Around South East Asia: Part Eighteen

In which I explored the “Queen of the Mountains”

03.03.2026: Tour Day 1, City 1

Welcome to Vietnam! This country is situated on the eastern edge of the Indochina Peninsula, bordered by China, Laos, Cambodia, and the South China Sea. Nestled in the Hoàng Liên Son mountain range at an elevation of 1500m above sea level, Sapa is a town in North Vietnam, famous for its high-altitude rice terraces and ethnic villages.

Sachin introduced us to Long, our tour guide for Sapa and Hanoi. Breakfast packets were distributed; I ate cutlet and apple and dozed off. We halted at a place for coffee and washroom break. That was the best coffee I had in Vietnam. It was a tiring 5hour drive towards Sapa, in which I had dozed off for most of the journey. I missed the group introduction session. As we entered the Lao Cai Province, the atmosphere changed to cool and green. The bus was parked at a location in the main square and we boarded a minivan. Luggage would be sent to our hotel. On the entire journey of Sapa exploration, we must have boarded/alighted n number of such minivans. I lost the count.

We had a mini-tour of the Sapa Square: watched the manmade lake, gothic style Stone church, globe monument, tram station, etc. Then we entered the streets full of lantern decorations and one-storey cafes, restaurants, lots of massage/spa parlours, souvenir shops. We had lunch at 1pm at the Bollywood Spice restaurant. This restaurant was a 5min walk from our hotel stay. Tollywood music was playing on the screen. I had lunch with Manasi and Shweta Deolalikar. Post lunch we explored the Muong Hoa Valley. We reached the viewpoint at 2pm for the panoramic views of rice terraces and misty mountains. Then we had an hour walking tour of the Ta Van village. The vans halted near the bridge and we walked through ethnic homestays and café lanes.

We stopped at the local primary school. 

Long elaborated on the village tour. Few travellers retreated from this point to the bridge, rest went ahead. I halted at another school on the way because I was exhausted for the day. Archana Jain and Bina Phadke were already resting near the gate, I joined them. Archana has joined the tour with her sister-in-law Sonal Jain. It felt like they were sisters! Bina has joined the tour with her friend Anupama Shetty. Lady hawkers surrounded us, trying to sell their handicraft items, carried on their back-baskets. There were items: pocket pouch, wallet pouch, small purses, miniature toys, hanging lanterns, scarfs and many more artifacts. We rejoined the group and were back to the bridge by 03:20pm. We reached Amazing Hotel Sapa at 03:45pm. Rooms and roommates were allotted. My room was 306.

Manasi went for swimming while I rested in the room. Many went for shopping and foot massage in the vicinity. We had to gather at the reception at 06:30pm for the dinner venue. 

The streets were beautifully lit up while the weather was cold. We boarded the minivans and drove towards dinner restaurant India Gate located at the Dien Bien Phu Street. Bollywood music was playing here. 

I had dinner with Roopali, Pallavi Sarnaik and her daughter Vedanti. Post dinner, Sachin elaborated on the next day itinerary, things to carry, etc. On the way back to hotel, few departed at the city square for street shopping and experiencing the night. We reached the hotel by 8pm. I got the bag ready for tomorrow and dozed off in 30mins.