Slept really well. And then a leisurely morning and pancake breakfast before we set off again.
Two of the group had departed the previous evening, and then Andrin and Jessica joined us. They fitted into the group perfectly and were really great company.
This is Mao’s home:
And we walked. We kept stopping for photos:
The views were not only breathtaking, but vast and all around us:
More rice fields:
An out-of-focus caterpillar:
The path ahead:
And behind:
More ridiculously pictureseque images:
Jane (Mao’s sister) and I – another European giant moment:
And these three:
We try to say hello when we pass locals. Seeing these made me wonder what they make of us. At that age, they’ll have no context. Will they ever? We’ll just become a natural part of their lives – tourists walking past their houses, saying hello.
Yesterday, I mentioned the leaves outside a house means visitors are not welcome. And we came across this today:
Jane explained that it was often to do with health – when somone was sick, and the hospital couldn’t help, the local shaman was called for and these leaves put outside to warn others not to enter.
Westerners pronouced Sapa with the accent on the first syllable. Vietnamese just have words. In fact, it’s “Sa Pa” here – and both syllables are given equal weighting. Just noticed the slight difference in pronounciation.
Ducks:
Jane leading the way, whislt she was also winding hemp for making into clothes (they make new ones each year – I don’t think they have many, so they’ll get worn out quickly):
Tiago showed me how to take a proper panoramic pic:
And I finally got a butterfly, but it’s a little ‘un:
Manual cutting (using a machine) of potato to dry and use as animal feed during the winter. Such intensive work:
Wasps (out of focus again – I really should get some photography lessons. And a decent camera):
And all too soon we were stopping for a very late lunch. From there, it was a short trek to our final stop where three of us were picked up and taken back to Sapa, and then Lao Cai, to catch the night train home.
Such a brilliant experience. I thoroughly enjoyed my two days – my foot held up well, the views were breath-taking and the group were great. Another highlight of my trip 🙂
Go with it. Most of the time, the locals don’t tell you what’s going on, but they haven’t let me down yet. So I just go with it. Eventually found myself with a dish of Pho Bo at a counter in Sapa market:
… and outside a running track (deceased):
After sunrise from the train:
… a bus had picked us up from the train station (which is some 38km away in Lao Cai) and dropped us in the centre of Sapa. Gaggles of H’mong (one of the local tribes) women were running after each tour bus that came in, hoping to pick up clients for trekking:
Mao used to be one such H’mong woman. Then someone told Lily about her, and now all Lily’s clients get sent to Mao. She’s smiley, welcoming and great fun. I explained that I couldn’t walk for very long because of my foot, so she suggested I explore Sapa that morning, and her husband would pick me up to join the others for lunch. The afternoon trek was easier and shorter (and the moto ride less precarious!).
And so I found myself in Sapa museum. It was one of the better museums:
Sapa is a mountainous district of Lao Cai province
Six ethnic groups, each with their own clothes, culture, language, traditions and festivals: Hmong (52%), Dao, Kinh, Tay, Giay and Phu La)
In 1909 the area was used as military sanatorium
By 1914, the first hotels had started appearing
1929 saw the first telephone line, with electricity following the next year
In 2009, the population was 52,899
I’m always fascinated by cultural aspects, beliefs and systems that remind you that so much of what we’re used to is not universal:
There are regulations on the order of middle names – you cannot marry within the first nine generations (I’m not sure of the detail of this, but I assume it’s to prevent children from people whose DNA is too similar)
In an ethnic village, if a bunch of leaves with animal jaw bones is outside, visitors are not welcome because they are praying
Do not touch a child’s head – they believe the soul resides in the head and if a stranger touches it, the soul will get scared and run away and then the child gets sick
No whistling as it calls the devil
On the way to meet my lift, I saw a woman filling a steamer with purified water. I don’t think she knew that it was not necessary as she was going to boil it and it occurred to me that, even if she was doing it to prevent build up within the machine, she may not actually know this. I learnt it at school, and education isn’t so great here.
And I saw a wedding:
Pascal (my mountain bike guide in Hoi An) had explained that the Vietnamese considered it good luck if you see a funeral first in the day, and bad luck if you see a wedding first. Another example of how superstitious they are, and how “luck” is so important to them. In parting, I’ve often been wished good luck for both myself and my family. But then I figured it was also Friday 13th, so decided that the two bad lucks would cancel each other out. This is another way you make your own luck – make up the rules as you go along. To suit you.
Caught up with these two on moto to meet the others (made me laugh!):
And we passed much evidence of more building. Sapa is changing. Vietnam is changing. I’m glad I’m seeing it now as it’s about to get even more touristy. And then the tourists will want to move away from these centres, because what they came to see there has gone. It’s a pity Cambodia and Vietnam don’t understand this – and I fear they won’t before it’s too late.
But the views were still spectacular:
And I couldn’t help snap this cutie:
A lot of the kids run wild and bottomless, and motos are such a fundamental part of the culture, this photo seemed to sum up the place:
Lots of wildlife, as you’d expect. For instance, there’s a spider in here:
Water buffalo:
Wild horses:
Another spider (easier to see this one):
The terrain is a mat of rice fields, which I thought actually made the landscape look really interesting:
As families marry and have children, their rice field is divvied up accordingly, hence the patchwork:
Sapa is high, and we climbed from there. With a more temperate climate, it’s pleasant, especially at this time of the year:
And we trekked:
Great company and great conversation. We talked about pretty much everything. There was a variety of ages, backgrounds and nationalities, but everyone was intelligent, kind and great fun. It made the experience.
We arrived at Mao’s at about 4:30pm and lounged around for an hour or so until dinner (she wouldn’t have any help, which was a shame because I’d have actually liked to cook with her):
And then the rice wine made an appearance. Several appearances, actually. Not for me, obviously – I tried it and then politely the declined the following offers of “just a little bit more”!
Mao’s English was very good indeed, but without much formal education I wondered how she’s learnt it. “Tourists,” she replied. Wow. She’s been hosting for about five years, and has learnt it all in that time. Can’t write or read it, but speaks it very well.
And then to bed, happy and looking forward to tomorrow.
… And the by-now-obligatory sunrise photo (which, if you look, very closely resembles one of the sunset shots from last night, but a different quality of light):
Our final stop before returning to port (nooooo!) was a natural cave:
It’s not the biggest and doesn’t have lots of rocks that look like animals (with various degrees of imagination), but it also wasn’t overrun with tourists, so I enjoyed it a lot. And the views were great, too:
It was whilst I was sorting stuff to check out that I noticed the remote control… for the toilet:
Another toilet specimen to add to my trip’s collection 🙂
Lunch was at 10:30am.
Very early, but we weren’t due back to Hanoi until 5pm. And then it occurred to me that the staff serve four meals every day because they do two lunches: one for the out-going lot, and another for the incoming bunch.
An amazing trip – spectacular scenery, lots of fun, great company and luxury accommodation. My only wish was that we’d had more time to just be. Having lots of activities was good, but I’d have liked to just sit on deck or in my cabin and watch the world (specifically the limestone karsts) go by:
If there’s something on, you’d feel like you were missing out, but we don’t need to be entertained every minute of the day. Overall, though, a great trip.
Returning to port meant returning to Wi-Fi, and finding out that the sleeper train I’d booked wasn’t available. With live availability and payment upfront I’d assumed that it meant it was booked, but it actually meant that my request had been submitted. And because I hadn’t been able to check my email, I hadn’t found out. So I ventured to Lily’s (again) when I arrived in Hanoi. I also showed her the homestay I’d chosen. She looked at me earnestly. “Touristy”, she said. Oh dear, really? The reviews didn’t indicate it, but she was right – it wasn’t that far out of Sapa. And anything with good TripAdvisor reviews would be busy, I knew. She suggested another. I trusted her judgement. Getting back to port had also meant getting back to the masses* – our toilet stop was at a tourist department store full of overpriced goods, with the bus helpfully dropping us at the back of the store and picking us up from the front:
Standing in the queue for the loo, a lady pushed past. I tapped her on the shoulder. Didn’t even need to say anything. She mumbled something and went to the back of the queue. I won’t even bother telling you what nationality she was – I’m sure you can guess.
* I should clarify that I’m not adverse to people. In fact, I’m very fond of quite a few of them (if you’ve been invited to read this, you’re one of them), but I don’t like big groups of people. I’m one of life’s natural introverts so find being around lots of people very tiring.
“Sleeper” train is a bit of a misnomer, as was “soft bed”. Slightly more give than concrete but there’s not much in it. Don’t Vietnamese people have hips and shoulders? Took ages to get to sleep – every position was uncomfortable, but I think it was mostly because the train was throwing me around. But I eventually fell asleep…
