LittleSandyBeach

On one of our last nights in Hanoi we went to watch the traditional Water Puppet Show. The tradition started around the 11th century, when it was used as entertainment for farmers in the flooded rice paddies. It was much better than we thought and very impressive.

We would really recommend going to see this. They put on many shows a day and it only cost 100,000 VND each (£2.85).

To escape the heat we went to the cinema to watch the new Jurassic World – Rebirth. Luckily most films shown here are in English with Vietnamese subtitles. It’s a higher price at the weekend so was the grand total of 95,000 VND a ticket…. £2.70!!

Then we had a 6 hour sleeper bus from Hanoi to Sapa on the ‘Love Bus’… Very nice just slightly hot as the air conditioning wasn’t great.

Our first stop was to Sapa Museum that shows the history of all the different ethnic groups that live here. They have many different traditions, especially clothing and also the homes they live in.

The next adventure took us to Cat Cat Village which is just outside central Sapa and is home to the H’mong ethnic group which is the biggest in the area.

There’s lots to see and do in Cat Cat Village from shopping for traditional handicrafts, walking through the rice paddies to watching the rapids on the river in the valley.

To get down to the valley and then to leave includes hundreds of very steep steps and is definitely a big workout! We were offered multiple mopeds but we decided our legs were safer!

And then it all went down hill…. Tasha found another friend a tiny kitten that was sleeping on her lap. She got spooked and accidentally scratched Tasha’s hand. PANIC MODE.

First pharmacy didn’t understand what a Rabies vaccine was… Second pharmacy was a lot better and recommended to go to a clinic nearby for a vaccine. Got to the clinic and was then told to go to Sapa hospital. In a taxi we went and this was the road to get into the hospital at 11pm…

The taxi driver said just walk around it and you’ll get to the hospital… We tried and then got chased back to the car by a guard dog. You just couldn’t write it! Lucky the taxi driver had waited so took us around another way.

The hospital was amazing and saw us straight away, and recommended a 5 course Rabies vaccination. Tasha didn’t quite hear what the doctor said and replied ‘In the bum?’. Always room for a little comedy! Within 20 minutes Tasha was on the hospital bed.

So 4 more trips to the hospital over the next 19 days and we’ll be back on track!

The next day we found a brilliant cafe located just off the main square in Sapa which has a fantastic view of the Muong Hoa funicular which takes you to the cable car.

To finish off this little blip we currently don’t have a hotel room as they’re renovating our room… Got woken up this morning to say to leave the room and then got told they don’t have another one until tonight because the paint is drying…

The next blog will be us winning the lottery!!!