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 riceLight and crispy outside but juicy inside – spring rollsDelicious 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 FansipanView of lovely farms and mountains
Tomorrow we hope to ascend the Fansipan but not by hiking but by the cable car.
Hanoi means “between two rivers”. I have always wanted to visit this city, the Halong Bay, and the Sapa mountains. Today my wife, daughter and I landed at a modern airport and literally Grabbed a cab to the Labevie Hotel in the French Old Quarter. We asked the hotel staff for some recommendations for the rest of the day. She recommended a restaurant nearby called Highway 4 and we had a kind of late but light lunch of a few Vietnamese dishes. Very satisfying food at reasonable prices.
Healthy Vietnamese foodLake and weekend night market in redWalking by the lake
Next we went to look for a lake nearby. Having found it we circled it at a leisurely pace. While it was hot and humid earlier on, the presence of trees and water and open space made the walk so much more pleasant and cooler.
Later we went to look at the Night Market about 10 minutes walk away but we were too early at 6pm. The night stalls had not set up shop yet. So we shopped along the street with its many shops selling clothes, bags, souvenirs, shoes and other stuff.
Chilling out in a popular cafe
Having walked more than 10,000 steps, we felt tired and chilled out in a lovely cafe called, The Lissom Parlour. We bought bread in preparation for hunger pangs in the night and an early breakfast the next day. We will leave before the hotel breakfast is ready. We will take an early bus for the Sapa highlands from an office about 5 minutes walk from where our hotel is. I am looking forward to the fresh and cool mountain air and more family time.
Monday, 19th March 2018 – Ine fishing village funaya
We set off to have breakfast at this featured cafe called “Syphon Coffee & Teahouse” – but it was closed on Mondays. As a result, it was breakfast at MacDonalds again. I did not know whether I laughed or cried or both – with a muffin in my mouth. It was a cold wet day but we were determined not to let the drizzle deter our plan to visit Ine, a fishing village with houses that incorporated boat “garages”. I had seen this on Japan Hour. Now I was to visit and see it. It was a drab day but we made the most of it as the photos we took showed. After hundreds of shots, we walked along the edge of the bay, passing by the homes that housed fishing boats. We finally landed at lunch time at a restaurant with a great view of the bay. The fish there was so fresh you could taste the sea. Freshest yellowtail sashimi I have tasted!
Lovely Ine fishing town by the bayA beautiful spot for photosPeople and houses all inColourful ladies with drab backgroundIt was cold and wet – the fire was welcomePanoramic view on the upper floor of cafeYellow tail sashimi set lunchChill and relax and enjoy the view – we had the cafe to ourselvesDaniel enjoying his mealJacob YeoLeaving the shore to see the ocean – posing with a boat
We shopped and had dinner at Mipple shopping center, close to the ryokan we stayed in. I was looking for a pair of canvas sneakers. One caught my eye but did not have my size. Ended up buying one for about SGD$70. Later, I checked online and it was selling at SGD$163. Made my day!
Tuesday, 20th March 2018 – Kyoto Higashiyama district
The Syphon Coffee and Teahouse in MiyazuWaiting for our set breakfast.Better than MacDonald’s of courseWee Khoon and Karen reading while waiting for breakfast to be readyEunice and Peter standing beside many vintage clocksThe old English background is better than any commercial photo studioJabez ChanBy the barWe stayed a long while but finally its time to go
We had an English breakfast at the Syphon Coffee and Teahouse at Miyazu. This is a quaint place with an English feel, full of leather sofas and English looking furniture and antique clocks. We were happy to take pics while the food was prepared. I managed to get a studio standard shot of me in serious thought reading a magazine. The breakfast and the coffee were good and value for money.
Musashi sushi restaurantContentment is a stack of platesEat as much or little as you can or want – that is sushi!Wet and cold whets your appetite
We drove to Kyoto and returned the rental cars before taking a bus to the popular Musashi sushi restaurant. After lunch we explored Higashimaya District, which Jasmine described as a Lijiang old town like area. We walked around the vastly commercialized streets with shops that target tourists. It was crowded even though it was drizzly. We went up to the Kiyomuzedera and Yasaka Shrine after a coffee fix in Starbucks – a place we could shelter from the cold drizzle. Later a walk along Gion street led to an udon dinner at a restaurant before we retired to the excellent MyStay Hotel Kyoto Shijo.
One cherry blossom appeared prematurelyThe pink cheers up the dreary skyThe two shrines at the top of the old townThe wefie is a mustThe evening falls like grey shadesThe night lights shimmer on the damp street
Wednesday, 21 March 2018 – Wet wet day
We searched for a famous organic vegetable restaurant Miyokoyasai Kamo that only serves the first 100 customers for its buffet restaurant. Google led us astray and we were to hungry to object to the Mosburger in front of us. Please, it’s not funny. The rest of the day was directed by the wet weather. We were supposed to go to a tea plantation and visit the Imperial Palace but ended up in shopping malls: Daimaru, Takashimaya, Vivre at the bus terminal, Daiso. No regrets – no complaints. The weather is not in our control. Make the best of time as best we can. We were beginning to feel the blues as the trip was ending.
As it was Wednesday, we were still working on hitting our AIA Vitality remaining target of 50 points – which is about 10,000 steps. We had been walking 20 to 30 kilometres these past few days.
Thursday, 22 March 2018 – the final day
We located the restaurant we missed yesterday. Today we were eager. The restaurant was closed. We were too late. They had counted their 100th diner and he was waiting in a queue of four persons. We settled for a nearby Yoshinoya Japanese fastfood joint for breakfast.
Breakfast at Yoshinoya jointThey do not serve this set in Singapore’s YoshinoyaIt ended as it began – taking a train ride
At 11 am we checked out to make our way to another of those shopping streets for a final blitz and a goodbye lunch of Unatoto eel. After this we rode the train to the Premium Outlet one train stop before the airport. The branded goods even at outlet prices were generally still expensive. There were many young people with huge luggage bags which I am certain are full of their happy purchases. But not for me, though quite a few manage to sniff out bargain Nike, Adidas and New Balance shoes at good prices. The plane was a night flight. Cannot wait to be back.
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.
