DAY SIX: Arrival into Sapa
We arrived at the Lao Cai train station around 7am after just a few hours of sleep. We piled into a van with a few other travelers and rode through winding roads and stunning scenery for about an hour. When we got to our hotel we had breakfast overlooking the valley and hung around the hotel restaurant until our room was ready for us. We checked in around noon and went out to see what we could see.
The weather was warm and a little breezy. My feet were killing me and I wanted new shoes. I bought some handmade flats that I really liked as well as some rambutan and some mushroom and pork filled bao and Ryan went on a shopping spree at one of the many North Face knock off stores. There were many tourists around and local women selling amazing jewelry at seriously inflated prices. We found a true gem of a restaurant during our walk called The Village Noshery. Before we went in, I was tempted by some rings that one of the local women was selling. She said she would wait for me until I was done eating. The interior of the restaurant was fabulous and the food was amazing. After an excellent dining experience, I was ready to bargain. I bargained with this woman for awhile and we got on great. She gave me what I thought was a good deal. She was happy, I was happy. She introduced herself as Pi and she and her daughter walked around with Ryan and I for part of the afternoon.
As it was late afternoon, we decided we better get to a good sunset spot so we climbed Dragon Mountain. There was a small entrance fee and we began our ascent up the stairs. When we got to the top of the mountain, it was gated off around the communications tower which they called "Microwave Tower". We really wanted a spectacular view so we accidentally hopped over the fence and climbed up towards Microwave Tower to check it out. We didn't stay long for fear of radiation or getting discovered and shot so we walked back down and found a place right by the gate that was good.
After the sunset we walked back towards our hotel. I stopped into the town church for a minute and Ryan spent $5 on an authentic silver French Indo-China coin from 1818 only to find out two days later that French Indo-China coins were not made until 1895. We've since been brainstorming ways on how to tap into the manufacturing of fake products. We believe there is a good market for it. We ended the evening with cheap foot massages and called the front desk for a 5:30 wake up call. We wanted to see if the sunrises would be good. We got a call around 6:42 and never did see that sunrise. Well I think Ryan got up to look but I was out cold.
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