Last night we got a night train to Lao Cai in North Vietnam. It was very exciting as the train was very old- it felt like we were on the Hogwarts Express!
We arrived at the train station at 5am and jumped on a bus heading to Sapa. It is a 38km drive through the mountains and it only cost about 70p! The scenery was amazing and it took over an hour. From Sapa we had to get another bus to Tam Kim Village which is where we were staying in an Ecolodge. The drive there was precarious, we had to drive over large boulders that had fallen from the mountains, mounds of mud that had slipped onto the road and through small waterfalls that flowed across the road. We also had to dodge cattle at various points which were being herded along the road by children- younger than you lot!
We were met at the lodges by the manager Walter, he is a really nice man. His family moved from Denmark a month ago to come and run the place. He offered us breakfast, consisting of cereals, coffee and homemade bread and local organic bacon- yum! It was fantastic and the whole journey, which began 13 hours before, seemed totally worth it.
There are many ethnic minority peoples living in North Vietnam, and Walter explained that employing and training them is a major part of the lodges' aims. They want to support the local area as much as possible. The lodge runs on solar powered electricity, each bungalow has it's own panel, and they have waste water management, this means they do not pollute the local rivers. You even have special soap to use that doesn't have any chemicals in. They also buy as much food from local sources as possible.
We stayed in bungalow that was perched on the edge of the mountain. It is so high up that when we first got there is was very cloudy and we were actually in the clouds! When there are no clouds it has the most spectacular views of the surrounding mountains and the valley below. We looked down on a small village called Ban Ho. Looking carefully you can just about make out people moving below and going over the two bridges, that cross two mighty rivers that divide the village.
The bungalow is built out of natural materials, white granite and hardwood. There is no TV, air conditioning or anything like that. They haven't got phones lines yet either. We had a radio handset in our lodge in case of emergencies.
The next day we went on a 7 hour trek with a local guide called Hie to the village in the valley. It was really great to know we were heading for Ban Ho, the village we have been spying on for the last 2 days! The trek down through the rice paddy fields was brilliant and the smell of the rice was really strong at times, as if someone was cooking it near by. We saw lots of wonderful animals and insects, you guys would have loved going on a Habitat hunt here! We even saw some snakes and some massive dung beetles! There was also lots of cool plants including one that curled up if you touched it's leaves- amazing.
In the village some of the houses are a bit like Tudor houses, many light open fires on the floors of their rooms during the winter and they keep pigs and chickens close to their houses. We walked through the village over the bridge to a magnificant waterfall. We dipped our feet and climbed on the rocks near by.
After that we walked back into the village and had lunch at a locals home. The food was tasty, beef noodle soup. We then headed to a natural hot spring and all had a dip to freshen up. The trek ended with a 45 minute motorbike ride back up to the lodge.
On our last day we ventured out on a small trek to a local school. However it was lunch time and all of the children were out on the surrounding streets. Some were very friendly and confident and came and said 'hello', others were shy and just stood and stared or smiled and giggled.
That night we had to catch the over night train back to Hanoi . It has been a fantastic experience and we were reluctant to leave the area. North Vietnam is beautiful.
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