Sapa town

It was a four hours bus journey from Hanoi to Sapa a town in the highlands. The Sapa Express bus seats were spacious and comfortable and the journey more pleasant than I had anticipated.

Sapa with mud caked streets and messy wires

Sapa looked disorganized to my eyes. Huge buses bustling down the narrow streets with horns blaring. Cars moving at unsafe speed, turning and twisting to avoid quick motorbikes. The dirt on that covered the streets and made them brown and muddy. The fine dust stirred and hovered in the wake of every passing vehicle making mockery of  the clean mountain air I hoped to find.

The Eden Boutique Hotel is 5 minutes walk from the Sapa Expressbus office

The hotel staff were professional and very hospitable and the room we were assigned beautifully decorated. We were recommended some places for lunch but we decided to follow TripAdvisor and made a beeline to Vietnam Emotion a restaurant frequented by Caucasians. We loved the look on the outside and the look inside and the food. Lovely place to have a lovely meal. We loved the decor and this is not the first time their cafes struck us with their original creations of interesting themes and design and decor.

 

Organic eggplant with rice
Light and crispy outside but juicy inside – spring rolls
Delicious fried rice

There wasn’t much we could do because we arrived at around 12.30pm. So we decided to explore the streets of Sapa around the public square. We even entered to sit in silence in the pews of a Roman Catholic Church that was prominently located near the center. It is called the Holy Rosary Church or the Stone Church.

Exploring the Stone church

With a Google map and a data plan, there was no fear of getting lost. We walked around and found ourselves in streets away from the touristy streets, where most of the people were locals. Until we saw a hotel called Amazing Hotel with beautiful views of the Fansipan and other mountains. We decided to relax at the hotel cafe and enjoy the panoramic view of the distant mountains.

Enjoying juices while viewing Fansipan
View of lovely farms and mountains

Tomorrow we hope to ascend the Fansipan but not by hiking but by the cable car.

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Comments

  • Hi pastor,
    This is Stephen. May i know is Sapa in Vietnam safe place to visit? Is there any charismatic churches in Sapa?
    Thanks.

    • Hi Pastor Stephen, Sapa is a safe and lovely place to visit. The weather is cool and the food is delicious. Many interesting places to visit. I did not check out the services or churches there. Hope this help.

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