Sa Pa

We got really lucky with the weather for being sunny for three days, so going to mountains was the first choice. I can only say wow, just wow 🙂 Mountains around Sa Pa are so spectacular, with all that terraced rice fields and villages. The views are amazing from every point. You can see the highest peak Fan Si Pan (3143 m ) of all Indochina just in front of you with all the mountain massives around and stunning valleys. So truly beautiful 🙂

After arrival by night bus to Sa Pa at 6 am we had to put all the clothes on, cause it was not even 10 degrees. We decided to walk to Tan Van, village 10 km far from Sa Pa, located in the valley in the middle od terrace fields. Sun was shining so it started to be warm very soon and we enjoyed the walk so much! You have just have to be resistant against local women and kids trying to sell you all that handicrafts. Their method is simple, they ask where are you from and then just follow you. So to be clear you do not want to buy anything 🙂

Tan Van village as others is full of homestays, so we found one which was not crowdy and the owner could speak english. Actually, we had a lot of fun with him chatting, also during the dinner when another couple joined us. Then you found out, for example, that he has never been to Hanoi, he has learnt his english from the internet and was at Fan Si Pan just once 🙂 The guide of that couple was very energic lady Sam, coming from H’mong, one of that ethnic tribes living in this mountains. They have completely different language to Vietnameese and live their own way of life.  We had very lovely time in Dzay house homestay… 🙂

Trips in the surroundings are possible in any direction. The best is to hike up to the mountains, where you meet just few locals… Or some buffalos 😀 And you have all mountains for yourself. Tracks are not marked and map does not exist, but there are always paths up and down… We enjoyed wonderful views over the village Tan Van and also Fan Si Pan massive 🙂

Jelikoz predpoved slibovala tri dny krasneho pocasi, vyrazit do hor byla jasna volba. Muzeme rict jen wow 🙂 Hory okolo Sapy jsou naprosto uzasne se vsemi temi terasovitymi policky a vesnickami. Vyhledy jsou nadherne proste vsude. Primo pred sebou mate nejvyssi horu cele Indociny Fan Si Pan (3143 m) s okolnimi masivy a krasnymi udolimi. Opravdova nadhera 🙂

Do Sapy jsme prijeli v 6 rano, kdy nebylo ani deset stupnu. Hodili jsme tedy na sebe vsechno obleceni, co mame, a vyrazili do vesnicky Tan Van, 10 km od Sapy. Slunicko krasne svitilo, takze po chvili bylo teplo a prochazka byla velmi prijemna. Musite se jenom obrnit vuci mistnim zenam a detem prodavajicim pletene naramky a podobne. Nejdrive se vas zeptaji odkud jste a pak jdou s vami. Takze to chce rict jasne, ze nic koupit opravdu nechcete… 😉

Vesnicka Tan Van nabizi spoustu mist k prespani u mistnich doma tzv. homestay, tak jsme si vybrali jeden, kde nikdo nebyl a vlastnik umel anglicky. Nakonec to byla super zabava si popovidat. Dozvite se tak, ze treba nikdy nebyl v Hanoii, na nejvyssi horu se dostal jen jednou a anglicky se naucil na internetu. Na veceri k nam pribyl dalsi par s velmi energickou pruvodkyni Sam, ktera pochazela z mistni etnicke skupiny H’mong. Techto horskych kmenu je tu vlastne vice, kazdy ma svuj jazyk a zpusob zivota naprosto odlisneho od jinych mist ve Vietnamu. Stravili jsme uzasny cas v Dzay house homestay 🙂

Vylety po okoli jsou uzasne v kazdem smeru. Nejlepsi je ale vyrazit nahoru do hor, kam nikdo krome par mistnich nejde, takze mate hory cele pro sebe 🙂 Po ceste potkate vic buvolu nez lidi 😀 Cesty sice znacene nejsou ani mapa zadna neni, ale vzdycky nejakou cestou dojdete nahoru a dalsi dolu. Vesnicku Tan Van jsme meli jako na dlani a Fan Sa Pan pohori na dosah 🙂

Look down the valley Sa Pa The river Fan Si Pan massive On the way to Tan Van Tan Van village Beautiful rice fields 🙂 Fun at viewpoint On the track Hello buffalo 😀 🙂 Rice fields View of Fan Si Pan Buffalo 🙂 We love mountains! Yes! Ponny waiting for taxi? 😀 Little piglets 😉 Above Waterfall I followed you, you buy from me 😀 Just piece of heaven House in the mountains Morning Sapa