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Published: April 11th 2007
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The journey in to Vietnam was the easiest so far, especially as after arriving in Ho Chi Minh City and catching a flight up to Hanoi we were met by our free airport pick up.
Conscious that we were meeting Tam in a few days time we high tailed it up to Sapa with the aim of trekking up Vietnam's highest peak: Fansipan (3143m). When we arrived, however, we found that we had been booked on to the wrong trip and when we finally sorted it out and set out on the right one we discovered that there was a fire on the other side of the mountains which meant the park was closed. Disappointed we set out on a different "easier" 3 day trek which took us through various hill tribes and meant we got to stay in two of the villages. Sapa has many many different hill tribes living in the surrounding areas. They all have different traditional dress. In one of the tribes (I think the Red Dao people) the women wear red hats. Women wear smaller hats if they are married. The unmarried women have hugely ornate constructions which look very heavy.
Our companion for
the trip was Gilad, a 23 year old Israeli, fresh from the armed forces. We set off on the trek on a magnificent morning which is a wonder for Sapa which is usually draped in low cloud. The scenery was beautiful, hundreds of rice paddies in different stages of preparation, all of which were terraced into the hills. The first day was lovely, lots of undulating walking - nothing too steep - and plenty of people to say hello to. We arrived at our first home-stay in the afternoon. It turned out that our guide's sister was our host. The evening was spent eating dinner with the host family and drinking copious amounts of rice wine. The food was delicious though and we were definitely spoilt. The second day was more challenging. Shortly after we set off I stopped to allow an old lady to pass. This apparently acted as an invitation for her to give me a hand (which I didn't need) and she proceeded to stick close by helping me over difficult terrain and, at one point, dragging me at speed up a practically vertical slope. I had an inkling that at the end of this I was
supposed to buy something from her and sure enough at our first rest stop out came the basket of goods. The walk continued in the same vein (sans old lady) for the rest of the day with much more extreme terrain. Lots of slippery steep downhill sections and challenging uphill parts. Finally though, we arrived in Ban Ho our second stop for the trip. This village gets less tourist attention as most trekkers, it seems, tend to only go for 1 or 2 days. As a consequence the three of us had our host family all to ourselves. We bathed in some nearby hot springs which had been fashioned into bath tubs. The final day led us up to Nam Song village, one of the poorest in the area. We arrived in time to see the younger children of the village still in school but shortly afterwards they were allowed to leave to investigate the strangers who had suddenly appeared. The all stood at the door of their classroom and when I took a step forward they scattered, yelping. Soon enough they had regrouped and it became a great game to see who was brave enough to touch my hand.
Lots of giggling ensued. Then a small game of chase which eventually resulted in all the children running up the hill and not coming back. I was working under the impression that excitement was due to not seeing many westerners, however, as we left at least 6 or 7 others crossed our path so it can't be that rare an occasion. There was a distinct difference between this village and the others we had visited. The poverty was very apparent. There wasn't much agriculture nearby and the children were all filthy with ripped clothes. It was really heart wrenching.
At the end of our trek we had a free day to wander around Sapa which is a beautiful town set at the top of a hillside. The result is a spectacular view into the bottom of the valley. The town itself buzzes with local tribal people, all in different outfits trying to sell you their wares. There is also a market which sells everything under the sun. Unfortunately we we caught a glimpse of the butchers stall and were horrified, if not entirely surprised, to see a dog being prepared in much the same way as a dead cow in
Britain. We headed back down to Lao Cai the following day to catch the train back to Hanoi in order to meet Tam.
After a hassle free journey from the airport Tam arrived eager to see the sights of Hanoi. We had just gotten back from Sapa that morning so were slightly groggy. As we headed out to have a lunch of Pho Bo (Beef Noodle Soup - a favourite here) we walked past two cyclo drivers having an altercation. As Tam walked past she somehow got entangled in the fight and ended up narrowly missing a punch in the face. What a nice reception from Hanoi eh?
We spent the next couple of days adjusting to jet lag (Tam) and deciding the plan for the next 3 and a half weeks. After some investigation it turned out the weather in Halong Bay was as appalling as the weather in Hanoi and we decided that 2 days on a boat in the cold and rain was not going to be great despite the amazing scenery. So next stop was to be Hue.
Hue was formerly the capital city and the seat of government. It is also very
close to the Demilitarised Zone. None of us were very interested in heading out to see that area so we hired a boat to take us down the Perfume River to the Thien Mu Pagoda and the tomb of the emperor Minh Mang. Both were beautiful, the latter is set in amazing grounds which were made more dramatic by the persistent rainfall. We whiled away half an hour trying to take pictures of things through raindrops - yes we are geeks! Hue was nice enough but the rain didn't make it the most enjoyable place to walk around. After a couple of days we headed on to Hoi An.
This was one of our favourite places. We had heard many good things along our travels and we were not disappointed. Hoi An is home to around 300 tailors which means it is The place to have clothes made. We spent our four days there being measured, deciding on material and going back for fittings. In between our trips to Yaly (our tailor) Tam and I went on a cooking course. After finding out that the morning class was full and being booked on a later one we also discovered
that the maximum group size was 21 people. We were very lucky and ended up with only two other people with us in our class. We learned how to make squid in a pineapple, fresh rice paper rolls, a local dish of pancakes and an aubergine hotpot. After our endeavours we got to eat all of this in a beautiful restaurant on the river. It was perfect. For any prospective visitors we went with the Red Bridge Restaurant. Whilst Tam and I sunned ourselves by the pool Mike went off exploring by bike and had some mini adventures. He helped the electricity board erect a new powerline, watched a cock fight and refused to be ripped off for a bottle of beer - in his indignation going and buying a replacement from a local shop and requesting his money back from the bar!
Hoi An is about 5 km away from the beach, shamefully we didn't make it that far as we were very content mooching about the town itself. After 4 days our tailoring was finished and realised that it was time to move on lest tam end up spending her entire holiday in Hoi An!
Local Ladies
from one of the hill tribes
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Tam
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woooo I get to make an entrance at last! You remember well my friend, saves me having to write a diary! Top memories honey. xxxx