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Other entries in Sa Pá

More muddy slopes

I was forced to get up at 7.30am due to the fact I was dying for a pee, and the toilet was a little shack outside of the main building.  The rain pelting the roof didnt help matters either.  When i made it to the bog, I had to take a piss next to a huge great water buffalo whcih was bloody scary (you should see the size of the horns on these things).  Since there was nothing to do before breakfast, I wasted some time writing postcards and taking pictures before stuffing myself stupid with chocolate pancakes.

After breakfast, we carried on walking southwards on an increasingly steep muddy track and before long I found myself sliding down a muddy slope backwards (180 degree mudslide), but i managed to stay on my feet which was a good job as I only brought one pair of trousers with me!  The paths got really steep just before reaching the Red Hmong village of Giang Ta Chai, but once again I managed to stay on my feet the whole way, unlike the vast majority of others walking down.  To be honest, I was kind of glad it was muddy and slippy, as it took my mind off the fact we were in the jungle and there were bound to be some huge spiders lurking in the bushes nearby.

There was a nice waterfall at the village with a lot of water (probably due to the constant rain showers), and all of our group opted to do the longer walk for a further 10km, so we moved on to have lunch somewhere else.

The rain eased somewhat after we crossed the river and got back onto the road for a further 7km uphill into the clouds.  We stopped for noodles and egg in Su Pan village before cutting off the road down yet another steep slope to the next village of Ban Ho, which is home to the Tay and Zay tribes.  On the way, our guide pointed out a tree that had a whopping great green, red and black spider hanging from it.  The other three guys in the group were getting up close and taking pictures of the thing, but I couldnt go near it, and instead opted to stand about five metres away with every hair on my body standing on end and sweat pouring out of me even though it was cold!!

When we finally reached Ban Ho, we were met by an army of motorbike riders waiting to take us the 25km back to Sa Pa town. It took fourty minutes as the terrain was mostly mud or gravel and it was pissing it down the whole time.  When we got back to the hotel, I looked like a drowned rat, so I checked into my room and had possibly the best shower of all time.

At 4pm, I met with my group to have a farewell drink, as the Belgians were heading back to Hanoi that night, then had a go on the internet, only to find out that Utd had got a walloping fromMiddlesborough!!  Oh dear.  I arranged to meet Monika for dinner at 7.30 and went back to my freezing cold room to read and sleep for a bit.  Getting ready for dinner was great fun, as I didnt have any clean or dry trousers or socks and my shoes were covered in mud, so I had to wear swimming shorts, a t-shirt and hotel slippers down to dinner in a hotel that doesnt have any heating (even the staff were all wearing big coats).

It turned out that Monika actually has a friend in Southwell and had been there earlier in the year and visiting the Coach House in the process - small world eh.  After a pukka chicken curry and two bottles of wine I decided to hit the sack, politely declining Monika's offer of using the spare bed in her room to 'share the heater'.  Once in my room I ended up watching a Doom competition on tv (Bunting, you would have loved it) in amasement.  Why would anyone broadcast this shite?

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