Good morning SE Asia!: 29/10/13

Today was our highest climb all at one time so far, just about 1400m up. We have ascended more in one day frequently, but not in a single climb before. The weather was perfect for it - slight drizzle and cloudy, with the odd shower and 12 degrees in Lao Cai. Everyone has been telling us how cold it gets in Sa Pa, lets hope so!

Sa Pa is North Vietnam tourist central. Most people go to Sa Pa when on a longer SE Asia backpacking tour, or have some time in Hanoi. It is popular for the romantic idea of the terraced rice paddies, the colourfully dressed locals, and the sharp peaks of the surrounding hills. We had heard mixed reviews from people, but for a place to take up so many pages in all the guidebooks, it would have been daft to miss it. Plus we couldn’t ignore that great hill to cycle up!

It was very misty all day, and we used the flashing LED lights on both bikes, just so all the trucks and tourist buses crawling up (and speeding down) the hill could see us. The trucks on the way down seemed to be having trouble with the brakes. They use a simple water spray system that cools the big drum brakes inside the wheels, so you see them coming steaming down the hill. I bet a fully loaded lorry generates a massive amount of heat in the brakes on the way down.

The road surface was recently re-done and was great. A couple of parts were still being laid as we climbed up. I noticed once as I could feel the heat from the freshly laid tarmac on my legs quite strongly just before we rounded a hairpin corner. On the other side of the corner they had just laid and were now rolling the fresh tarmac! No closure of lanes or traffic lights here! It turns out that a couple of days after we would leave, there was a big festival in Sa Pa celebrating 110 years of tourism there and they were making some final adjustments.

It was a good climb, we really appreciated it when we got to the top. It was a shame in some respects that it was so misty, it didn't break at all so we missed some good views on the way up. We have a couple of days here though so we were sure we would see it later.

Rolling through town looking for the hotel we saw just how touristy this place is. Imagine the busy seaside streets of a European sun resort town like in Spain somewhere - full of shops, cafe's, restaurants and tat shops. Then imagine every shop is selling hooky North Face gear and its pouring with rain, mist being blown up the street and its 8 degrees. That's Sa Pa.

The outdoor lifestyle shops were prolific. It is hard not to be drawn in by North Face shoes, Rucksacks and clothes, all for a fraction of what the cost is at home. 50L North Face rucksack for £6? Of course it is all knock-off, but I guess some of the stuff is made in Vietnam for these brands anyway, how different is it? I guess once the quality control of the brand management has been removed the product suffers, but it all looked like the real deal at least. We looked but didn't buy. We don’t exactly have loads of suitcase space.

The hotel we had booked was right at the bottom end of town, but close to the busy streets and touristy zones - so plenty of places to eat! We had a boiling hot shower that just about peeled the skin off you, or the water heater turned off then and headed out, wearing jackets and using the umbrella. The town is obviously doing very well for the amount of tourism that it gets, with every European nationality seemingly in attendance.

We had a set menu in one of the main street restaurants for 100,000d and talked about going somewhere else for another one, but the 20 minute rule of feeling satisfied set in and we didn’t bother, good for us!

The hotel room had a balcony overlooking the almost cliff down into the valley, we watched the clouds rolling around and blowing up to us. It wasn't cold, but the rooms came with an electric blanket that they thought we would need - how nice.