I'll be honest - so far, Sapa has not impressed me one bit. The town has been thoughtlessly developed, visitors are constantly hassled by craft-sellers and motorbike drivers, and it's streets are lined with 'Western' restaurants aimed squarely at unadventurous eaters.

As such, my hopes for eating well here were not exactly high; but happily, magically, these fears were allayed on my very first afternoon in town by the sandwich in the photograph above.

This is banh mi, the Vietnamese take on the French baguette. Though the Laos version (that I sampled this time last year) left me distinctly underwhelmed, Sapa's offering of this classic snack knocked my socks off.

For just 10,000 Dong (about 30p), one procurred a crusty, chewy baguette stuffed with a delectable mixture of shredded carrot, green mango and pork, and seasoned with sesame seeds, fresh corriander leaves and lemongrass. In fact, the photo above is of the second time I ate this snack, when I added some terrine that was being sold a couple of stalls down. The lady selling this terrine seemed mighty reluctant for me to stuff my sandwich with it, but I thought it was delicious. As I ate my banh mi on the roof of my hotel, watching storm clouds gather on the horizon, I looked forward (in typical glutton fashion) to the next one.

Banh Mi vendor, at entrance to market on Cau May,
Sapa.