Sapa- Northern Vietnam

Trip Start Jan 20, 2005

Trip End Dec 27, 2005

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Flag of Vietnam Sapa, Vietnam
Monday, January 24, 2005

Ok, so adjusting to life here in Vietnam hasn't been too difficult. I'm like Gulliver and well, Virginie has found her people. OK so I stick out like a sore thumb and Virginie does also by association. I feel I am doing good daily with the smiles and giggles my passing provides to the vietnamese on the street daily. I can imagine the dinner conversation they have.."so, I'm talking to Lien when this gorilla-boy with no hair (on his head) walked by. You wouldn't believe the size, the amount of Pho' he must eat in the morning..." I have so far only had one arm wrestling challenge (which I lost soundly because their was a light shining in my eyes-yes you need to see to wrestle effectively) but I have turned down many challenges. So on my world wrestling tours I am 0-2. That russian from Irkutzk back in 99 was like ex-KGB and I had to let him (right Rhonemus? You can back me on that one).

We went to the Vietnam Army Museum in Hanoi and they had a picture of a captured american next to a small boy (redundant in vietnam)

A little Vietnamese Hacky Sac before Dinner

. The captured GI was very tall and had some girth similar to myself. Vietnamese are proud of their history of defending themselves over the last century against bigger enemies including chinese, french, and the americans. Our guide proclaimed that he looked just like me. Not too flattering, but she did also add that the war was over and they now felt americans were friends.

So back to Northern Vietnam. After a few days in Hanoi we had to leave. It was a bit noisy. Contrary to what Andy mentioned, the first thing we noticed was not "how quiet it is" but after the very nice architecture in fact, how loud it is. Economic growth means that the Vietnamese have cast aside their chinese made bikes and bought motorscooters with really loud horns, which they use with the frequency that you and I blink. Seriously, those horns are used constantly to let every single person on or near the street know they are coming on their brand new motorbikes. Hanoi is a beautiful city though and virginie and I spent two days walking around. Lots to see and you can feel that they are in an economic boom that everyone is taking advantage of. Building homes and getting dishwashers tvs and motorbikes.

So we went to the trainstation and bought tickets to Lao Cai for about $3.50

Landscape view of Sapa Valley

. It was a 9 hour trip to cover about 360Km or about 40km an hour. SLOOOWWWW. We met lots of nice people, ate some interesting foods and watched the rice fields roll by (again, very, very slowly).

From Lao Cai we took a minibus to Sapa which is about 35km straight up hill into the mountains. What we gained by buying our own train ticket, we lost because the minibus drivers scammed us out of about 15 dollars. In Vietnam it is a constant battle not to get screwed by those wishing to relieve the tourists of their money. Friendly people though, smile a lot and really want to talk to you.

Sapa is a nice little (but also bustling and growning) town not far from the Chinese border. In colonial times, the french would come here to escape the heat of summer in Hanoi. It is built on the hills overlooking a beatiful valley with terraced rice farms. The north is the home of many minority hill tribes. These people have lived here for centuries and many are related to the chinese in the north. They make beautifully hand dyed blankets and clothing which they try very hard to sell to you every where you go. I try to tell them I am from vietnam when they ask where I am from, but they don't believe me (maybe my vietnamese is a bit rusty).

Virginie let me rent a motorbike today despite her better judgement. She never knew what a demon I am on those things but she learned to hang on tight. Matt, you would have been proud. Sure, the 125cc Russian-made Minsk probably helped the russians defend stalingrad from the germans, but I got every ounce of power out of that ruski-powerhouse. Okay, there was one time where Virginie had to walk up the hill because it was too steep for both of us and the bike, but that was after a long couple hours of racing along the hill roads and it was tired like anyone would be

Making Friends on the Train to Sapa, Vietnam

. Other than that, we are thinking of importing them back to the US. You've never heard life until you've heard a Minsk Purrrr. So we traversed a bunch of roads to get to a waterfall where someone was smart enough to take money to see a waterfall (go figure- how much effort does it take to maintain a waterfall?). I took a picture then got back on our hog to go higher into the hills. It was a safe ride and we got to see some nice roads.

So now we are getting ready to do some treking for the next couple days. We are planning on doing some hiking to the minoirty hill tribes in the area. Look forward to getting my ass handed to me on these steep hills. I think the air is pretty thin, otherwise I wouldn't have any trouble with these hills (That's my story and I'm sticking to it).

Hope you are all well. We're safe and enjoying ourselve a lot. I hope to post some pictures soon so you all don't have to get bored with my ranting.