A good night's sleep in Miu's house for the homestay, interrupted only by the rain around midnight. We all fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow.

My legs and thighs ached badly this morning when I woke up!

Bananas and pancake for breakfast, packed up our rucksacks, said our goodbyes to Miu and then on with our 5km trek with Lang to Hau Thau.

Oh my goodness! The rain last night made everything very muddy!
The first 5 minutes of the walk was nice and easy going...the remainder of the trek was a challenge!
Today, to accompany Lang and us, we had Su, a 12 year old, Da and Pey, all from the Black Hmong tribe again. These followers are VERY keen to join any trek group with the hope that at the end of it you buy something from them. The help these girls/women give you during the trek is worth more than anything they want to sell you. I'm SOOO grateful for the help they have given us that we "overbuy"to show our appreciation. Today's trip was so difficult at times that I was holding onto both Da and Peys' hands for about 25 minutes!
10 minutes into our trek, we hit a serious slope and some serious mud! Jake managed to semi cross it, but then found himself dangling on a stick trying to avoid falling in! He did...I didn't!!! My walking shoes were totally submerged in mud...and yes everyone laughed!

Again like yesterday, the views of the rice fields were magnificent...again we walked across streams and rivers, met the same animals, witnessed village life as we walked. As Emma blogged earlier, a very special part of the walk was through a bamboo forest. Bamboo everywhere that we had to use to get across, left hand, right hand, step, step and making sure you always had a strong branch, as Jake found out first hand and slipped (and got a very muddy bottom!)
At times the path was very narrow ! The kids loved it! We were rewarded at the end of this difficult part of the trek with a waterfall. We were able to freshen up here and clean our feet and shoes!

We arrived at Hau Thau just before 1pm, tired but very pleased with ourselves. Treking the rice fields of Sapa was hard work but an "adventure" we will always remember. We all had a blast. The kids were far more agile and faster then me! Lang has assured us we are not her slowest group!

Lunch in Hau Chau was dissappointing (pot noddles basically but served in a bowl)
We then had to make our way back to our guest house into Sapa town. Lang asks if we are ok to go back by Motorbike! Emma looks at me in horror, Jake is beaming at me, "yes,yes,yes!"
Lang knows the drivers, there is very little traffic, she will tell the drivers to go extra slowly. To get a bus would be a very long wait and we will be wearing helmets. Damian and i look at each other....

Emma and Damian are on one bike.
Jake is with Lang and her husband on their bike. I am on a bike with some stranger ..
For me, IT WAS FUN! A 20 minute ride and the view was stunning! I felt very safe.
Jake had fun too but had to listen to Lang and her husband speak in Hmong the whole time :-)

Damian didn't enjoy it! He was carrying our rucksack and felt every bump on the road.

Emma wasn't as scared as she thought she would be , but was hassled by the helmet that was too big !

Don't worry, this was a one off. We won't be doing it in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh!

2.30pm. Back at the guest house to change into clean clothes , then a bite to eat. We were lucky and stumbled on The Hill Station, a few minutes walk away. The fact that we were starving could have had something to do with it, but it was delicious! The freshest baguette EVER and the nicest orange juice so far ...

A walk around the town , into Sapa market, where we saw some very interesting displays of food (half a buffalo, a goat head and caterpiller lava!) and then a well deserved foot/leg/thigh massage for me and the kids. (Damian chose the tiger beer option!) It was bliss , Jake was in his element and it only cost £2.50 each for 30 minutes. I'm sure one tiger beer would have cost more!!

6pm picked up to be taken to Sapa train station.

9pm. Now on train back to Hanoi. Ive had enough of these long journeys so very glad it's the last one we will be doing. We arrive at 4.50am!

Sapa was a great place to visit...

Good night
Px

PS Damian has stopped bleeding from his leech bite earlier :-)