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Published: October 2nd 2006
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All aboard the night train! We were off to Sapa to view some of Vietnam's most spectacular scenery and much to Eddie's delight the home to 5 ethnic minority tribes. Our six berth cabin was occupied by 3 Aussies and a poor Vietnamese man who I'm sure could not figure out why he was being punished with all these Mr and Mrs Westerners (Ong Tay & Ba Tay), especially as Ed and I had had a feed of garlic before clambering on board and we were all locked up in very close confines! Sleep was sparse to say the least and we arrived very early in Lao Cai (town on the border with China) the next morning. A minibus picked us up and with its sleepy load climbed bravely through the patchwork of crops which grow in the valleys and slopes of this mountainous region. Along the way we could see the daily life of some of the minority people, children herding (and sometimes riding) water buffalo and women carrying their goods to market in bamboo baskets on their backs, all wearing their traditional garb.
Our arrival in Sapa was the usual flurry of grabbing rucksacks and fighting off touts...we
quickly took a chance on a guy who brought us to a small family run hotel with the most spectacular view of Mount Fansipan and the valleys from our own private balcony for only 6 dollars! The room was a little damp but this was more than made up for by the charm. First task was to get some sleep and then we wandered around the town, checked out the market and made friends with a Pho stand owner who kept us well fed on rice, noodles and veggies during our time in Sapa (all done through Vietnamese which we are very proud of ourselves for).
Sapa despite its awkward location in the North of the country is REALLY touristy, and understandable so...the setting is so picturesque and the cooler mountain climate is welcome relief from Vietnams big blistering cities and of course the main reason for its popularity; the minority tribes. Most tour operators in Hanoi offer or rather force tours to this area on you! This aspect of Vietnam we have found rather annoying; the large tour operators in Hanoi and HCMC squeeze all the locals so tight and the tours are from what we have seen
and heard pretty soulless affairs, with strict regimes and little time for spontaneity. Unfortunately often they are all that is on offer as it is no longer profitable and mostly there isn't the demand for individuals to provide similar services. We have tried really hard to be responsible tourists; we stay in local family run guesthouses when possible, eat in small local eateries, hire local transport and avoid ramming our camera in the faces of every Vietnamese or Tribal person we see. Tourism is very much a double edged sword for Sapa, its surrounding areas and the five main tribal groups living in the area. Tourists traipse around their homes and land, teaching kids bad habits (begging etc). These people until recently were self sufficient, now many kids come to towns to act as tour guides and old ladies stand around on streets late into the night offering everything from hash and coccaine to opium!(This we experienced each night first hand) It has opened our eyes to the impact our selfish curiousity can have on locals!
This all said, Sapa was well worth the visit and on our second day we managed to interact with minority people, visit the
countryside and lap up some Sapa townlife all with clean consciences. We set the alarm for 5.30 to catch the sunrise (until we discovered how overcast it was and permanently is!) and soon jumped back into bed for another 2 hours. When we woke at a more reasonable hour we headed for the market to check out the crafts and get some Pho for breakfast, we had great fun chatting and bargaining with some Black H'Moung women in the market (this is the largest tribe in the area and even the oldest have enough English to get by...sign of the times). Of course they won on the bargaining and when you see the work they put into the crafts its hard to put up much of a fight! After this we walked down to Cat Cat village to see a beautiful waterfall and pass by some traditional homes on route. The walk back up was a battle...mainly because two moto drivers had followed us down and wanted to drive us back up but we stuck to our guns and got some exercise. In the afternoon we took motos (Sorry Monica, Ned...sometimes there is just no other way to get to
places) to see a 100 metre waterfall...it was fantastic, not to mention the views on route.
On our third and final day up north, we gave in and signed up for a day tour to go and see Bac Ha market (the most colourful in the region), mainly because this included the option to be dropped back for the night train to Lao Cai. I won't start another rant as its seems the last 3 blogs have been very negative. The market was lovely, the flower H'moung people are fully decked out in every colour under the sun and once again the craftmanship is outstanding. However the tour also dragged us into a close by village to visit traditional houses etc...half our group were embarrased and upset to see the childrens lives disrupted by Westerns trekking through their domain and hung back on the pathways while the guide gave his blurb. I saw this as a complete invasion of these peoples lives and it demonstrates the Vietnamese love of the dollar above all else and tourists selfishness. We vowed not to be inlvolved in this sort of tourism again...lets see if we can stick to it.
The day
was redeemed by the couple of hours we spent waiting in Lao Cai for our return train. We wandered away from the main drag and found a Bia Hoi stand where we sat and played cards, again managing to get what we wanted with our very basic Vietnamese...the food which was once more garlic riddled (thinking once more of our poor cabin companions...2 Vietnamese ladies this time) and we laughed so hard when 30 minutes later a tourist bus pulled up and the lady in the cafe spoke English to them and gave them menus to order from. Still we were happy!
So back to Hanoi to prepare for our crossing into Laos (country number 5). We will be in very rural areas for the next week or so, electricity may be an issue never mind internet access. However, we have been generally surprised by facilities even in rural areas so far, so you never know.
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