Backdate: Vietnam Sa Pa Sep 2023 Day 5

14/9/23 Thurs: Was up at 6.45am as the driver for our Sapa Silver Waterfall and Cloud Dragon Skywalk private tour (S$141.80 for two pax) will be at the entrance of our Airbnb at 7.30am. *Paid an extra VND200,000 for this service.* Had two egg tarts and one croissant for our breakfast in the car. *Painful insect bites in the middle of the night yesterday kns...*

The road down the mountain was pretty bumpy and it was also raining almost the whole day. We went to the Cloud Dragon Skywalk first, which he said was situated in the next province actually. He parked his car at a place at 8.30am and we hopped onto a minibus next to us which drove us for five minutes to the elevator area. PY suggested we buy a one-use raincoat (VND15,000 for one) and it was a great idea on hindsight.

Took the short elevator ride and another minibus before we got to the entrance to the glass elevator which will bring us right up to the Cloud Dragon Skywalk. I only had one windbreaker on but when we saw the staff were all dressed like it was winter, I panicked for a bit la. *It took more than two minutes to go up in the glass elevator… only helpful thing was the rain and the mist all around so I wasn’t badly affected by the heights lol.*

When the door opened and I looked on my right, I saw the majestic glass bridge omg! *I wondered if I dared walk on it in the rain and fog!* There were very few people because of the heavy rain and wind, and I could see the views below, albeit not very clearly due to the puddles of water. *I was holding on to the railings as I walked at first but my sports shoes were still soaked… threw away on the trip.*

Found out that the bridge was 768m long with some stairs upwards in between and Cau Kinh Rong May’s height was 2,333m ASL omg~ that’s some “dizzy height” for me! There were some activities like bike in the clouds (420m long) which were closed because of the rain.

Anyway, we met a group of friendly Malaysian uncles and aunties, who were mostly in their 60s and enjoying their tour in Sa Pa together. There was a shelter in the middle and we sat there to shield from the howling wind. PY wanted to eat bubble tea ice-cream (VND30,000) in the cold sia lol. *One of the uncles said I looked like a daughter or wife of his friend or something lol.*

The fog did clear up once in a while and we took fun photos, thanks to PY’s ideas as always haha. These uncles and aunties were really fun-loving people and “rose to the challenges” PY gave… i.e. trying their best to do whatever poses PY “instructed” keke~

We walked further beyond the bridge into some greeneries and continued having fun and laughter along the way. Climbed a longer flight of stairs up where we saw more people and even some Singaporeans.

We parted ways at the top of the stairs as PY wanted to visit the temple further in. *Before that, we visited a random toilet nearby and gosh it was all dark after I closed the door la!* Nothing much at the temple and we walked down slowly back to the elevator area as it was still raining.

Took some photos at the rainbow stairs we saw from the start.

Surprised to see the group of Malaysians still at the café having some pizza and drinks. Mr Huang, who has lived and worked in Vietnam for some time before, treated us to drinks too~ I had hot ginger tea. We then took Polariod photos together at the rainbow stairs. *Mr Huang has a son who’s single and only one or two years younger than PY haha... for her to keep in touch! :p*

It was about 12pm after we ended the tour and went back to find the driver. He then drove us over to “Heaven’s Gate”, a small lookout point but there was no sea of clouds because of the rainy season.

Then, we climbed up to see the Sapa Silver Waterfall. It took us 15 minutes to get to the highest and closest point to the waterfall… I was so cold and tired lol. Nothing too impressive, even though more water gushes down in the rain.

After spending about half an hour there, we told the driver to drive us to Little Sapa restaurant, which had quite good reviews on Google. Had lunch at 1+pm. We ordered the hot plate venison meat, little Sapa fried tofu, mixed veggie and I had Little Sapa’s cloud mocktail fruit juice (mix of banana, pineapple etc) while PY had honey lemon… costed us VND387,000 in total.

The venison meat and fried tofu was great. Things were all good until payment time. So, the gan jeong me paid earlier to the lady boss at her counter and then go toilet upstairs, despite PY telling me to only pay before we leave the shop. The lady boss took my payment then but somehow, I did not take the receipt from her. After I return from the toilet, PY and i chatted for a bit more before we wanted to leave. That was when she shouted at us, saying we haven’t foot the bill. It was absurd and I desperately tried to explain a few times and she refused to give in at first. But somehow, she admitted her mistake later. On hindsight, given there was no CCTV and the receipt wasn’t in my hand either, I really don’t know what to do if she didn’t give in. *Reminder to myself in future… take receipt after payment or foot the bill only before we leave our dining places overseas.*

Went to a supermart to buy cup noodles, water, spicy chicken feet and some rice drink (VND95,000). Then, we walked to Em O Day café to eat a red velvet cake, and also bought apple cake and croissant (VND 140,000) for our breakfast the next morning. Hired the same driver for VND200,000 for him to drive us back to our Airbnb by 4.15pm. It was still very foggy then and we decided to call it a day!

My red rice drink was nicer than the roasted one PY chose, but the chicken feet was not to my liking. We had Vietnamese cup noodles for dinner and tried to watch “Before Sunrise” on her laptop… but also got cut off by her work call and I had my share of trouble with the articles on Diane’s end too… tsk.