Even with the late departing, we still managed to make it to Lao Cai before dawn. We were alerted of our arrival minutes before the train stopped at the station. It was a quick packed up.
In the station, we were received by our driver. There were ten plus other who were with us on the bus. The scenery uphill was good. It kept getting nicer as we travel further up.After an hour long bus ride along winding road uphill. We finally arrived at the Hoang Ha Hotel. We ate our breakfast at the hotel. The buffet was rather simple, fried noodles, fried rice, noodle soup and deep fried eggs. It wasn't to our liking, not because lack of variety but due to the tasteless dishes. The coffee was disappointing too...tasted like burned charcoal. We were thankful for not settling with this hotel as suggested by Anh during our reservation.
Then our guide, Hien came over to our table and introduced himself. He was a young man at about our age and with a smiley face. His command of English was much better than those that we have met in Hanoi this far. He then got his friend to take us to our hotel which I guessed was about half km away from where we were. So with big luggages, we braved the road under the light drizzle.
We didn't know what to expect from Thai Binh Hotel until it was within our sight. Looking through the wide glass door gave us all a relieve and a smile on our face. My first impression was this was a small cozy and warmth hotel. It was a narrow 4 story high hotel. It stood out among others with a natural tone furniture. The white wall looks best with the maple or perhaps white oak wood ceiling and reception counter. I love the fireplace too. Nice to sit beside it.
We got into our room, 302 but later to discover that we have got ourselves 3 rooms instead of 2. So I moved to 303. The room was as cozy as the reception. Each room was equips with a fireplace and an electric heater. The window opens to the pine tree wood behind the hotel. It was so simple yet very comfortable.
Then by 10am, we were back at the lobby to meet Hien. We headed to the Cat Cat Village. We were surrounded by many Black Hmong ladies along our winding journey down the valley. Their English were generally good and understandable. It was surprising that these ladies can speak way better than men in the city. Perhaps their encounter with foreign tourist really change their way of life. They were selling their handmade crafts.
Cat Cat Village is resided by the Hmong tribe. It was down in the valley about 4km away from the Sapa Town. It seemed that this tribe actually shares the same ancestry as the 苗 in China. We have a pleasure time hiking with Hien. We talked about so many things and learned that his hometown was actually under the flood water too. Other than the side talk, we learned the meaning of tea leave hung outside of the Hmong house. It symbolized solemn event in that family and guests were not welcome.
We walked through the paddy fields and houses to arrive at the breath taking Cat Cat Waterfall. It was a great spot for photographing but sadly my batteries were flat :-( The waterfall was our last site of the hike of the day. We hike up the valley and continued to the town on a charted army jeep. We were too exhausted after the bumpy night ride. 
We have our yummy lunch at a conducive restaurant by the hill sight. The local dishes were yummy. After the late lunch, it was free time for us to wonder around and to rest. We walked back to our hotel but with a few pit stop. We could not help but to get attracted to the local pastries shop. Those chocolate tarts were so tempting. We did another stop at the Sapa Market. The minority tribes stores were all manned by ladies. They were all so busy sewing their traditional clothings and weaving. Impressive to see that the government gave them so much... assuming that they got it free...hahaha. We were back in hotel after buying few XL size fruits :D
I wanted to hike up to the Ham Rong Mountain but just couldn't get enough strength to go further. By the time I have enough of recharge, it was close to 5pm. It was getting dark and the hike up the hill seem like a mission impossible. So instead, we headed down to the the market. Glad that we all returned with bags and bags of triumphs. Shopping could be one of the best activities on a cold day.
We were back in hotel and waited patiently for Hien's pickup. He arranged for a Vietnamese meal in an Italian Restaurant. Again, the environment was very comfy. After the meal, it was shopping time again and again I returned with bags loaded. I got my best buddies sleeping bags. These were the best gift ever and I was sure we would be using them pretty soon.
Back in the hotel, it was hot shower time. I enjoyed mine but sadly the HJs got traumatized after a nearly blown off experience they got from the gas powered heater. The flame indicator was scary. We ended our night with Heineken beers, cookies and our chocolate tarts over few card games.
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