Travel Photologue: Sapa #1
I'm not great with introductions, so let's jump straight to it!
I'll be sharing about my experience in Sapa in a few posts, and this one here is merely a short introduction to how to get to Sapa and a bit on what to expect in Sapa.
Where is Sapa
Northern Vietnam. There are no direct flights there from Singapore, nor are there any domestic flights within Vietnam.
How I got to Sapa
We booked an overnight bus from Hanoi to Sapa online. Here's a website with all the different bus agencies, their respective timings and prices. After googling some images of the different buses and their interiors so we could get an idea of how comfortable they are, we eventually chose Hason Hai Van Bus. Their buses looked reasonably new and clean, and most importantly, they had good timings to choose from. We didn't want to arrive at Sapa at 4am, when nothing would be open yet!
We also managed to get a discount so it ended up the same price as other bus agencies although the website stated it was $2 USD more. Upon payment online and confirmation, we received an email, and that was that. No need to print out any tickets! It's all about digital now.
To get to the office, which was the pick up point for the buses, we took an Uber (yes, they have Uber in Vietnam too!). The receptionists have poor command of English, but we just showed them our confirmation email, and then they just told us to wait. Eventually when it was our bus (we were being super kanchiong singaporeans and checked with the receptionists every time we saw a bus departing lollll), we put our bags in the bottom of the bus, received hand-tags, and went up the bus.
The inside of the sleeper bus. Everyone gets a free mini water bottle and a blanket to use on the bus.
The bus was actually really clean - you had to remove your footwear and keep it in a plastic bag which the bus driver provided right after you got up the bus. It was NOT free seating (sleeping) so we were assigned "beds". (By the way, the bus driver we encountered was quite racist. He didn't really understand English and we had problems communicating. Midway through the ride, he made us change "beds" and we had to squeeze in with other passengers all the way at the back of the bus - where there weren't single "beds". Thankfully, we were much luckier on the way back!) Other than the slight hiccup, the bus ride was actually quite comfortable and I managed to catch a few hours of sleep.
After 5-6 hours on the bus, we reached Sapa bus terminal around 6am in the morning. The moment we got off the bus, there were lots of local taxi drivers approaching us, all offering to fetch us to our accommodation. My best advice would be to just choose a driver who looks decent and agrees to charge you by the meter.
Accommodation in Sapa
There are plenty of affordable hotels to choose from in Sapa. We settled with a junior suite in Sapa Elite Hotel - so that we could crash in comfortably after our trek up Fansipan! The room did not disappoint. There was more than enough space for two, and we also had a lounge area to chill at.
A perfect view of the city from my junior suite's balcony!
The view from the hotel's front
I was actually really impressed with the hotel services in Vietnam. Although we reached at 630am and we were just dropping off our bags at the hotel (we were heading to Fansipan that day, which was a 2d1n trek), they tended to us and even allowed us to rest/sleep in the reception area and shower in their guest bathroom!
Sapa Town
The city of Sapa is actually a very small town (it is quite possible to walk around everywhere - but we rented a motorbike to get around as we wanted to visit the villages around Sapa, which was out of town). It reminded me a lot of Cameron Highlands in Malaysia!
As we were waiting for the other trek members to arrive (we were way too early), we took a short walk around Sapa. It was beautiful!
Bumped into cute stray pups!!!
It was so chubby and furry I couldn't resist. It tried to escape from me through the flowerpots but it couldn't fit through HAHA.
We didn't have more time to explore as we needed to head back to the trek agency's office to get ready for move off. But it was just one short hour in Sapa, and I loved it already. I'll be sharing more about this little gorgeous town and the villages around it soon, but I'll be blogging about the Fansipan trek first (I'm going in chronological order)! Stay tuned x
I'll be sharing about my experience in Sapa in a few posts, and this one here is merely a short introduction to how to get to Sapa and a bit on what to expect in Sapa.
Where is Sapa
Northern Vietnam. There are no direct flights there from Singapore, nor are there any domestic flights within Vietnam.
How I got to Sapa
We booked an overnight bus from Hanoi to Sapa online. Here's a website with all the different bus agencies, their respective timings and prices. After googling some images of the different buses and their interiors so we could get an idea of how comfortable they are, we eventually chose Hason Hai Van Bus. Their buses looked reasonably new and clean, and most importantly, they had good timings to choose from. We didn't want to arrive at Sapa at 4am, when nothing would be open yet!
The various bus timings available for Hason. Prices are only for one way. (Click to enlarge!)
We also managed to get a discount so it ended up the same price as other bus agencies although the website stated it was $2 USD more. Upon payment online and confirmation, we received an email, and that was that. No need to print out any tickets! It's all about digital now.
To get to the office, which was the pick up point for the buses, we took an Uber (yes, they have Uber in Vietnam too!). The receptionists have poor command of English, but we just showed them our confirmation email, and then they just told us to wait. Eventually when it was our bus (we were being super kanchiong singaporeans and checked with the receptionists every time we saw a bus departing lollll), we put our bags in the bottom of the bus, received hand-tags, and went up the bus.
The inside of the sleeper bus. Everyone gets a free mini water bottle and a blanket to use on the bus.
The bus was actually really clean - you had to remove your footwear and keep it in a plastic bag which the bus driver provided right after you got up the bus. It was NOT free seating (sleeping) so we were assigned "beds". (By the way, the bus driver we encountered was quite racist. He didn't really understand English and we had problems communicating. Midway through the ride, he made us change "beds" and we had to squeeze in with other passengers all the way at the back of the bus - where there weren't single "beds". Thankfully, we were much luckier on the way back!) Other than the slight hiccup, the bus ride was actually quite comfortable and I managed to catch a few hours of sleep.
After 5-6 hours on the bus, we reached Sapa bus terminal around 6am in the morning. The moment we got off the bus, there were lots of local taxi drivers approaching us, all offering to fetch us to our accommodation. My best advice would be to just choose a driver who looks decent and agrees to charge you by the meter.
Accommodation in Sapa
There are plenty of affordable hotels to choose from in Sapa. We settled with a junior suite in Sapa Elite Hotel - so that we could crash in comfortably after our trek up Fansipan! The room did not disappoint. There was more than enough space for two, and we also had a lounge area to chill at.
A perfect view of the city from my junior suite's balcony!
The view from the hotel's front
I was actually really impressed with the hotel services in Vietnam. Although we reached at 630am and we were just dropping off our bags at the hotel (we were heading to Fansipan that day, which was a 2d1n trek), they tended to us and even allowed us to rest/sleep in the reception area and shower in their guest bathroom!
Sapa Town
The city of Sapa is actually a very small town (it is quite possible to walk around everywhere - but we rented a motorbike to get around as we wanted to visit the villages around Sapa, which was out of town). It reminded me a lot of Cameron Highlands in Malaysia!
As we were waiting for the other trek members to arrive (we were way too early), we took a short walk around Sapa. It was beautiful!
Bumped into cute stray pups!!!
It was so chubby and furry I couldn't resist. It tried to escape from me through the flowerpots but it couldn't fit through HAHA.
We didn't have more time to explore as we needed to head back to the trek agency's office to get ready for move off. But it was just one short hour in Sapa, and I loved it already. I'll be sharing more about this little gorgeous town and the villages around it soon, but I'll be blogging about the Fansipan trek first (I'm going in chronological order)! Stay tuned x
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