Sa Pa is a city in the northern mountains of Vietnam populated by tourists and the elaborately-dressed local ethnic minorities. I arrived here yesterday morning, took a short hike with a new friend, sampled the local variety of dirt-cheap beer and moderately priced food, and settled into the relaxing chill of this misty hill-station.
Today my new friend and I rented a motorcycle and after very little research decided on north as our direction of choice. It was the right call. After about ten minutes of city and village, we headed through a muddy patch of ongoing roadwork and onto a curvy, relatively smooth highway winding its way through mountains that are dramatic, green and occasionally patched with farms planted at seemingly impossible inclines. After pausing at several vistas for photo opportunities only to return to the bike, round the next curve and be presented with another heart-stopping panorama, we finally gave up on stopping and accepted that the whole ride was going to be transcendently beautiful. It was the finally the Vietnam that I’d seen in movies and I couldn’t get over my amazement. I’ve seen some beautiful scenery in the last five months, but at the moment I’m not sure any of it topped that 40 kilometers of highway.
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