08 Jan 2026: Ha Noi- Sapa- Cat Cat village

I was given a breakfast take away for my 6:45AM drive to Sapa. Luxury Limo (captain chair, high top passenger van) to Sapa. On the way I took a picture from the rest stop parking lot where I ate my take away breakfast.

12h30 I arrived in Sapa at my hotel, lunch time. Pumpkin soup with rice.

Here is a tour of my hotel room on the outskirts of the city, with a great view of the mountains.

Shortly after checking in and having lunch, the tour guide picked me up in a 14 seat van to visit Cat Cat village. I was the last one on the van as the village was only down the hill from my hotel. This is a very touristy location, but it is very pretty and had lots of local character.

Here are some clips.

This is the fast way down the hill.

From my tour group of about 8 people, I made friends with a couple from Mumbai, and 3 older aunties from Manila. As you can see, the mountain fog started to roll in in as the sun was going down.

For dinner I had - Rice, Mango Smoothie, tofu with vegetables, and soup.

I spent the night in the hotel in Sapa. I was glad I turned on the heat in the room before I went on my tour of Cat Cat village. The room was about 13*C when arrived, but comfy when I finished my dinner. The windows are single pane and there was a significant draft near them. The blackout curtains helped keep the cold out. It was 3*C that night. The balcony doors here are the same as the rest of Vietnam. There are air gaps all around the door. No weather stripping. And the unoccupied units are not heated. This combination leads to a cold floor.

I have a big hike scheduled for early tomorrow so i watched some Netflix and went to bed.