We travelled beside the Red River which is really brown river mud coloured on the way to Sapa:
It wasn’t until the last 10km or do that we started to climb up the mountains and saw the amazing terraces carved out of the sides of the steep hills. People selling fruit on the side of a one lane windy mountain road where amazingly cars stopped traffic to buy stuff. Little children herding cattle on the steep slopes. A lot of hair raising moments when we didn’t think an oncoming driver would make it back into his lane before we got there and watching other cars nearly hit pedestrians ambling down the main road. A car in the ditch probably because he was trying to avoid someone overtaking and went a little too close to the edge.
I’ve been so careful with food since we arrived but after 3 days of eating different food it hit me. Since I'm allergic to everything it could have been anything from the oil to the fruit juice in the beautiful cocktails we have been having each night. What a dummy. I’ve been laid low with severe stomach cramps and won’t be able to do the trek.
