Beautiful but HOT

---

Vietnam is HOT but beautiful!!

We went on our 2 day journey out of Sapa to visit the Mong people. They call them that because they decended from Mongolia, and there are 5 different groups that speak the same dialect (not vietmanese) but wear different color embroidery on their traditional clothes and sometimes different head wear. We kept on seeing tons of females wondering about and following us and helping us across the mud and small streams....my guide failed me at one point and I ended up standing in the stream....fullout sloshy the rest of the day!! They kept on looking at us and each of us had our own sometimes 2 of them and they were like...you and me friends right and later you buy from me right!! (well you can help me across this jungle first and then i'll think about it!!) hahahah! They are also wearing enough clothing for minus 5 degree weather and I don't understand how they still don't break a sweat! I"m completely drenched in it like i've been swimming and their all looking at my red face and wet clothes wondering what the hell happened to me! It was about a 12km or so walking past endless amounts of rice fields and mountains and such a lush environment!! We stopped to look at some houses where they live and again more women and children!! Where are all the men!! Well apparently they're taking care of the water buffalo which I think was honestly a mix between a rhino and a cow!! Personally I think the women have it harder! (i'm a bit biast!)
The children learn english from the tourists....how old are you....where are you from......you buy from me okay! They're really cute though and just want to talk to you.
I kept on dreaming that if we walked far enough and didn't drink that we'd come across a gingerbread air conditioned house but luckily there was a stream at the end of this walk where our guest house was!! The current was quite strong and there were alot of rocks.....so the 4 of us (me, shawna, the british couple) reluctently got in and trying to swim you felt like you were on a tredmill! So Harvey went first across the river (very scary) only took us 30 minutes to get the guts to do it.....we all swam across and felt quite proud but I swear when you see the pictures it was alot harder than it looks!! hahahah!!
Our tour guide was an amazing cook and always had a buffet feast for us every meal and soo good. We may have been the only ones to hike for 2 days and gain weight!
Relaxed at night and went to bed the earliest i've done in over a decade! Woke up and walked some more and visited some more villages oh and swam some more! We ran into this one little girl and her mom and dad had died and she'd lost some siblings as well and we gave her and this other little boy some paper, pencils and chocolate! They were soo cute and we eventually got them to smile!
So 2 days ended with a jeep ride back to Sapa in a vehicle that had been used during the Vietmanese war (no lie)...this thing was OLD!!
Toured around the city enjoying the sights and the same girls come and ask you to buy their hand made pillow cases and earings. Very touristy city though...but we enjoyed our first stop in Vietnam!!
Today we went to a popular sunday market...Baiha Market. They sell animals and everything you could imagine. Pigs, puppies, jewelery...salminila!! Quite the sight!! Afterwards we visited the local village and our guide told us that boys and girls are given the same name at birth until they're 2 or 3 years old and then they have a naming party and given earings for girls and a necklace for the boys because of the child death rate. So when they've made it to 3 they get a celebration! Seems harsh but makes sense when they probably see so many children die.
Finally after 6 hours of transportation today made it back to a town about an hour out of Sapa called Lai Cai to get a sleeper train to Ha Noi. Should arrive there around 5 am with no where and not a clue what to do!! sounds like fun!!

Take care and I posted 3 pictures from my friend from Tibet!

---