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July 7, Saturday: Sa Pa town
On Tuesday night I traveled to Hanoi with Chi Sen and four commune leaders from the buffer zone of Phong Nha Ke Bang. The train was booked solid, so we took a sleeper bus. There were three rows of bunks ingeniously designed so that the head of the person in front of you was above a compartment for your feet. However, it was made for the Vietnamese and my legs were just a little too long.
My 4th of July holiday was spent attending a CBT network meeting, conducting a CBT study tour orientation for the commune leaders, and wandering Hanoi with Chi Sen and the men. Chi Sen told me later that the men wanted her to buy me flowers in honor of my country's holiday, but that she didn't get the chance. Still a nice thought. Instead of a backyard BBQ, I had hamburger wrapped in tofu and fried with a side of sticky rice. Not a very American meal, but delicious nonetheless. That night we met up with Chi Giang (Hanoi Counterpart staff), and took a sleeper train and then a bus to Sa Pa town.
Sa Pa
town is nestled in the central highlands of northwest Vietnam, near the Chinese border. If you've seen pictures of neatly terraced rice paddies set high in green mountains, then you've probably seen Sa Pa. However, you will not see any beautiful Sa Pa pictures displayed here. I forgot to pack my battery charger and the cheap batteries sold in Sa Pa only provided my camera with enough power for the few pictures posted here. I will eventually get copies of Chi Giang's pictures, but for now you have to use your imagination.
Most Vietnamese belong to the majority ethnic group Kinh, but Sa Pa is home to some of the most colorful and traditional ethnic minorities in Vietnam. Most visible in Sa Pa town are the H'Mong and Zao. These two groups live closely to one another in the villages surrounding Sa Pa and many intermarry. Sa Pa town is the tourist center in the central highlands. Tourists congregate here to book trekking trips and arrange homestays in the minority villages. Many Vietnamese and Japanese tourists, as well as those who do not have time or desire for further exploration choose to stay in town and visit the beautifully
manicured mountain-top gardens and the congested handicraft market. However, wandering Sa Pa town for too long can be intense for a Western tourist. We are homing beacons for the hoards of adorable H'Mong girls carting around bracelets, woven bags, and other goodies. Incessant pleas of "You buy from me! You buy from me!" follow you everywhere, and girls as young as five with excellent English skills will try to engage you in friendly banter ending with a convincing sales pitch. I met one girl in the morning and refused to buy anything, but after she tracked me down twice more throughout the day and we had learned all about each other through the conversation peppered with pleas to buy, I finally bought. All of the gifts and souvenirs I bought while in Sa Pa have similar connections to long conversations with charming and amiable craftswomen. The ancient woman with indigo-dyed hands that I bought a hat from had eagerly showed me each element of H'Mong costume and how it was worn, giggling as I tried putting a woven headband on as a belt. That night I sat in a restaurant catering to western tourists until I got up the nerve
to approach the tourists there to do some informal interviewing about their interest in community-based tourism. I ended up having long and interesting conversations with a French couple and a lone Australian traveler who had joined up with two other lone travelers from other countries. It was the first time I felt I could really relax and be myself since last hanging out with Greg and Evi, which felt like eons ago. Language can be such a barrier for me, even with Chi Sen.
We left Sa Pa town the next day (Friday), and took a bumpy jeep ride on what appeared to be an impassible mud road to Ban Ho village where we would stay the night at a homestay. In fact it was impassible for a large truck that blocked the road for about half an hour until an excavator construction vehicle was able to lift and shove it out of the mire. On the way I bumped my head twice on the ceiling of the jeep as I chatted with our gregarious and affectionate H'Mong girl guide named something that sounded like Zui. Zui was eighteen and unlike most H'Mong girls who get married and start
families when they are as young as thirteen, Zui didn't think she ever wanted to settle down. She was cheeky and playful and would attack me from behind with kamikaze hugs. She also sang made-up songs about me or what we were doing at the moment. She began telling me we were sisters, then she changed her mind and said we were boyfriend and girlfriend, with me being the boyfriend since I had hairy arms. Zui was my best friend and my prime entertainment in Ban Ho. I loved her dearly.
At the homestay there were several other tourists from Australia, Holland, and France sharing the large stilt house. In Sa Pa Zao families host the tourists in their homes (which are built larger than traditional homes to accommodate the visitors), while H'Mong girls act as guides and cook the meals. The H'Mong guide with the Australians earned the nickname "French Fry" after claiming that she made the best french fries, "I shit you not!" They were, in all honesty, the absolute best french fries I have ever eaten. That day we visited other homestays and met with the Village Tourism Management Board. That night I learned the Vietnamese rice wine toast "Mot! Hai! Ba! Yo!" ("One! Two! Three! Shoot!") while eating dinner with my group from Quang Binh province. After they retired early I continued practicing the toast with the other tourists until only the French guy and I were awake drunkenly complaining about our respective presidents and talking about hip hop.
Today I woke up feeling fine despite my late night with the rice wine. However, after bouncing and roughly bumping around in the jeep ride back up the mountain, the rice wine in my stomach felt as though it was soda in a shaken can. After we got out of the car to visit another village of homestays, I ended up loosing what remained of the wine as well as the banana pancakes I had eaten for breakfast. I was embarrassed, but relieved to be done with the jeep shaken rice wine. Pepto-Bismol tablets ensured the rest of the ride back to Sa Pa was as comfortable as it could be on that road. I felt fine the rest of today as we re-visited Sa Pa town, but when I brushed my teeth I noticed that my tongue was black. I was worried that I had caught something exotic or rice-wine-over-indulgence-related. However, after some research I learned that Pepto-Bismol tablets can have this effect. It's simply a mineral deposit that collects on your tongue and can be brushed off. It can also turn your poop lovely shades of black and blue. I've learned so much here in Vietnam.
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Patrick
non-member comment
failed ad campaigns
"Pepto Bismol: It'll Beat You Until Your Poop Is Black and Blue!"