Mi Sapa es su Sapa

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Hello all,

Danielle's mom, Vianne (Vi-ahn) is with us and after some getting used to, it's been okay. Danielle and I have been travelling for a month and a half. To add a new person is always difficult, but like the apes, and after a talk, we've all adapted.

I have to admit that seeing her cross the street at first was very frustrating because we're used to no traffic lights and scores of bicycles, scooters, motorcycles, and cars making a bee-line for you. So Danielle and I just go across the street. The key is not to hesitate and when you hit a mark, look up to see how the traffic looks. The Asian people are used to this chaos so they'll move as long as they can anticipate where you are going. If you're not consistent, you'll be hit. Vianne wasn't used to this so we'd take 5 minutes waiting for her in this heat and humidity. I'm not the most patient person normally so I had to bite my tongue many times. A street seller carrying a bamboo pole that held fruit, felt sorry for both Vianne and us so she actually grabbed Vianne's arm and dragged her and her bamboo pole across the street. There are times like this that I wish I could recreate the horror on Vianne's face. It was priceless and now I have something to tease her about for the rest of our lives which is always nice.

Vianne is also a classic when it comes to sayings. Picture her as a Vietnamese Yogi Berra. Here is my favorite humdinger so far. Remember to give her a break because she's just a rookie while Danielle and I are Asian majors. (hell we even went to a Japanese baseball game).

Vianneism#1
There was a Bach concert in Hanoi and she wondered how he sounded in Vietnamese

Needless to say, I'm writing all of them down and when these emails get published, she will get rich and famous from this.
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Eric: Hey, Ed. How bad is the heat and humidity in Vietnam?

Ed Mcmahon: I don't know, Eric. How bad is it?

Eric: It's so bad that you can put a heavy sheet over your face and it feels the same if you didn't have the sheet on.

(insert rim shot here and crickets chirping)

Okay, the joke isn't funny, but neither is the weather. It's frigging hot and humid. I take two showers. One when I wake up, and one when I hit the outside. The only thing you can do with the humidity and heat is rise above it which is why we went to Sapa, Vietnam.

After buying our tour tickets from a company in Hanoi that has a real dicky Australian owner that shall remain nameless. (Max at the Kangaroo Café. He looks like one of the village people and is truly a rude bugger). Despite the nameless one, we are glad we bought the tickets, Sapa is gorgeous. Sapa is like true love, words cannot describe how wonderful it is.

Please, do yourself a favor and look up Sapa on the internet. You'll see why it's like living in the clouds. I know I’m harping on this, but I don't see how the Americans hoped to win this war. Vietnam is hot, humid, and rainy. A solidier with 60 lbs. of gear can't hope to compete with a Vietnamese soldier who's used to this and can hide in the ever-present foliage. Pretend it’s the Olympics, In Olympic terms, the Vietnamese will never have a weight lifting champion much like America will never again win a marathon. Certain climates just don't allow for it and I'm finding out why. When you see how beautiful a country is, it's hard to picture war ravaging it. It's a good thing for us because after the Hanoi Hilton, it's nice to not think of war.

Sapa is a very poor town as our many towns in Vietnam. Many of the kids can't afford to go to school and you wonder how communism is a good thing. But the people are very very kind and like most of the cities that we've been to, these people don't know any difference so only people like me see the inequities of their society. I guarantee the Vietnamese leaders aren't living in shacks and riding in carts. Enough about politics, because this place is beautiful and is more important than politics will ever be.

Imagine people in their traditional outfits plowing fields with frigging water buffaloes. These people are the Mong (black outfits) and the Zhou (red outfits). A long time ago, the Zhou won a war with the Mong so the Mong fled to the mountains (Sapa) and the Zhou are mostly in the valley. Everything is bright green here and it is breathtaking when the sun shines through the clouds. The only flaw are the peddlers who won't leave you alone. But even they are so nice that you just have to buy something from them. I have bonded with a peddler named Curiel who wants Danielle and I to come back when we have a baby and she'll make an outfit for him/her when we get back. She can't pronounce my name so I am and will always be Ehc to her. It's nice and I had to take at least three pictures and buy a hat from her.

The great debate is whether or not westernizing this town is a good thing.

Pro: with tourists coming in they get money for schools and more important things like food. Within 5 years, the Sapa economy will grow and hopefully with it, more public necessities. Also, they will realize that there is a much bigger world out there.

Con: You can already see them wearing Nike shirts under their traditional outfits and how long will it be before you see the Sapa people rocking out with MTV and going to see Mary Kate and Ashley flicks. Instead of wearing their outfits or performing their dances for tradition, they'll only be doing these things for a paying Western audience. Also, they will realize that there is a much bigger world out there.

I hate to say this, but I'm adding to the westernization with my money and I don't know how to feel because I met some really great people here and saw some amazing things that my future children will never get a chance to see. The Sapa of today will not be seen five years from now, for better or worse.

During our 6 mile hike it rained like a mother. Oh, that's why it's so green. Duh. The only dry part on me, was my chest because I have a kick-ass rain slicker that I found in the last hostel we were at. Yes, I've turned into a scavenger. However, a human sized ziploc bag couldn't keep me dry. It's exactly as you see it during the raining scenes in the Vietnam war movies. It was wet. At first we were afraid to walk into puddles and avoid mud. By the end, we walked through rivers and screwed the bridges. We were caked. We looked like the cast of Quest for Fire with mud everywhere. Danielle was Rae Dawn Chong and I was the other cast member. It was awesome. The jeep ride back to the hotel wasn't so awesome because imagine being on the side of a muddy cliff in a jeep built in the seventies with 476,000 miles on it. Danielle was freaking and strangely enough, I wasn't scared. Vegas must love me, because I'm more afraid of an airplane than I was in the jeep even though the odds of me plunging down the cliff is much much better. In fact, last month a pair of tourists was killed when a boulder smashed into their car. Yet there I was, laughing, and taking picture after picture of Danielle's look of fear. What a rude bugger I am.

It was interesting to see how this people survives in continuous downpours. Our Mong guide is a fifteen year old named Mo. She is awesome and doesn't stop. Like all Mong, she is undersized and is stronger than she looks. She can't afford to go to school because her parents need her to work. Five years from now, with more money in the community, Mo would be able to go to school in her Nike's. Mo took us to a traditional show here in town that in a word was awful. Imagine a three hour show where the cast constantly laughs and talks to their friends in the audience while forgetting the choreography. Okay, it was only 1/2 an hour but it felt like three. There was one really good guy who was very into it and it hurt me to watch his cast members sucking. However, in 5 years and many more paying tourists, it will be CATS, Vietnam style.,

We're on our way to Halong Bay and then the trip down to Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon. Take care of yourselves.


Eric

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Photos

Yes, mom we're in heaven...
City in the clouds. Mo is our tour guide and the blonde is Mom in law, Vianne.

Look at the fear on their faces...
jeep ride $1, Asia air ticket $1200, seeing the look of terror on your wife and mother in law's faces...Priceless.

Monk
How can you not give some of your Dong to that face?

Buy It
This is the Sapa version of Wal-Mart

Eric and Danielle
Just kidding. Just kidding.

Floutist
This is why I bought the flute.

Success at shopping...
Yes, I bought the flute