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Published: December 22nd 2008
Another destination, another eventful bus journey! We sleepily arrived to the bus station at 0545 to find our bus blaring loud music, half naked ladies on DVD player, and party lights all around the bus. We set off at ridiculous speeds for the windy roads - Michael compared it to drink driving in the West coast. An hour into our journey we pick up about a dozen local people. The ladies were dressed in the most beautiful, colourful tradidional outfits, they are called Flower H'Mong people because of their distinctive colourful dress. 10 minutes after setting off, one of these ladies started spewing, setting off a chain reaction. Within half an hour they are all at it. Now we realised that the bags in the seats are not rubbish bags. These ladies each had a bag which they were retching, hackhing and spitting into. This lasted the whole 9 hours so by then they had nothing to bring up but bile and phlegm. By the final destination they all walked off the bus with a bag of their stomach contents! Again, at times it felt as though the bus was clinging to the edge of a steep mountain. It seems as
though the roads here fight a constant battle against Mother Nature. In the wet season the roads probably wash away and become impassible. They probably only just manage to rebuild them before wet season starts again.
On arriving in Sa Pa, it is much bigger than we both expected. We are greeted instantly by ladies of ethnic minority, wanting to sell us jewellry. We stay in a guesthouse with a balcony overlooking the highest mountain here, Fansipan mountain at 3143 metres. In the evening we went for a walk around town and are immediately pounced on by young girls and women trying to sell us stuff. The young H'Mong girls use their endless charm to persuade tourists to buy things from them. 'You buy from me!' one girls pleads, just before her friend butts in 'No! You buy from me!' It's quite easy to see why most people give in. At one point we even had to out-run a little girl because she wouldn't stop following us! The next day I awake to my first dose of the shits. We put it down to the 3 bags of oranges we ate over 2 days...
SaPa with the rice
terraced hillsides and indigenous tribes is the stuff of postcards. Centered around a lake and a market square, streets branch off in all directions. In the main tourist area the street is awash with H'mong and Dao tribeswomen selling their wares. The whole street is one big sea of colour in places with bright hand embroidered cloth and throws draped over any wall available. Of the tribal people we've met, there are H'Mong, dressing mainly in black with coloured cross-stitch and black head-dress. The Flower H'Mong wear much the same dress, only made from the brightest of pinks and oranges they can find dye to make. And the Dao, most noticable for their fire-engine red head dresses.
We walked through Sapas bustling market. Of the many weird and wonderful things we see, the head head of an unfortunate dog on a BBQ, Bulls penis on the butchers table and much more....
The people here really chance their luck when selling things. On buying postcards, the vendor in question asked for 80,000 dong. We both immediately walked away but he shouted 'No no, you can haggle to take the price down...it's what we do here!' So after a lot of
Flower H'Mong people
They look sweet but they hack and spit like truck drivers.friendly haggling we got them for 25,000 dong for 10. Just under a pound.
From Sapa, we go on a 3 day trek which involves overnight stays in two different tribal villages. Beautiful scenery and a great way to see how everyday life really is here.
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John gaynor
non-member comment
The dug pic!!
Hi guys looks like your right into it! Jealous as hell! Thanks for the doggie pic, you've just solved my problem about what I'm cooking me mum and brother for Xmas.....SALLY here darling! Ta much know your having a ball. If your still in 'Nam try and visit a wee town on the coast called Hoi Ahn...its lovely and a great market! have fun! john xxx