Day 52! Wow, today I have successfully finished driving from Ho Chi Minh City to Sa Pa! The ride had a lot of ups and downs (mainly ups) and I’ve learned a ton while on the road! The ride may be over but Vietnam surely isn’t!

I woke up at 7:30am and laid in bed till around 8am and finally got up to go! I felt a little bad for not getting up at 6am to hang out with Phut one last time, but I really needed the sleep!

I wasn’t really wanting to ride today, but I knew I only had 2.5 hours on the bike and then I’d be done for long rides for a number of days!

I set out through the town and up into the mountains!

After around 35 kilometers I pulled over for gas.

The ride so far had been pleasant but uneventful. It’s always nice riding in the morning because the roads are calm and quiet!

As I neared Sa Pa, the ride became gorgeous and I started thoroughly enjoying myself even though my butt was wanting me to get off the bike.

Sa Pa is way up in the mountain, so I climbed higher and higher bringing view after view. Sa Pa is also home to the tallest mountain in Indochina, Fansipan!

As I got a few kilometers outside of town, I saw a couple standing on the side of the road with their bikes. I was confused why they were standing there and it turned out on my right there was a waterfall! So I turned around and chatted with them a bit about Sa Pa and admired the waterfall.

The ride after the waterfall was just as great as the ride leading up to it as I wove past a river and saw another waterfall that went down an entire mountainside.

I stopped one more time for gas before entering the outskirts of Sa Pa because I wasn’t sure what the gas station situation would be once I got there!

I ended my drive up a steep road (I had to ride it in 1st gear) and arrived at my homestay for the night which had an amazing view of the valley below.

I was pretty hungry so I got myself an egg fried rice which was delicious!

Also at this homestay was a familiar face from Hanoi, Lea from Germany!

We caught up about the past week since we had seen each other and I met some of her other friends she had made along the way!

Sa Pa is know for its hiking and trekking. So after hanging out for a while we decided to go on the Sapa Bamboo Trail which is a nice hike around the mountains surrounding Seo My Ty, one of the villages near Sa Pa town.

While on the hike, some local women followed us around trying to get us to buy things from them. Even after we said no, they stayed persistent and one followed us for half of the hike!

Eventually she left and we got to enjoy a dense bamboo forest and lots of great views.

A long bike ride and a decent hike made me very tired so I took a nap. When I awoke, the view outside the homestay had drastically changed!

I was going to drive us into town but instead took a taxi into Sa Pa town which was the right call!

The town was absolutely bustling and it took us a while to find a restaurant that we liked. But eventually we settled on one.

We then explored more of the town and found a bus station so we could both figure out how much they would cost us in a few days. My plan is to put me and Kilby on a bus and head south instead of driving all the way back down.

To end off a long day of adventure we decided to try and hitch hike to the homestay since the taxis back were very expensive.

Our efforts almost worked but in the end we settled on a 100,000 Dong motorbike ride through the dense fog. Three people on a motorbike, that’s okay… but three people riding through dense fog is another. We made it safe and sound but I have no intentions of ever doing anything like that again.

With wet faces and clothes we arrived back at the homestay and called it a night! Tomorrow will probably have more relaxing and hiking in store, hopefully some awesome views too!

– Elie