Sa Pa is truly like heaven. Our room has a tremendous view which is lucky, because when I first saw the balcony I could barely see my hand in front of my face through the thick fog. Yesterday the mist rolled back as though the mountains were taking a breath. The low clouds are inhaled and exhaled all day long. Walking down a clear road you can see the mist sneak in from side streets or descend from rooftops.
We have explored the small streets, long stone steps, colourful markets, ruined churches. The H'mong village women follow us wherever we walk and try to sell us painfully beautiful and intricately embroidered blankets, pillow cases and clothing. We walked the 3km down to the Black Thai village of Cat Cat. The road allows views of the valley; a lace work of rice terraces and farm land. Entering the village we stepped down hundreds of rocky steps to a rickety wooden bridge and a waterfall.
It's hard to think about leaving but this is the start of a five day national holiday and we need to plan our escape. We asked our hotelier, a really bizarre guy, to find out about a bus to Lai Chau or Dien Bien Phu. We had a wealth of vague information about our options, but would have paid a bit extra for some confirmation and guidance. After he made some calls he came to our room, let himself in and creepily closed the door behind him. In hushed tones, he explained that the bus to Lai Chau is normally 105,000 dong but because of the holiday it would be 135,000 plus a 10,000 dong commission for his services. The bus to Lai Chau should cost 50,000 dong so we smiled and encouraged him with negativity to leave.
SO, tomorrow we are catching a bus somewhere. We have information that some buses leave from in front of a petrol station we were unable to find going to an undetermined location for an undisclosed price leaving at an hour between 7:30 and 16:30.
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