SAPA

SAPA:  From Hanoi we traveled by Luxury Private train in a private sleeper car to SAPA,

Our hostess with the mostess

served us fine wine and scrumtious food

Fine wine and friends all snuggeled together on a great overnight train adventure to the hills of Vietnam on the Chinese border

Upon disembarking the train next morning we drove through and passed this beautiful lake

On the way to our hill top hotel we passed by many farmers and stopped to meet them

On arrival at our 5 star hotel we were greeted with a beautiful view through the clouds Our hotel was the Victoria SAPA a 5 star hotel

The hotel had top notch facilities like this spa, tennis courts, inside pool  and full athletic room as well as fine dinning

So our adventure here was trekking through the hinter lands of the hill tibe people’s.  We traveled by through the lush farm land and observed life of the villagers as they worked the rice fields and raised pigs for the market as they ploughed their fields with water buffaloes.  One day we hiked in a remote village area among terraced fields with rice cultivation and cardamom farming and animal husbandry.

These locales are the black Hmong and Red Zao ethnic people and we dined with them in their homes before heading back to our hotel at SAPA.

Another day we visited the famed village market where young single men and women went to find the spouse. Kidnapping is allowed for men to take their wives –.

 

From SAPA we left from a town on the Chinese border

a booming skyline of industry on both sides

watching goods come across

and then traveled to Halong Bay below