The First Day of Elevation

At just about 6 am our train pulled into the station at Lao Cai, a town on the Chinese border and also the end of the line. We gathered our luggage and alighted. As we walked along the platform with all the other passengers we weren't 100% sure who our ride to Sapa was. When we booked the train tickets in Cat Ba our friend Tuyen had mentioned having a friend there that could take us to our hotel, but it was only really mentioned in passing and we didn't, or at least I didn't think that we'd run into this guy by chance. So, it was great when I came upon a man holding a sign with my name on it and the name Cat Cat hotel below it. I remembered that a month or so ago, when I'd booked the rooms they'd told me that they would pick us up from the train...terrific. We walked a few more steps and, oh jeez, there's another sign with my name on it, only this time the space below read - Tuyen Cat Ba Island - oops. So, after a rushed decision we ended up going with the hotel guy, not sure why, maybe because he found us first, but who knows. Either way there was no trouble finding a ride to Sapa. After a few moments while the drivers packed the minibus to the roof, we set off toward Sapa. The drive was incredible, just like you'd see in a movie. We wound along mountainsides and squeezed by oncoming traffic. Below us lay great valleys carved with rice paddies and we climbed up and up. If there's one thing that can be said about the drive to Sapa, it's that you sure don't feel like you're in Vietnam, aside from the inescapable honking I suppose.
We came rumbling into the town at around 8 am and poked through the crowded narrow streets in our bus on the way to our guesthouse. We passed through the majority of the little downtown before encountering a minor traffic jam just outside of our hotel. By now were were 1500 m up, it doesn't sound like a lot, but it was impressive nonetheless. After nosing through a few other vehicles we came to a halt across the tiny street from the Cat Cat guesthouse. Looking right we saw the little street leading to the downtown area and to the left the road plunged into a valley and disappeared, your attention demanded by Mt. Fan Xi Pan, the loftiest mountain in Vietnam, peaking at 3143 m. The second highest mountain, or at least it seemed that way, was directly in front of us. Mt Cat Cat guesthouse consisted of a grueling 130 steps from reception to rooms and wasn't the most inviting sight at 8 am after a lengthy stint aboard public transport vehicles. Well, we did manage to summon the energy to make the summit and it was well worth it. On the top levelof the guesthouse was a nice terrace restaurant, large balcony areas off of the rooms and a view more breathtaking than we could've hoped for.
Now, one thing that's a bit of a shame about Sapa is that it's quite westernized, well known and full of tourists, and backpackers. As a result, the local people, especially the minority tribes that live in the area have adapted their lifestyles to make a buck off of us roundeyes. As we wandered around town that day, after we'd rested a while of course, we encountered throngs of hawkers selling almost everything imaginable. Eventually we were befriended by a group of 3 or 4 H'mong girls from one of the neighbouring villages. They were toting blankets, shirts, pillowcases and other trademark H'mong wares. Most of their things were beautiful and it was obvious that they worked hard at what they did because their faces portrayed an age much older than they actually were , and their fingers were stained with the indigo dye used to colour much of their fabric. These girls strolled through town with us and chatted in their broken english, referring to Dad as Budda Canada, and cracking other jokes. After a while we told them that we weren't interested in purchasing any of their things and retired into a pub for hydration. The girls weren't allowed in and they waited outside for a while before finally moving on. As we sat watching the world go by, it occured to us that maybe we did want to buy some of the local garb. I can't remember what the first purchase was, or who made it, but at that point our troop of girls were gone and we made the mistake of going out and flagging down another of the many H'mongs. Oops. Sure enough the original girls came back a short time later and no they weren't pleased that we'd bought from someone else. So anyway we ended up making some pity purchases from the original girls, but it didn't seem to fully reverse the damage we'd done, and our 'friendship' really wasn't the same after that.
Later that afternoon back at the guesthouse we met the people whose room was between our two rooms. They were a 50 something year old couple from Australia, there on vacation. They were friendly and we spent lots of time on the balcony with them, usually watching the construction that was taking place on a building only 20 or 30 feet below us. It was wildly entertaing to watch these guys working away in their sandals and button-up cotton shirts, and using tools like machetes to cut their boards. The afternoon was passed there at the base of Fan Xi Pan, and at night we headed out for dinner.
Now this day was Mother's Day and so we poked around town looking for a decent place to eat and settled in at a place called Gecko. The food was tasty and the wine was good, and of course the bill totalled about 30 bucks. It had been a long, but delicious day and we took it easy that night. I really enjoyed requiring a blanket while I slept.