Caught cold :D :D (day 87 of the world trip)

11/30/2019

As long as you were under the blanket, it was nice and warm, but as soon as you stuck out an arm or a leg, it was brrr :D :D

I slept well until 4:30 am, but then there were various noises in the hotel (a small bird, dogs, a power drill...)^^ I let Jonas sleep for two more hours, until I started playing with my phone and unfortunately woke him up too :p

After a rather moderate attempt to do my stomach exercises, I had the strawberry yoghurt drink for breakfast that I had been looking forward to since last night and to my delight it was really delicious!! It was even chilled because of the low room temperature^^ Then everyone got an apple and because of a lack of supplies, breakfast was already over :(

We are slowly cutting down on the chocolate cookies :p

We looked on the internet to find out the hotel check-out time – supposedly 10-12 am. So we wanted to take the opportunity to explore Sapa a bit. When we left the hotel without our luggage, the receptionist looked a bit confused but it was only 8:30 am, so we still had plenty of time to be back for check-out.

As soon as we stepped out onto the street, we zipped up the double jacket (fleece jacket and rain jacket) because it was quite chilly :D Except in the Himalayas, we had had summer temperatures for the last three months.

While Jonas didn't like the weather right away, I didn't find the change too bad at first. However, it was foggy, humid and you couldn't see very far because of the mist. This slightly mystical atmosphere was perfect for a last day in November – even if that's not necessarily the idea of good travel weather ;-)

The first stop was an ATM, of which there are many in the town. Sapa is a real tourist town with many hotels and cafes, mainly aimed at Asians. They seem to think it's cool to present their winter clothes and drink hot chocolate^^I can understand the latter very well and the Christmas decorations and fairy lights were really great to look at :)

Well. The first ATM we tried actually worked. We were able to withdraw the planned 5,000,000 Dong, which hopefully will last for a while^^Now equipped with cash, I felt a little more "at home". And who doesn't like to become a millionaire in the blink of an eye? :p

In the middle of Sapa there is a small lake, which is probably a popular photo motif. However, this morning we could only see fog and if we could catch a glimpse of the water, it looked more like a green soup, but well. We might just be here in the wrong season^^

We walked through the autumn/winter fairy tale of Asian tourists for almost an hour and saw only a handful of Europeans. As I said, the view of the buildings and the weather was actually quite nice (at least for me :p) because it was a change from the jungle ;) But I was never particularly sad that we wouldn't stay in Sapa itself :D We didn't find the city particularly pretty or impressive :D

At the end of our walk, we went into a supermarket that looked quite fancy and modern. There we were shocked to find no large pack of chocolate cookies!!!! :O Instead, there was a large pack of margarine (as we have learned, you always have to be generous with such spread, because you never know when you will find it again ;-) ) and milk rolls, which we then devoured back at the hotel as our second breakfast :p

After an uncomplicated check-out, we went out onto the street to look for a taxi. The accommodation, which we had already booked from Nong Khiaw, is located in Hau Thao, a village 10 km outside of Sapa. Some tourists apparently walk there, but with our luggage it didn't seem very inviting^^

When we found a free taxi, he didn't know our homestay, nor could he understand the map on Maps.Me. A group of traditionally dressed women, who walk around everywhere selling jewelry or fabrics to tourists, came to us and helped the driver understand where we wanted to go. By the way, all the women speak pretty good English – a good marketing strategy ;-)

Once it was clear where we were going, the woman told us the price. 300,000 Dong. From our homestay we had heard that we should expect 200,000 Dong, so I tried with 250,000 Dong. The woman laughed, told the taxi driver and actually negotiated with us until they agreed to my price. Ha! :D :D

As the taxi left the city, the road became noticeably worse, but you could see that renovation work was also underway here! It became clear a few minutes later how the whole thing is financed, when we came to a checkpoint.

To use the road (or rather to drive through it in a taxi), you have to pay 75,000 Dong, or about 3€ / person. I had read on the internet that you can say that you only want to go to your homestay and then the fee will be waived, but unfortunately that didn't work. "Homestay, walking, doesn't matter. Always fee for village," they said. So be it! :)

Since the money is actually used for the stated purpose, we gladly paid the toll ;-) The parts where the road is still in its raw state (a bumpy stretch with potholes) made Jonas and me feel almost guilty. After all, our taxi was a regular (small) car and most (or all?) of the other four-wheelers here were SUVs or trucks. Oops! :D :D Maybe our driver didn't know the way because he usually only drives within the city? :O Poor guy^^

After about 45 minutes, we finally arrived safely (passengers and vehicle!) at our homestay :)

As Jonas walked up the small scooter driveway to our log cabin, a local girl immediately approached me, trying to sell me something. Like the women in the city, she also spoke pretty good English. Not bad! But I still didn't want to buy anything from her ;-)

The lower floor of the cabin consists of a large communal room with a pool table in the middle, a small bar and a bathroom, as well as private rooms like the kitchen. Via a wooden staircase with nostalgically creaking planks, you then reach a kind of "hay loft". Here, there are occasional mattresses with warm blankets, and each sleeping place has a mosquito net. This is the dorm.

Jonas and I, however, had booked a double room with breakfast for 5€/night (!!!). There are three of these double rooms and they are separated from the large sleeping area by doors. The furnishings are simple but cozy, and if the blanket is as warm as it looks, it will be nice and cuddly here too^^

Oh well. Of course, there is also a bathroom with a shower – one for everyone. But maybe we'll be lucky and there won't be any peak times^^

After checking in, we grabbed our laptop and phone and sat down in the communal room for the next few hours, where I wrote yesterday's endless blog entry. The events hadn't quite let go of us yet :D :D

When I was finally done, we at least went for a one-hour walk along the road. On both sides, there are small huts and rice fields – a really nice sight, as long as the fog allows it! :) Down the hill, there is a valley through which a river flows, controlled by a dam. Unlike the dams in Laos, it looks like this one was more or less planned ;-)

The road we walked on was actually in pretty good condition. It belongs to the unfinished section, but every now and then we saw excavators or a roller that will make it less bumpy here soon :)

At some point when we turned around, a girl carrying candy in a plastic bag silently accompanied us for minutes. Maybe she was too shy to pass us, but somehow it was cute^^

I refrained from constantly photographing the free-range chickens and roosters again (although they still fascinate me :D), but instead, we came across three cattle that were walking along the side of the road without an owner. Very impressive!

We also saw another 10-year-old boy as the sole driver on a scooter and I saw an old scooter with a Vietnam star and Jonas drew my attention to another scooter that had a baby seat. Cute <3

As usual, we ended the walk with a short shopping tour^^ We bought a large pack of chocolate cupcakes (hopefully they taste good :D), baguettes (and we have margarine now! Ha!) and a bag of fruit. When the fruit was put on the scale, the saleswoman added an apple to make the weight or price even. Really nice :)

To pay, her daughter was summoned, who held a bundle of banknotes in her hand and then showed us the notes we had to pay. Creative! Afterwards, we bought two bottles of water for almost the same price (water is sooo expensive here!!! :O Families all have water dispensers with 20 liter containers, but 1.5 liter bottles cost almost 1€ each. Too bad we don't have a dispenser like that :p ).

Back at the homestay, we retreated to our room upstairs so that I could write the second blog today – much shorter than the first one! ;-)

Tomorrow we will probably go on a hike on our own – there seem to be plenty of options, and I can't complain that it's too hot for me at 16°C daytime temperature :D :D