From Halong Bay I returned to Hanoi to catch a night train to the mountain town of Sa Pa.  This has to be one of my favourite towns in the world.  It has cozy little restaurants and stunning views of hillside rice paddies. The feel reminded me a little of Darjeeling which is another favourite town of mine.  My pictures do not do the town justice. 

The main square:

 

I arrived too early to check into my hotel, so I killed a little time with a relaxed breakfast at an excellent restaurant called Viet Emotion:

 

After checking into my hotel, I rented a motorcycle to check out the hills north of the city.  In particular there are a number of waterfalls nearby with Silver Line Waterfall being the largest.  But leaving aside the waterfalls the views from the mountain road alone make the journey worthwhile:

 

 

A rather unfortunate choice of name for this tourist attraction:

 

Video on the road:

https://player.vimeo.com/video/165004465

00049 from Andres Hannah-Suarez on Vimeo.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/165004466

00050 from Andres Hannah-Suarez on Vimeo.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/165004469

00051 from Andres Hannah-Suarez on Vimeo.

 

Back in Sa Pa, the main market.  You can skip it, not much to see:

 

Sa Pa Lake:

 

The following day I signed up for a tour of the surrounding rice paddies which was extremely pleasant.  We essentially walked mostly downhill for several hours through rice fields, and at the end of the day you can either spend the night in a homestay or take a van back into town.  I was leaving the following morning so I couldn’t spend the night in the village.  My photos of the tour do not do the place justice, it was absolutely gorgeous:

 

Video:

https://player.vimeo.com/video/165145537

00052 from Andres Hannah-Suarez on Vimeo.

 

For dinner I went to the excellent Hill Station Signature Restaurant that specializes in farm to table local cuisine. The restaurant itself is really cozy with an assortment of floor and table seating:

 

They make a number of rice whiskies.  I tried the cinnamon and the spicy whiskies:

 

For a starter I picked the water buffalo jerky served with lime and a chili sauce:

 

For my main, I picked one of the local stews:

 

After dinner I took a long walk throughout the town for a little night photography.  I finished my night editing photos at a charming pub, the H’mong Sisters:

 

I leave you with my night shots of Sa Pa: