Trekking, Rice Wine, Mud, and farewell (for now)...

Hello everyone...

It has been exactly a month since I left you all in the hopes of finding something better...and guess what? I think I have...sorry mom and dad, but no more law school for me...I'm going to fulfull my lifelong dream (3 week long dream) of becoming a SE Asia tourguide (that is, after I open my own bar in Laos...the place with the tubing)...................am I joking? Perhaps...

Anyway (s), it seems like everything has come full circle, as I'm in the Hong Kong airport waiting for my flight home (I think i will be able to get on an earlier flight, but who knows). The past weekend was, in many ways, my best one of the trip, but more about that in a few...

As always, a few things before we 'dive' in...

Balaban - stop wasting people's time with your useless comments. nobody cares (yes, i'll play)
Hayley - i'm impressed and flattered with the theme party you have organized. veal parm for everyone!!!
For all of you betting folk out there, after a virtually injury free month, I walked into a brick wall and banged my foot pretty hard yesterday. It hurts a lot.

I met a girl in Sapa, Vietnam (more on Sapa later). Her name was (is) Chi. She gave me a friendship bracelet that she made, and then we agreed that if I married a vietnamese girl, it would be here. If I married a different vietnamese girl, she said she would kick me in the balls and would not talk to me anymore. Chi is 13. She is part of the H'mong tribe, one of the larger tribes in Sapa (more on that later). Unfortunately, I learned that she was only using me for money, because after she made me propose, we pinky swore that I would not buy anythnig from anybody but her. It may not have been a legal contract in the US, but in Sapa it was stong as Oak. I bought a pillow case. It's black with green embroidering. One of you lucky subscribers will be the recipient of this gift. I accept bribes.

Okay - while you are thinking about how to bribe me, I'll walk you through the last few days. When we left off, it was the last day for about half of the group. We went out to a restaurant in Hanoi (Bill Clinton has been there...yay) and then out to a bar. I wasn't feeling too well, but I won five games of pool in a row. The next day was a bit of a lazy day, as we would board an overnight train that night that would take us to Sapa, which is in the north of Vietnam. Two words to describe the overnight train: GRRRRR OSSSSSS. Yes, it is two words. I'm suprised that everyone who comes off that train isn't quarantined immediately after. There are not enough showers in the world to make me feel clean right now...

quick sidenote - i found out that somone on my trip has recently recovered from swine flu (he or she will remain annonymous). That being said, I advise all of you to wear surgical masks in my presence, at least for a few weeks. I have one in pink.

After arriving in Lao Cai, we took a bus the rest of the way up to Sapa, which is up in the hills (basically a scene out of the Sound of Music - embarrassingly enough, I knew more words to the soundtrack than anyone else...). There is one road that takes people up the mountain. Halfway up the road, we got stuck in traffic. A bus got stuck. (Picture a bus trying to make a U turn on the access road up Little Cottonwood Canyon - this only will make sense to skiers/altaholics). We arrived in Sapa at around noon, had a quick lunch at a guest house, walked around for 30 minutes (that's where I met Chi), and starting walking. The first thing anybody who visits Sapa will notice, other than the beautiful scenery, is the local H'mong woman, dressed head to toe in their local attire. We had taken no more than one step out the door, when at least 10 of these women glued (metaphorically - one literally) themselves to us. If you thought that they would only stay for a few minutes, then would be severly mistaken. These women (all wearing flip flops), walked with us the entire way (over 8 miles). For some of the group, they prooved to be very helpful, as the trails were quite muddy and slippery.

A quick shoutout to my Tevas, which I left in Sapa for the benefit of others (and because they smelled). They kept me upright the entire time.

The women talked to us, made us fun animals out of bamboo (kind of like Vietnam's version of balloon animals), and talked about their family. However, upon arriving at our destination (a village in the middle of the jungle where we spent the night), they got feisty. "Buy from me, buy from me, buy from me." The basic rule of thumb (I think) is that if they helped you along the way (and many people needed help), it is nice to buy a small thing. I didn't need help, but they were QUITE unhappy when I refused to buy. My advice - be up front at the beginning. A quick shout out to Sal, the most mild mannered guy on the trip, who was the first to lose his cool and yell at his woman. Stick it to the man buddy...we've all got your back.

Along the way, we saw tons of rice fields, water buffalo, and local tribes people. Also, they had makeshift watermills for corn (i took pictures - it was like the scene in robin hood with kevin costner when they build the town in sherwood forest - get it?). We also crossed many rivers, streams, etc. The 12 of us looked very 'lord of the ring' ish (YOU SHALL NOT PASSSSSSSSSSSSSS).

Sidenote two: Singing

Those of you that know me well (or not very well), will know that I have the attention span of a dumpling. Which is why, if I'm hiking, I'm singing - it helps pass the time. Below is an abbreviated version of the song list, which, surprisingly, went over quite well with the rest of the group (minimal death threats):

Piano Man
Do wah ditty
Bohemian Rapsody
You've lost that loving feeling
Free Falling
Don't go chasing waterfalls
Yellow submarine
Man in the mirror
proud mary
born in the usa
i wanna hold your hand
can you feel the love tonight
numerous disney songs (specifically the little mermaid and the lion king)
yellow submarine (yes, i realize i mentioned this, but we had to sing some twice)
other oldies, newdies (not a word yet)
shoop

for those of you that came with, let me know what i missed.

After arriving at the guesthouse, i took a cold glorious shower, had a beer, lost a game of pool (the table was crooked, and sat down for dinner, which was fantastic.

Honestly (and i hate mushy stuff, so i'll keep it short), it has been wonderful getting to know such a diverse and fantastic group of people (well, some of them). we all made toasts (mine was best), and ended the night drinking rice wine, aka: the devils water, happy water, headache in a bottle, bad decision water, etc.

The next day was not pretty, but, thanks to Vietnamese coffee (for those of you that haven't had it, it's basically liquid cocaine disguised as coffee), we all made it out .

BTW: Contrats to EVERYONE that did the hike (and a special congrats to Jen). It was definalty not easy!

Last night, we took another overnight train home (for description of Vietnamese night train, please see #4 on the list from the last entry, but add the words GRRRRRR OSSSSSSSSSSS. We got back into Hanoi at 4:30, had a quick rest, and then said our goodbyes.

Yogi Berri once said, 'it ain't over till the fat lady sings'. Well, there are no fat lady's here (the people are surprisingly small), so I'm not quite ready to say goodbye...

There is still at least one entry to come...I will use one of the following titles:

1. things i did in asia while drunk"
2. self-reflection (boorrrrrring"),
3. SHIT, I didn't get on the earlier flight"

I hope it's not 3.

As always, keep those comments coming. Don't stop reading. And keep your feet on the ground, but keep reaching for the stars..

Off to get more noodles (i love noodles)

Hi Mom!

PEACE!

Matt

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