We caught our first Vietnamese over night sleeper train to Sapa, which was a delight compared to the buses as it was built for normal sized people. On arrival we soon digged out our hoodies for the first time as it was noticeably much cooler. We were booked in for a 2 day trek/home stay with the Sapa sisters. Our guide Pen arrived, she is from the Hmong tribe. She sorted us out with wellies and we started our 15km walk through the beautiful mountain scenery. Everywhere you looked, the land had been trellised off and people were growing crops, mainly rice. It was really nice to learn about local life through Pen who always had a big smile on here face. Late afternoon we arrived at our home stay which was a home of a zao tribe lady. We sat with the other guides and tourists who all seemed really nice. Dinner was served and before we were finished rice wine (special water) was served in shot glasses, the lady chanted in her language 1 2 3 cheers 1 2 3 drink and shot it down then instantly filled everyone's glasses up. This was repeated multiple times in various languages!

The following day was equally as good as the first, it started with a pile of pancakes and coffee, followed by a really fun trek through the mountains. We got special treatment from Pen as we were quicker than the others and had Wellies. So she took us on a more challenging and lengthy trek through waterfalls and remote villages and farms. At the end we got on the back of motorbikes that drove us up into the mountains back to Sapa.

Xx