[monumentum]

Day #3: Lao Cai - SaPa (21-Jun-2011)
Walk started out so early. Awesome chill & sights for accompaniment (:

Terracing endemic to the highlands of Vietnam. On to Catcat Village. It was an area highly populated with tourists. Perhaps the reason why it gave the feeling of being herded around since there were so many groups wanting to pass thru the same route.. Congested mountain paths.

With tourists comes retail. So your rustic retail outlet (below).. Which caters to the hoards of tourists passing thru the area. The row of shops adorned with all these merchandise, amidst the vast greenery, it somehow seemed a mismatch. The shops stood out.. & I guess in the future the scenario would be more pronounced.

Flower ornament made by the minority girl who was tagging along.. Yupp, made. How sweet. But the impermanence of it is a little depressing. So beautiful, & you know you gotta lt it go eventually

Back at Sapa Summit Hotel. Yes indeed it was quite the 'summit'. Location-wise it wasn't at the highest, yet it offered a great vantage point, & a plus too because its dining area was one directly accessible to the breath-taking sights.

Dining in the great outdoors, opened to the breeze & mosquitoes, quite an experience. The food was awesome too.

A hot bowl of pumpkin soup to warm the guts in this chilly air.. That's what one needs in Sapa. *Slurps*

Lemon tea the Vietnamese way. Literally lemon + tea. So it turned out bitter & sour & essentially, weird. Best served when chilled though.

Evening in Sapa was a whole different picture. It's one I wouldnt mind looking at for a lifetime. Just like what a town would've looked like in a Miyazaki film.. It reminded me of 'The Cat Returns' - the town when night fell. How dreamy. Lined with pubs & clubs & whatnot, catered to the need of a nightlife for the tourists, the atmosphere still took on a touch of serenity. Really. Don't know how Sapa can achieve that. Perhaps being situated right in the middle of some mountains did its part. That sounds dissipate so much faster..

Warm & cozy. It's as if it was all designed to suit a film set.

Dinner back at the hotel was quite another fantastic thing of the day.

It wasn't 'fine' dining, price-wise. Yet it was completely worth the while.

Not a big fan of food. Right now while I document this I'm slurping a simple fare of instant noodles - it alone. But the Sapa food really gets the taste buds aroused, no matter what a 'non-glutton' you are. Heading to Sapa? Head to Sapa Summit Hotel. Excellent room, view to excellent food.

End this day with a grass llama. A gift from a minority girl. Adventure & nature. Memories of which makes one smile in days of need of one. Haha.. Playing with words. Incomprehensible? Ignore it. Nonetheless, reminiscence is always welcomed for days like this one..