For people who don’t know me I’ll let you in on a secret – I’ve got a lot of time for bakeries. So when looking for accommodation and found Baguette et Cocolat I was sold. The experience sleeping in one of the four guest rooms, and waking to the smell of pastries being baked in the basement was nothing short of sensational.

I had read plenty of reviews and travel reports about Sapa, and had heard that it can get pretty chilly and wet. I thought I was smarter than the average traveller and had kept track of the weather at nearby Lao Cai. Little did I know that Lao Cai was only 38km away, but 1km lower than Sapa, so a pleasent 28°C, Sapa was rarely above 15°C – shorts and t-shirts were no longer the appropriate attire.

After enjoying a great breakfast we headed off towards Cat Cat Village, just a short walk from Sapa. The views were spectacular, and we were accompanied by three women from the Black H’mong tribe. These women, like nearly all tribal women we came across, were selling everything from scarves and pillow cases to silver jewellry. We actually skipped past Cat Cat as there were hundreds of package tourists jumping out of their buses when we arrived, so we just kept walking along the path past houses and small farms all built on steep terraces.

The coffee we drank on the walk back is worth mentioning. Just past Cat Cat, but not on the itinerary of the tour buses, we stopped for a 10,000 dong coffee (about 75c.) It was the coffee that could start wars and solve world peace all at once; even stronger than the water buffalo that greeted us on our walk. Turns out it’s also the same coffee that people in Sydney are paying up to $50 a cup for, you know the one, where the cats eat the berries then someone goes through their number-two and gets the coffee bean.

On our walk back we went to a ‘restaurant’ that we’d walked past earlier that had some amazing looking skewers getting cooked on a small charcoal fire. It was nothing more than a spot in the street with a tarp for sides and a roof, but the food was spectacular, barbecued pork, charcoal rice, Bun Cha, which is pork soup, charcoal greens, a bowl of rice, and a couple or rounds of cold beer, all for a couple of dollars each. So good, we even went back for dinner that night. Which goes to show that Sapa is a little lost on their food – the place is fully set-up for tour bus package tourists, who are eating mostly western food, with some Anglophil asian dishes thrown in for good measure. We just couldn’t find anything that was good, cheap, and local that wasn’t street food.

After our lunch we bartered with three motorbike riders to take us to Tram Ton Pass, which was a road under construction at the time of riding on it. It took us from Sapa to the road to Lai Chau, which in turn takes you from the coldest town in Vietnam to the warmest. We didn’t head into the town as the 30km ride on the back of the bike was pretty tough work, but the ride was for the views, which were absolutely breathtaking.

Our last day in Sapa began with another brilliant breakfast (I’m getting a few jibes about constant referrals to food, but I insist, I’m on ‘culinary journey’) and then met our motorbike riders from the previous day. A quick trip down the hill to see a Red Dzao village resulted in more shopping, and firing a cross bow in a house, and me being the token photographer trying to take buffalo photos.

Lunch was in the Sapa market where we were served Bun Cha again, and the pork that was going into our soup was getting charcoal grilled before our eyes. The temptation grew too much and we asked how much to grab a chunk of grilled pork and have it sliced; 20,000 dong – about $1.25 for enough meat for three of us! It was like having a sunday roast in the market.

Before we knew it the time had come to head back down the hill to Lao Cai, and with some help from a cafe owner we had our train tickets in our hands and we made it on the the plush Livitrans Express back to Hanoi.

Our knack of finding the locals again proved true as we spent most of the trip back to Sapa in the bar drinking counterfeit Jack Daniels with the security guard, Ha, which resulted in victorious arm wrestles for Australia, and a mind-blowing hangover for me.

Off to Ninh Binh south of Hanoi now…