Day 60 - Mai Chau and back to Hanoi

We planned for an early start but I think most of us got woken up much earlier by the rosters, dogs and other animals around. It is definitely a nicer way to wake up than sounds of scooters and other city noises.

Before breakfast we went for a walk around the village the homestay was and walked through the fields there and saw their hydraulic power station.

Once we had our brunch, with some more drinks (too early in the morning), we drove up to one of the mountains to see some more of the landscape and villages around the area.

We did stop at a chopstick factory where they made a lot of chopsticks out of bamboo before stopping at a small waterfall and a tea house.

We had to turn back once we reached an impassable road, at least with our car. The drive back to Hanoi was therefore quite a bit longer but was fun nonetheless.

The trip to Mai Chau was great, thanks to the people and Mai Chau is very nice. The drive was a bit too long so I would not recommend only one night stay there as it's too short and you will be spending more time in the care than seeing the place.

Once back in Hanoi, I had time for dinner and a quick shower before heading to the train station for my train to Hue. Hopefully this time round there won't be any flooding or too much rain there.

Day 59 - Getting to Mai Chau

We set out relatively early in the morning for the drive to Mai Chau to spend the night in a traditional homestay there.
Like some other big cities, it takes quite a long time to get out of Hanoi due to the traffic and no easy accessible motorways leading out.

While the drive to Mai Chau took quite a long time and was not always scenic, once you get to Mai Chau, the views and area is much nicer and worth the trip.

We had a nice picknick style lunch by the roadside before doing a bit of hiking through a small Hmong village and saw some locals make rice paper.

The evening was spent relaxing with some drinks and a dance performance.

After this we headed on to the homestay for more drinks and chatting, it was a very fun day although the drive was a bit long to get here from Hanoi and tomorrow afternoon we will already be heading back.

Day 58 - Hanging Out in Hanoi

The nice thing about returning to places you've been or just travelling to just 'see what you see' rather than a fixed schedule, is that you never feel bad about just chilling and spending time with people you've met. This extends even to not taking pictures but just having a good time hanging out with people.

Today's post could have also been titled 'The People You Meet' as everything in there also applies here. It's great to meet people and talk to people, locals as well as tourists.

So after visiting the Hanoi Citadel, I headed to the homestay and just chilled out, talked to people and tried to decide what my plan for tomorrow would be.

After a few drinks, it was decided to go to Mai Chau for two days in what felt like a road trip with everyone from the homestay, owners and guests included, joining the trip. This promised to be great fun so Hue had to wait and Halong Bay might be skipped altogether this time round.

I know, I have not responded to your comments but will try to do this as soon as I manage to find some time in between trying to catch up with my blog updates.

Day 57 - Back in Hanoi

After another night's sleep on a pretty hard 'soft sleeper' berth in the train from Sapa, I arrived in Hanoi early morning.

The weather was great, sunny and warm but not too humid so bearable for walking around. I did plenty of this mostly to enjoy the atmosphere of the city so my photography was taking a back-seat.

I did go to the Military Museum though and went through the exhibition mostly thinking about the song 'WAR'.
Looking at all the now useless metal of planes shot down or tanks captured you have to wonder what was this really good for other than waste a lot of money for producing scrap metal.
At least some of it makes for nice displays.

In the evening it was just chilling and then heading out for some karaoke and in to a club, the club stay was rather short as I am too old for the loud music. ;)

I was supposed to head on to Hue this evening but decided to stay another day in Hanoi or maybe head to Halong Bay after. There are lots of options so the question will be which on do I go for.
This is a question I will ponder in the morning so all I know now is that I will be in Hanoi tomorrow.

Day 56 - Rainy Sapa

My last day in Sapa turned out to be grey and rainy. Instead of going for my planned walk, I decided to just take it easy and chill in the town.

Despite the rain, I did walk around the village and the covered market there to take some pictures but also get out.

This evening I have a train back to Hanoi, where I will stay one or more days depending on the weather in Hue. I am also still deciding if I should head to Halong Bay or do something else instead.

I had a great time here in Sapa and can only recommend to come here for a few days if you're in Vietnam but don't bother booking a tour, it's more fun without and just arrange everything here.