it run wild, you will see wonderful images : D

Late afternoon, we did Kayaking around the rocks. We went underneath a rock, it's was amazing. And we saw many white monkeys playing as we entered the caves. Playful monkeys swings and cheering.. might be laughing at us : D

Ofcoz after the arduous exercise, we were all wet and tired but great experience. Can't wait to have our dinner served. Later part of the evening, we had a cooking sessions. : ) Making rice paper spring roll with the chef. It's fun and easy. And that's for our dinner ofcoz : D That's not the end, we had night fishing and karaoke session as well. Fruitful and fulfilling day!

Hanging around the deck before/after dinner, had some rice wine to keep warm. Under the star, chilling breezes, with rocks surrounding us...awesome!

We were so closed to the rocks

2D/1N Package includes:
- 2 ways land transfer (Hanoi-Halong Bay-Hanoi)
- All meals
- 1night on board Royal Heritage Cruise
- kayaking
- caves tour
- cooking session
- 1 English guide

@ US$145/pax