We caught the night train from Hanoi to the northern frontier city of Lao Cai (border of China) to enter the north west of Vietnam and the town of Sapa. I can call it the middle of no where because it actually is. The night train took 8 hours to go 400 km. We had a 4 person sleeper and shared with 2 vietnamese tour guides so they spoke English well. Sandra took the opportunity to ask why people seem to stare at her more than other westerners, they explained it was the fact that she was so tall ( 5`11) and so white. That is what we figured. I learned to use the bathroom at the beginning of the journey, by the end its a bit rich to say the least (phew!!).
This is the area of the country where the ethnic tribes live including Black Hmong, Flower Hmong, Dzao. They farm (rice and corn) and sell their colourful crafts....its pretty hard to resist buying some embroidered bags or pillow cases. Its the ladies that do the hawking, and they are a hard sell.
They love asking you about your family back home. I realize standing next to a 17 year old with 2 kids that I must be a strange sight to be 33, married and childless, they ask again ensuring they heard me correctly...the 45 year olds are grandmothers. It usually goes like this:
Hello, what is your name. Where are you from. How many brothers and sisters do you have. How old are you. Do you have any children.
Be prepared to be asked for the run down at least 20 times a day. They are polite enough and smile so much its hard not to smile back and go through it again and again.
Day 1 we hiked 8 km today to CatCat village (from 1700 m in Sapa to 1200) after arriving at 5:30 am and taking an hour long bus ride up to Sapa. You tend to attract Black Hmong ladies on the way down. Their babies are strapped to their backs all day, and we are wondering what happens when they go to the bathroom....There are nursing stations set up in the ethnic villages (benefit of communism) but it seems when things get bad they come up to the small hospital in Sapa proper. Kinda like what I saw in Iqaluit.
We are up in the clouds here and are sharing town with the Vietnamese who have fled the heat in Hanoi and Saigon. Getting better at figuring out what country the other tourists come from based on how they look and speak. Its kinda a game. Rainy in the morning, but a light rain, so trekking is not so hard, but you need running shoes at least or will end up on your ass or a leg through the bamboo bridge that is held together with hemp (yikes!!).
Strangely I am happy to be in long sleeves, its about 21 degrees, chilly compared to the 35 of Hanoi. Oh and gas on the way up was 14750 dong, which is like 80 cents a litre.
I wore a belt I bought here on my head today and, as expected with indigo hand dyed stuff, the tips of my ears are now blue. Gives them a kick, so they smile more.
Day II Lao Cai (Village) and Ta Van Village
Went on a 16km trek today through two more villages. It was all downhill, but as it rained in the morning it was a bit harrowing, as in don't look down. And muddy, we got pretty dirty. We were given the choice though, the paved path or the more exciting, slippery path with the better views. We chose exciting. At some points the trail was washed away and I got assistance from the Hmong ladies, who seem pretty sure footed considering they were in flip flops and I was in my runners!? This is their daily commute. Didn't end up falling in the mud, so I am pretty proud of myself!
The tribes get along and our guide noted they also inter-marry sometimes. Their garbs are all so colourful and each tribe is very distinct. Three generations live in one house and each generation would have 4 or 5 children. Talk about close quarters. No wonder they have no problem getting close to you when they want to talk to you, definitely in your personal space and sometimes will just reach out and hold your hand while walking next to you. Or reach out and touch your face if they like your skin colour (Sandra!).
Today too we were escorted by local tribal ladies with their usual line of questioning. To throw them off ( or to give us a break) we switched to francais....they did not miss a beat "quel age as tu?"....all learned from interaction with tourists. I dare say their English was more polished than our guide's.
School is out for summer for the kids. The ethnic minorities go to school for free (thanks to Uncle Ho) and have to learn in Vietnamese, they speak their native languages at home and English and French with the tourists. You rarely see the men, other than hanging out on motorbikes waiting to take the women home at the end of the day or to market on Sunday, which was today. I assume they work the fields during harvest, which is once a year in Sept in the north (versus 3 harvest a year in the south). They created the rice fields stepped into the hills by water buffalo and manual labour, through slash and burn techniques, and they used to hunt in the forest. The government, for conservation reasons, has banned slash and burn and all hunting and set up a forest demonstration station to show case sustainable practices.
I would be interested in how they supplement the food in their diets. And how calcium is had, or if it is, I certainly don't see any cheese or milk in their diets.
Huge butterflies every where after the rain ended. They are beautiful!
Tourists are still allowed to trek through the actual villages, which is pretty special. I know in Chang Mai (Thailand) the government stages "villages" outside of the actual villages for tourists to walk through, so I will be interested in what this area will be like in 20 years as it gets more popular and accessible. Not sure of the pro's and cons of either model....
We had a picnic lunch in the valley, I ate the cold bacon and I am not sure how smart that was. I'll keep you posted.
Thank goodness there was a bus to pick us up at the end and take us back up. My "down" muscles in my legs are sore.
When we got home, we had laundry (including our shoes) done for $1.20 a kilo. Its nice to have clean underwear again!
We both remarked about the crazy dreams we were having last night and realized we are both taking Malerone, malaria medication, which tends to add a flavour to dreams (and some paranoia sometimes...we are not at that point yet). Its really only Sapa (well the whole Northwest) that has the malaria issues in Vietnam, so I think after my 7 days post-trek, I will come off them (OK Mom?).
We are also taking in Vietnamese TV and have seen some strange sort of dating game with an entire military audience and some propaganda thrown in. Can't understand what is going on exactly but it sure seems entertaining for the troops in the audience.
I don't know how any foreign army thought they could fight the Vietnamese in their own territory. I dont need to get political, but it must have been doomed from the start. Military duty for the youth is still mandatory, including a month a year for those in University, women and men alike.
The longer I am here, the more I am amazed with the country and its people.
We are back on the train and heading to Ha Long Bay tomorrow, so it may take me a while to find a connection again. I am off to find some pearls on Catba island. Yes!
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