day 5 of 7: the train arrives in lao cai at 5am, and we take a hour’s busride to sapa. nothing to see through the heavy mist except shapes of dark mountains. apparently two weeks before the weather in sapa was within the single-digit region, and every local we spoke to cautioned us about the ‘cold’. after a nap and a change of clothes (extra layer of uniqlo’s heat-tech for me) we look for breakfast, and then take a trek to the nearest village.

the mountains captured badly on my 50mm lens.

since it’s winter, all the terraced fields were brown…

we reach catcat village. as you can see, the sun is out. it definitely was not cold. all that walking and that heat-tech was making me sweat!

child with pants. (none of the little boys we saw in sa pa wore pants. it wasn’t that cold, but it definitely was too cold to be outside without any pants on.)

natural indigo-dyed fabric.

mountain cat butt.

sigh, the woes and paradoxes of travelling – to be honest, the visit to catcat village was a little upsetting. in my opinion, much of sapa and her attractions seem to be (altered, and) catered to the tourist. it has sadly become another one of those places that reek of false authenticity. to be able to see how tourist-funded commercialism can affect a gorgeous, middle-of-nowhere village really dampens the moods a little. not to mention there was that hideous climb back uphill…