to Sapa: one long big hill

November 17, 2016

Up early, we head back to the Pineapple Restaurant for breakfast of omelet and banana pancake. The sky is overcast and as we ride and start the climb, the hills are fogged in.

After the first 500 meters climb, we stop for a food break. This seems to be the one stop shopping place. A man with a box on the back of his motorcycle is selling meat. He reaches into the box, pulls out a chunk of meat and on the lid slices it up and places into a plastic bag. A woman rides up on a motorcycle with a big bucket resting between her legs. Lifting the heavy bucket, she carries it over to where there is a large silver tray and starts placing large blocks of tofu. In the corner of the store front, there is a mirror and chair for haircuts. And a few guys are working on their motorcycles, draining the oil or refilling the gas tank.

Just as we set off, two cyclists come up around the curve, a father and son from Holland. As Patrick talks with them, Rachel heads out, there is still another 900 meters in the next 20km. We make good time, even though the clouds obscure most of the views it keeps the temperature down.

We reach Sapa at about 1:00 pm and ride to the area our hotels should be. We made reservations online, but finding the place takes some searching. It is hidden behind the police station, on a small alley. Sapa is undergoing a huge building boom, several high rises are going up, they are using Chinese cranes, it sure looks like China is investing here too.

When we finally find the hotel we are quickly settled into our first floor room. A nice balcony, but no view because of the police station across the alley. It is relatively quiet though, and the room is huge. After a shower, we walk to the Hillstation Restaurant for spring rolls and a true northwestern style microbrew from "Pasteur Street Brewing Co" in Saigon. Very nice. We take a walk around town, past the lake and find the supermarket where the locals shop. There is another supermarket in the backpackers area, but the prices are very inflated. That seems to be an issue with all of Sapa. We found peanut butter, but no nutella. We have high hopes for finding nutella in Laos.

Low clouds envelope the town in the evening, we head to our room and watch three movies in a row.

Vegetable gardens along the Red River in Lao Cai

Mobile butcher selling pork from a wooden box.

A Dutch father-son team riding from Kunming to Hanoi.

Foggy day, we don't get many views, but we are also protected from the sun. It is muggy, but it could be so much hotter.

Fresh spring rolls with raw trout at the Hillstation Restaurant in Sapa. They also have a "Northwest style" IPA, hoppy with jasmine added to make it Vietnamese. Best beer we have had for a long time.

Today's ride: 35 km (22 miles)
Total: 24,807 km (15,405 miles)

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