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Published: April 6th 2006
I know. The title is awful. Sorry.
Well, I've been feeling a little 'sapped' but I love Sapa (okay, that's the last sad attempt at a pun for the whole entry, promise), even as the icicles form on my eye lashes. While typing this I am sitting in an internet cafe wearing a singlet, 2 t-shirts, a long sleeve shirt, a hoodie, beanie and a pair of gloves. It's difficult to type in gloves, something I've never had to try before. Something I didn't think I'd find out in South east Asia! Its damn cold and I've caught a bit of a flu - not bird related* - but nothing can dampen my spirits. I'm out of Hanoi and that is all that matters! Sapa is a definite highlight of our trip.
It is beautiful here, something I just discovered on day 3 since this is the first time we've been able to see more than about 20 metres through the fog. I was just eating my breakfast when the fog shifted and suddenly I could see forever and I was so surprised and awestruck I actually (and publicly) said outloud to Jim " Holy shit, look at that!"
Inside Hut
Having a cuppa tea, heated by the fire but not boiled. Thought the water was suspect. Didn't hurt me though... At the Red Dzao Lady's house, by the way. Sorry mum. Maybe I have Turrets Syndrome...
Getting to Sapa was good and I was so please not to be on a night bus. The train is a much more humane mode of transport. The soft sleeper is a comfortable, airconditioned but incredibly small cabin with four bunks. They give you bread and water only - very Hanoi Hilton -so I'm glad we ate dinner before embarking on the train trip. I drank some vodka we bought for $3, but it doesn't taste like vodka. If anyone knows what they make it out of I'm curious to find out. Jim couldn't drink it because he said it tasted too bad but I was much more dedicated, managing half a bottle. I must say after a quarter of a bottle it began to taste not so bad. Needless to say I slept rather soundly. In fact, Jim had to shake me awake after the train had ground to a halt in Lao Cai. We stumbled out to get on a bus to Sapa.
TIPS ON THE NIGHT TRAIN TO LAO CAI AND THE BUS ON TO SAPA
1. Don't pay more than $17 dollars for a one
On the road2
Together on the bike, on the way to Silver Stream... way ticket on the night train. We met someone who paid $16, we paid $23 but we met others who paid $30, so we didn't feel as bad. It's funny because no matter what others paid it doesn't change what you paid however you alway feel mad if you paid more and happy if you paid less than someone else.
2. If a guy tries to grab your luggage and lead you to the train bear in mind you will have to pay him. A lot. He does not work for the train company and he is not a helpful stranger. He's after money and way more than his 'help' is worth. One guy grabbed ours out of the car boot before we could stop him and we went chasing after him but had too much difficulty in stopping him or prizing his grip from our bag. If this happens you will need to use extreme force. For example, I saw one white guy shove a vietnamese guy off his bag hard and yell "F*** OFF!" at the top of his lungs. The vietnamese guy still looked like he was considering grabbing the bag again but at the last
Inside Ta Phin Cave
Felt very Indiana Jones. Which one had the little Asia boy in it? Well, it kinda felt like that one... minute thought better of it. I could have attempted a similar kind of defense to my luggage - and hip pocket - but I'd already caused one rather large scene in Hanoi that day so we gave up and followed. When he had us cornered in the train cabin he demanded 2 bucks, which is an absolute outrage but after our day in Hanoi we weren't in the least surprised (see prevoius entry for details of that) and it was worth $2 to get this screaming guy out of our face.
3. Get off the train as quick as possible when you get to Lao Cai. Palm of anybody trying to 'help' you with your luggage again and leg it to the front of the station where the mini buses are. You want to get there quick because if you are last - like we were - it is likely you'll miss the fully loaded buses to Sapa and be intimidated to pay $10 instead of a buck 75. We were lucky because we were on the first of 2 night trains so we sat, had a coffee and waited about an hour for the next one to arrive.
Foggy Hut
On the drive from Lao Cai to Sapa. As the people began filtering out of the train station we raced over and got on. If we'd been on the second and final night train we would have had no choice.
4. If a guy comes to the door of the bus and asks you pay the 25,000d fare before you head off, refuse. This is a scam. We had a guy try to do this but we have a rule not to pay for anything first unless we get a ticket and are absolutely sure it's above board. Always pay after and, where possible, try to have the right change. The guy asking us for the money was not affiliated with our bus. He was trying to dupe us into giving him the money and then when we got to Sapa we would have had to pay again. We were suspicious because he didn't ask the vietnamese travellers to pay then, only us.
The ride up the mountain was beautiful but pretty foggy and we got to Sapa in about an hour. We found a place to stay - I think it was called Hoang Ha, or something similar - for $4, it had a fantastic
Defrosting
Yep, says it all. hot shower, duvet and the best pillows of the trip. This was a good thing because since I caught a cold I woke up from the night train to find I'd all but lost my voice and felt very average (I concede it could possibly have something to do with the moonshine/'vodka' I drank...). Unfortunately I spent the entire first day in bed, asleep. I got up for a couple of hours, then crashed again and felt much better on waking the next morning, when I could function and take in Sapa.
Going to stop typing now, my manual dexterity is failing, probably because I can no longer feel my fingers, but will be back soon.........ok, am back with you. Now back in Hanoi briefly before heading to Halong Bay. Right now, I will finish filling you in on Sapa...
ABOUT SAPA
Well, I've already told you its cold. I thought when people said cold they meant cold-for-south-east-asia-cold. They really do mean cold-as-in-really-cold-cold. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of cold weather I loved Sapa, it was a breath of fresh air - in more ways than one -and the change in weather was in many
View Sapa
Rice terraces ways a relief. It was kind of nice to have a little reprieve from the heat.
The first 2 days Sapa seemed small and everything seemed close together and kind of eerie and mysterious. That was because of the thick fog. On day 3 when the fog shifted it was like a totally different town. I realised how vast the area is. While Sapa itself is a small town perched 1500mts up on the edge of a mountain, reminicent of a ski town in Europe (but without the snow) and can be walked in around 10minutes flat, the sheer magnitude of the view around is astounding and I personally haven't seen anything like it, having never been in a mountainous region so vast. The area around Sapa is famous for its rice terraces that are scattered across the mountainside, trekking to ethnic minority hill tribes and scaling Vietnams Everest - Mount Fansipan, which rises 3143mts above sea level. The mountains here are actually the southern most point of the Himilaya group and the sheer size and scale of the panoramic view is breathtakingly spectacular.
The town is pretty touristy though, with Black Hmong hilltribe people canvassing the area
Piggies
This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home, this little piggy ate rubbish.... hard to sell their wares. That took me a little by surprise one day actually. It was early evening and a tiny, ancient looking Hmong woman smiled sweetly at me, siddled up close and said in a low, conspiratorial tone "Madam, you want earring?"
"No thankyou."
"Marijuana?"
"No thankyou."
"Opium?"
"No thankyou."
"...opium?"
"Ummm...No...No, thankyou."
She kept smiling sweetly and veered away into the darkness. I think she was sampling too much of her own produce. Yep, versatile vendors up here - everything from earrings to opium.
Accomodation is cheap, food a little pricey in places and not much in the way of Bia Hoi but never mind that - they have some of the best hot, spiced wine I've ever tasted and a fire to defrost by at a place called (if my memory serves me correctly) Nature's Grill. Cat Cat Restuarant has a spectacular view, nice staff and glorious food but you'll need to walk about a million stairs to get there. If you like traditional western stew with mashed potato's then this is the place for you!
TA PHIN VILLAGE AND CAVE
On day 2 we rented a motorbike in the
Rugged Up
It's Jim. afternoon and rode the scenic drive to Ta Phin Village. We were greeted by a few Red Dzao women who offered to take us to their village nearby to show us where they lived. We were keen to see the cave, they were keen to accompany us, we asked how much and they said it cost nothing but they had some wares for us to look at later and if we wanted to buy something we could and if we didn't like anything we didn't have to. Of course you would (or should) never accept their offer to guide you if you aren't prepared to buy something so this would rarely happen. The Red Dzao are very softly spoken, humble people and they were so ingratiating we could not refuse.
We talked with them on the way and were met at the mouth of the cave by a small boy aged 6 or 7yrs. 3 other kids were huddled close by playing cards. They were all around the same age and filthy. They all came to crowd round to rent us a light - fashioned from a bamboo stick, it had a kerosene soaked wick. We purchased 2 and
Rugged Up2
I'm freezing here. Not so much a smile as it is gritting my teeth together to stop them chattering... the boy and 1 Red Dzao lady led us through. It was pretty cool, the cave was a maze of small tunnels, some you could stand up in if you were lucky. The lady and boy scrambled nimbly about while I lagged clumbsily and laborously in the rear. Apparently you can make your way through the cave for 3 solid days, and exit on the opposite side of the mountain where another tribe has its village. The womans father had done this but not many ever did and a high percentage get lost and die inside, she said. We were happy with about 20 minutes down there.
Next, we went to their village and they showed us into there homes, which are surprisingly large but very basic. Except for the TV. They are open plan, as in a 1 room hut, which may have a partition seperating the area where the kids share a double bed. They made us a tea out of some leaves from a tree in the 'backyard'. The water didn't boil and was suspect but I drank it anyway, not wanting to be rude. Didn't make me sick, which I was thankful for. Then the
Ta Phin Cave
Me with the Red Dzao women. end came and they all pulled out there wares. We bought a nice bag for $5 and we knew we were paying probably triple but we figured the enjoyment we'd gotten was worth a fiver and the bag is a useful keepsake. They wanted us to buy more but there wasn't really anything else there that caught my eye. They followed us all the way back to our bike 15minutes away trying to get us to buy more, except for the woman who took us in the cave who was very understanding. I was a little apologetic but she smiled gently and said " Its ok. You buy a bag, you don't want more, you don't buy more. I understand. Is ok." Never heard that before in Asia. It was lovely!
THE NEXT DAY AND SPILLS ON A MOTORBIKE
This was the day it cleared and it was exhilerating to take our bike up the steep, narrow roads that wind their way around the edge on the mountains. The view is just so big. Amazing! People go on about how bad the roads are here but we found them, for the most part to be good
Mobbed in Sapa town
Tall white guy being mobbed by countless Black H'mong vendors. I couldn't resist this shot... compared to say Ko Phangan, in Thailand, or parts of Cambodia. Still we managed to find a pothole and a patch of loose wet road and took a tumble - I think we'd become a little complacent. A nice vietnamese guy stopped and took out some tools to bend the gear peddle back out so we could ride home. We were only going slow so there wasn't much damage, in fact the lady we rented it off didn't even make us pay anything. That was a relief!
We took the bike up to Silver Stream which was nice but not as spectacular as in the photo (are they ever?), walked around there for a bit, had lunch then went down to Cat Cat village and took a short hike. Finding a great trail to follow, we vowed to return to do a half day hike before we had to leave.
NO MONEY IN SAPA
Take heed, there are no international ATM's or banks that do cash advance in Sapa, although an increasing number of guesthouses and restuarants now accept visa and mastercard. Ours didn't however and we wasted a couple of hours trying to find
On the road
The day it cleared and we hired the bike. We are on our way to Silver Stream. somewhere to get cash so we could pay our guesthouse and bike rental bill. Some hotels do cash advance in Sapa - or so we were told - but it seems they are only willing to do that if you are staying there and nobody would help us. We came to the conclusion that we would have to do the rounds of the restuarants that took credit card and offer to pay peoples lunches on mastercard in exchange for cash. Luckily, we came across a good samaritan at the first table I approached who gave us $10 which was all we needed. We bought him and his friend lunch in return (which didn't come close to $10) and were exceedingly grateful. And more than a little embarrassed...
TREK
Well we did half a day from 9am til 2pm and followed the trail from the previous day, with no guide. It was very peaceful and apart from 2 Hmong gathering wood we didn't see a soul. We didn't find any villages, apparently they were further along but the walk was great and reasonably adventurous and very steep in parts. Have vowed to come back to climb Mt
Silver Stream
If you look close you'll see Jim on the bridge half wway up, gives you an idea of the scale... Fansipan.
ABOUT THE VILLAGES
We only really saw Cat Cat and Ta Phin. Cat Cat is so close to Sapa it is convenient but over run with tourists and village life is far from traditional. If you stop you'll be asked to buy numerous things from numerous people and every photo comes at a price: if you don't pay you most likely won't get. You should always be respectful and ask if you may take a photo before snapping away but from my experience unless they are selling or want you to pay the hill tribe people don't like to have their photo's taken. I can't say I blame them really, apart from the fact that some tribes believe the camera will take there soul away, with so many foreigners visiting everyday you'd start feeling like an animal at the zoo or a sideshow attraction.
Unfortunately by our very curiousity and desire to see what we perceive as a simpler, untarnished - perhaps better - existence (however romanticised this idea is) we change that very thing we come to experience in the first place. Sadly, I fear that Vietnams hill tribes may be heading down the
Cat Cat View
and us. Of Course same path as those in Northern Thailand and becoming a complete tourist circus through rampant tourism. And, however unwillingly, all of us who visit the area contribute to it. In Laos they are apparently doing very well to avoid reproducing such a fiasco as Northern Thailand but I imagine its just a matter of time before the hilltribes there suffer the same fate of western influence.
Of course this whole argument is fraught with hazard. On one hand it can be said that we a stripping away their culture and contributing to a cultural vacume, an insidious homogenisation. Coke and MTV and Britney Spears t-shirts (scarily popular in Asia, good God, what have we done?!?!) On the other hand it can be equally argue that we have no right to deny these people the creatrure comforts that we so readily enjoy. If they want a watch to tell time, a TV to relax in front of at night, hot water (clean water for that matter), western food or music, who are we to tell them "No."? To tell them they should have cold showers and guess the time, not watch tv? Obviously this is a severe simplification of the
Winding Road
Looking back towards to Silver Stream problem but it is generally the extent of the debate with fellow travellers. Both sides have a point.
Still many day to day things in the village remain traditional, such as the back breaking physical labour. The women carry massive baskets on their backs full of heavy, heavy stuff - such as wood or bricks or wares to sell. They do this from a very young age and this heavy weight stunts their growth and the women, in particular, are tiny even in comparison to a reasonably petite westerner. Even in comparison to other asian women. Its no doubt that life is tough here.
So we left Sapa,reluctantly. The night train back to Hanoi was uneventful and I've decided to start with a clean slate and pretend the first visit to Hanoi never happened. Start from scratch. Having said that, we are getting out of this crappy city asap and are heading to Halong Bay next for 3 days. Should be beautiful.
*Jim thought of this addition to my blog and insisted on being footnoted...
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