To Sapa tonight

Dr. Allender and Judy left for home today. We met them for breakfast, went to the hospital to see the patients, then said goodbye.

Jim and I went to exchange more currency into Vietnamese Dong for our trip to Sapa tonight. I also needed to find a pharmacy for more ibuprofen and a "dayquil" type of medicine. Still,persisting with a scratchy throat so I just want to make sure it doesn't progress into a full blown cold.

We then walked around the city and stopped by the Cathedral. It is very Gothic in sthle and the black on the buildings are mold or some other fungus, due to all the moisture in the air.  That has been the hardest foe me to deal with; the heat and humidity. I could shower 3 or 4 times a day if I could.  Also, the noise of the city with all the horn honking, and exhaust from all the scooters.  We stopped outside our hotel and just waited for good photo opportunities. The scooters here and used to transport things to market, etc. it becomes a fine balancing act. I tried to capture what I could with the photos below. Also, the Vietnamese women and there baskets of fruits, veggies, flowers are all over the place. Also, bicycles loaded down with trinkets to sell.  We also saw the school children this morning, and they even posed for us!

Again, Jim and leave for Sapa. We leave by train which is a night train. We have a sleeper compartment with 4 bunks, so I have no idea who we will be bunked with for the ride. We arrive early Saturday morning in Lao Cai. We are then transported to Sapa wich is another 1 hour bus ride. We arrive at our hotel, can freshen up and have breakfast. We then have a tour guide where we walk 10 km to a billage, see a waterfall, have lunch, and brought back to Sapa. We spend the night in Sapa for dinner and seeing the weekend market.  Sunday morning, we have breakfast, pack our bags, check out of the hotel, and go on another trek of about 10km to 2 more villages, have lunch, brought back to Sapa. We can then freshen up at the hotel, have dinner, then transported to Lao Cai for the train back to Hanoi. We arrive Monday morning and back to our original hotel. The rest of the week, we will see the patients that remain at the hospital.

I really want to see the Women's museum and visit the Citadel.  I already am anxious to return home. I know I will be more than ready for the long flight home.

Will post in a few days with lots of pictures. I did see it is supposed to be hotter in Sapa than Hanoi, so will slater the sunscreen and wear my hat.

Till then....