Day 3 - April 19

Sapa

Due to a derailed train traveling in the other direction we did not arrive at the Lao Cai Railway station in morning as planned. We had honey-lemongrass pork with purple cabbage and rice on the train for lunch. It was good, because we were hungry. We arrived in SaPa in the evening and
checked into the Victoria Hotel. All my guests were very impressed with the hotels. We ate French food at the hotel for dinner. It was a nice change of pace. The thick fog that rolled in late night early morning reminded us of a San Francisco night. In the high land, Sapa is about 1,600 meters above sea level.

Day 2 - April 18

Hanoi - Train to Sapa

We ate breakfast at the Gouman Hotel. We then visited Ho Chi Minh City Mausoleum and One Pillar Pagoda, West Lake, Tran Qouc Pagoda, and Literature Temple. We had lunch at QUAN NGON. The tour was impressed by the cuisine and the extensive selection of Tapas dishes (photos coming). In the afternoon, we visited BAT TRANG VILLAGE. The village is well known for their beautiful china wares. At night, we went to Vietnam's famous Emperor Restaurant in Hanoi, where both the food and the service were superb. We then took a beautiful old French Victoria night train from the Hanoi Rail Way Station to Lao Cai..

Day 1 - April 17

Hanoi

We arrived in Hanoi and took a tour of the city. We went out to a beautiful restaurant, PHO VUON on Ngo Thoi Nhiem street, for a quick lunch before we headed back out on our tour of the city. We all enjoyed Pho (beef soup). After the tour we went back to Hotel, where we checked in and relaxed. At night, we ate dinner at WILD RICE. The restaurant was beautiful and the food was very good. The tour group enjoyed their meal and their first taste of Vietnamese cuisine in Vietnam. A great first day was enjoyed by all.