Sapa
November 15-18
Handspan Tour $98"Night 1: 8:30pm Depart from Handspan office (80 Ma May) by private coach to Rail way station and catch the 10:00pm night train to Lao Cai (soft sleeper aircon [Tulico]), arrive 5:30 or 6:00am."
The night train to Lao Cai with Rachel, Steph, and Stephanie
The first two are from Washington state, UW Huskies, both were working in NYC before quitting for this round the world life trip, and are then moving out to San Francisco. Stephanie was a friend from SF visiting for part of the trip.
Rachel was the leader of the group, and could/would make friends with anyone/everyone.
Steph was the laid back, go with the flow type of girl that every few hours would bust out with the observant one-liner.
And Stephanie the quietly opinionated no nonsense type.
Morning breaks "Day 1 (L-D): The bus ride up hill to Sa Pa takes a little over an hour giving you a glimpse of the stunning vistas and impressive rice terraces. Check into your hotel. Enjoy a lunch of local Vietnamese food then at 1:00pm start trekking (3hrs) to Cat Cat waterfall to visit Black H’Mong minority. Return to Sa Pa, time for a shower and a rest before heading out for dinner. Overnight in your hotel." I thought it was really interesting how well the villagers trying to sell us things knew English, especially the younger ones. Some Japanese and Spanish too, getting it from the tourists. When your livelihood depends on it- you learn. Hmmmn, wonder if it weren't for tourism if these people would be left in a more natural state? Look at the link on the H'Mong above and think again my friends- unfortunately politics can be very far reaching. I would be staying at the Chau Long Sapa Hotel.
My almost roommate new Dutch friends
After breakfast and freshening up there was some time before meeting up for lunch, so the group of us walked around town and also stumbled onto and through the local market.
This pig (the thing immobalized in the pen) was squeeling up a storm, but the guy is actually weighing it
Rachel bonds with the natives
Here you can see how their hands are stained from dying clothes
Scorpions, bats, and other cooking sundries
Hmmnn, dog parts on a platter. Sorry, I gave that up for Lent.
I'm not a squimish person, but looking at this too much does make me nauseous.
Please note that is more of a fact about my stomach, I'm not trying to push any of my beliefs on anyone else. Some people are vegetarians, heck outside of natural causes most people are killed by other people for that matter. As far as meat goes I will say I bury my head in the sand and like to think the stuff in the supermarket just magically shows up- just like a martyr blowing up an American goes to 65 virgins or something like that. Didn't know a god would care about nationalities...anyway, that's a different topic entirely, but a decent analogy on the likelihood of guilt free meat. Also good luck finding your virgins.
Interesting article
Breakfast with Ross and yet one more Stephanie, they work for the Canadian government in Ottawa, and the girls
Welcome to the beautiful northwest mountain country!
Traffic jam Sapa style
Our guide Binh discusses indigo plants
This is why Vietnam is a hotbed for the avian flu- bird to human proximity
School's out! I was exhausted from "short cuts" we took and lets just say my lunch ran right through me, but after a nice nap and shower I was back in the saddle.
The group for dinner
Hot pot That night at a local internet cafe I actually watched half of a Duke Basketball pre-season game on an internet video feed. The world is indeed getting smaller. And I must say, a few hours ago before typing this (Dec 4th) we inexcusably blew an 11 point lead to Virginia Tech but it led to the second most incredible finish I've ever witnessed live on TV. Awesome.
17th
"Day 2 (B, L): In the morning start trekking (5hrs) down the valley along local trails and across rice paddies to visit Black H’Mong, Dzay and Red Dzao minority with picnic lunch along the way. Jeep pick up to Sa Pa. Bus departs Handspan office in Sa Pa 4:30pm, arrive Lao Cai 6:00pm Night train back to Ha Noi (soft sleeper aircon). Trip ends 5:00-5:30am Ha Noi station."
"Hey look Bob, I think the two small ones are Vietnamese..."
Butt in the wind, all we are is butt in the wind...
Not sure all the groups did this, but we seemed to spend most of our time off-roading.
Perhaps it enriched the experience, but would have been more fun were it not raining, slippery, and cold.
With that many you really have to keep a tight ship
About to take a self portrait shot, I captured the look on my face as several buffalo stampeded by us on the bridge we were about to cross.
Included this pic just because I love the expression on Steph's face
Info on the Chinese invasion into Northern Vietnam (Sino-Vietnamese War)- very interesting stuff
Ethnic minority info
Funny enough I am having trouble finding any references to the "Red Dzao" or "Dzay" minorities on the net outside of sites related to Sapa tourism.