Goodbye Vietnam, Hello China

So it has definatly become more difficult to blog. The last 2 weeks have been such a big blur of activity that I've found it impossible to sit down at a computer and write anything. But I've managed to squeeze in a few brief minutes to update on the adventures. After the last post of Halong Bay we head to the mountainous region of Sapa in North Vietnam. Compared to the scorching weather we had experienced in the bay this came as a bit of a shock at first, and we were both quick to comment on how "freezing" it was (we'd clearly not checked the weather forecast for china). The vietnamese don't seem that big on central heating so we were stuck in a cold room with no hot water, bit of a bugger as we'd just disembarked a 10 hour coach ride. Eventually after hot showers and lots of hot chocolate we set off to explore the old French hill station of Sapa, which is so beautiful. It was really weird, being in the middle of Vietnam yet feeling like you were in the Alps. The town itself has adopted a real alpine ski lodge feel to it and apart from the hordes of hilltribe people we could have been anywhere in Europe. The first night was spent exploring and catching up on much needed sleep and on the second day we set off with our new tribe "friends" (i.e women who want to sell you stuff). The men of the town work in the village and surrounding fields and the women learn english, make crafts and head off out to sell them to tourists. They are quite good company though and help you along the way, especially when it got really muddy on the second day trek. The first day was quite tame, 12km trek across flat ground with quite nice weather. We were teamed up with a nice german man called Torsten and an Australian woman called Hayley, and it was nice to have an intimate group. After the day trekking and haggling and buying, we ended up in our hilltribe village, complete with a hilarious sign with such phrases as "DO disrespect local laws" and "DO dress sexy when visiting the village". Clearly the local teenagers had fun with that one. We were staying in a simple house with a lovely family who cooked us the most amazing buffet style dinner and insisted we drink some horrendous local rice wine. There was no sipping involved and after several shots and a long bout of drinking games with some friendly americans it was time to call it a night.

The next day was a shorter walk, only 6km but as it had rained the night before it was so much harder. The clay had become slosh and made it impossible to walk up or down any sort of incline. The only way we made it was through sheer determination and the help of several tribe ladies, some with babies strapped to their backs. We eventually made it back to Sapa, freezing, muddy and covered in blisters but triumphant, the trek was really enjoyable and we met some really lovely people. We caught a disasterous night bus to Hanoi that night and spent a few days in the city before flying to Beijing last sunday. And that's where we are now, hiding from the freeeeeeeeeeezing temperatures outside and enjoying the company and hospitality of the Kemp family. Off to see the Great Wall tomorrow before heading home on Friday after three incredible months. When we return to blighty I'll be sure to write an update on China. Until then..............