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Published: August 31st 2012
Bree punching one in the face and almost kicking the same lady as she made a rapid descent down a muddy slope.
As fate would have it, out of 511 hotels available on agoda in Ha Noi, we chose the same as Dennis and Nicole who we said goodbye to in Hue. They happened to be planning the same as us, a trip to Sapa in North West Vietnam, with some quick rearranging of our accommodation thanks to Tim our desk man; we booked into a 2 day trip leaving the following night.
We piled the majority of our luggage into the corner of the hotels main dining room. We weren’t leaving on our overnight train until 9.50pm so we thought it would be a good idea to grab a $4 bottle of vodka and kick the night off in style, little did we know the desk man also thought this was a great idea. While our fresh fruit juice was getting made he suggested we all fill our coffee cups and skull our product straight, although he took his back to his desk and sipped it - that was ¾ the bottle done.
A cramped taxi ride got us to the station with our light bags and each person armed with a fruit juice filled with vodka. Our berth
was cosy. 2 bunks, a UNO table/bar, a TV that we couldn’t turn on and our own air-conditioning which was shut down at some stage through the night. After a few hours of nonsense we all settled down knowing we needed to be on the ball for our first hike the following day.
We arrived in Lao Cai and jumped on a mini bus for the 45 minute ride into the town of Sapa. After a quick check in and a supplied breakfast, we were given our room and told we had 20 minutes to be back in the foyer to meet our guide for the next 2 days – I would tell you his name, if I knew it. Our tiredness was soon overcome by excitement as we prepared our first 4km hike down into the valley. As soon as we left the hotel we were greeted by a dozen local ethnic minority women from the Black H’mong tribes wearing their traditional colourful dresses.
We were headed for the Cat Cat Village which is home to these women so we proceeded to walk with them, the English they spoke still amazes me and we had no problem
having full blown conversations with them, they decided to leave us as we headed down to the valley but we had a feeling we would see them again.
The walk showed us local farms growing mainly rice, as well as a large amount of hemp – purely for making clothing and bags. We made our way into the valley, which is home to a stunning waterfall where the French built a Hydraulic Power Station. We rested here to eat some freshly cooked quail and sticky rice and watch a local dance performance before completing the loop and making our way back up the hill to our hotel. Here, our new H’mong friends were waiting ready to wheel and deal. Bracelets and bags were purchased and they were content to leave us be to enjoy a walk through the local town and a well deserved beer.
The first trek was a warm up for day 2 – a 14km stroll through more of the H’mong tribe’s villages then onto Ta Van, the village of the Red Dzao people. We had a bit of rain through yesterday and overnight so Bree and I though best to get serious and hire
a pair of gumboots each at $1.50 a pair, I thought this was a bit steep but what can you do. Decked in purple (Bree) and camouflage (Me) boots we were ready to roll, Dennis and Nicole stuck with runners and ended up second best at the end of the day.
Another group of hill tribe women/girls were again our company for today, Bree had an elderly lady and I had a 12 year old girl who both walked the entire 12kms by our sides. This trip was filled with 45 degree slopping walks through muddy rice fields. We scaled the ankle deep muddy rice terraces like pros, sometimes the tribe girls were in the right place at the right time. Sometimes too handy, Bree punching one in the face and almost kicking the same lady as she made a rapid descent down a muddy slope. Happy to say the 4 of us stayed mud free, the same cannot be said for our 3 American friends who spent most of the day in the mud, it reminded me of a dirty joke – want to hear a dirty joke?
A man fell in the mud.
Want to
hear a clean joke? He took a bath with bubbles.
Want to hear another dirty joke? Bubbles was his neighbour.
Bree was lucky enough to get a photo with her helper in front of her family farm before we had lunch; we then purchased gifts from the 2, mainly as thanks for the company over the last 3-4 hours. The walk through Ta Van was incident free and after pressure to buy gifts from new companions it was time to jump on a mini bus and head back the hotel – trek complete.
After a much needed shower and a very early dinner (4.30pm) we were shuttled back to the train station, back onto the night train and after a few afternoon beers it didn’t take us long to sleep our way back to Ha Noi. Normally my idea of Sapa is cabanossi and cheese on crackers, but this experience brought a whole new level to the much loved afternoon snack.
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nancic123
Nanci and David Curry
Wow - just WOW!!!
I came upon your blog and it is just amazing!Your writing is sharp; it makes me imagine that I'm with you, too. Your photos, however, are phenomenal! We take a lot of pictures, but your pics are what we're striving for! How do you do it?! Anyway, I look forward to reading more about your journey. You've an avid fan! Nanci