Sapa To Hoi An

It was a long day of mostly travelling so I shall keep it brief. We had the morning to enjoy the lodge. Elliot and I chose to sleep and enjoy the vista from our bungalow. My parents walked around. We briefly braved the local women to buy some of their remarkable needlework goods. Lunch was another tasty affair. We hung out at the lobby and were plied with free coffee and tea as well as cool towels to await the arrival of the Topas minibus from Hanoi. At 1430 we commenced the 5 hour drive back south towards Hanoi Airport.

Goodbye beautiful balcony view

It has now become habit to have pho as part of breakfast

There was a fresh juicing station!

Braved the locals to buy these!

It was hot but they walked around the resort

Haven't had a bad meal yet! Pomelo and prawn salad

Spicy pork and beef noodle soup

Blue swimmer crab spring roll. They weren't stingy with the crab either!

One pot pork belly with sticky rice and banana flower salad

Waiting for our bus

Going back down the mountain

A different road side stop! But much the same in terms of ambience

A bizarre texture, almost like sticky corn

Super tasty although I'm still not sure what the filling was exactly

We flew Vietjet to Danang. I was nervous with all the terrible online reviews. It was seemingly the Jetstar of Vietnam. However we didn't have a choice as Vietnam Airlines modified their flight time which made it impossible for us to make the flight. Online check in was ok. Bag drop surprisingly efficient. The staff at the counter was friendly and spoke good English. Hanoi domestic airport was nicer than I expected. I know I should stop tainting this country with experiences from 25 years ago...

The good - the flight left on time, arrived on time and our suitcases came out immediately at the other end!

The bad - the seats were uncomfortable and there was a slight hint of old urine odor...ew

Either way, I was simply relieved that we made it to Danang without mishap. We were picked up by our guide Hung who took us to our hotel in Hoi An (a 45 minute drive away). Hoi An Central Boutique & Spa looked old world but it was 1130pm by this time, mostly dark and we were tired so truthfully anything would have looked good. Our rooms were most definitely spacious though. It didn't long to fall into slumber...

At our gate waiting to board

The plane. Cheering for ontime departure!

Our hotel room in HoiAn

Bathroom

From the Valley To The Mountain

Good morning from the Sapa Valley!

We were prepared a surprisingly substantial breakfast! The initially "simple" spread kept growing with the addition of warm bread rolls, then pancakes, then bacon, then eggs made to order, followed by the now familiar breakfast pho. The gurgling stream and gentle breeze made for a relaxing family meal. We chose to split ways here with Opa and Oma opting out of the jungle walk. It was probably a good thing because the walk felt like an almost vertical climb at times. Combined with the humidity, the ascent was at times uncomfortable. Sung intelligently stopped at appropriate places to show us edible roots, point out plants and talked about the villagers farming practices. Although most probably she knew we had to rest! We learnt that cinnamon can only be harvested once after growing for 15 years! And that the villagers would hike 3 hours into the jungle to harvest cardamom and would stay there for 2-3 weeks before coming back down. We walked through bamboo forests planted by and for use of the whole village, were treated to vistas of lush green terraced rice fields, and even saw big boldly coloured butterflies. Our final stop was a waterfall, where we got to cool by dipping our feet into the cool water. 

We had time to shower and cool off before an included traditional BBQ lunch. We were then whisked off in a minivan to head to the Topas Ecolodge. We had some inbuilt down time here. So the rest of the day was spent relaxing by the pool, and in our individual stone bungalows enjoying the spectacular mountain view. We were not one to turn down free sundowners! At 5:30pm we dutifully showed up for our pre-dinner drink. Unfortunately the sunset was somewhat marred by clouds. The lodge and its surroundings were gorgeous but for those interested in visiting, beware that the heat can still be oppressive even though it is meant to be cooler being so high up. Additionally, there is wifi only in the common areas.

Started off so simple...with the sweetest passionfruit I've even had

And finished with this. How could we refuse?!

My mother, in the meantime, was ogling the beautiful handiwork of the locals. She was off to find some to buy!

Still breathing at this point

Up was the only direction we went...

The plant used to make purple potato rice

Cinnamon tree with cassava plants in the background used to feed the animals

Preparing the root from a plant of the cardamom family. Sung along with her cousins and siblings used to be sent to the jungle with their wicker baskets to harvest at age 10

Refreshing. Crunchy but rather tasteless like cucumber. Apparently consumed with chilli

Bamboo forest. Anyone in the village can cut down the bamboo for personal use

Waterfall 1

Waterfall 2

Finally we descend! Can actually enjoy the view!

It is the beginning of the rice season. Up here there is only 1 season because of the climate unlike the rest of the country

From the lodge we could see the locals carrying anything and everything across the river

Lunch was a Dao BBQ

Smelt so good. It was worth sitting in the heat to eat!

Beef with mushroom

Accompanied with corn and condiments

bamboo purple sticky rice and pork sausage

Fish, eggplant and zucchini

Sweet potato, looks so simple but was truly delicious

Goodbye to Nam Cang

Hello to Topas Ecolodge. Our welcome cinnamon tea

Saying goodbye to the pint sized Sung

Topas Ecolodge grounds

Our bungalow

Pretty comfortable inside!

Oma and Opa's bungalow next door

View from our bungalow balcony. Pretty impressive!

Huge arse lychees!!!

Enjoying the view pre-swim

The first of two infinity pools. This was the "warm" pool

The "cold' pool was much more comfortable in the heat

So peaceful

Um ok. Hi goat

Free sundowner

Cheers!

Guess who had the alcoholic version!

The restaurant

Included bread and chimichurri

"From Sapa With Love" - had all my favourite flavours! Cardamom, cinnamon, lemongrass, ginger, lime, honey

Dinner again, was pretty good. This is the prawn curry

We had to try the mango and sticky rice. Unfortunately we all unanimously decided the Thai version is better