SAPA SAPA SAPA

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Okay, I would first like to clear up something mainly for those who think that traveling is all easy and glamorous (Matt and the anonymous person who decided to tell me to go home lol😊
I wrote about the bus trip after traveling for 20+ hours on buses climbing the mountains and feeling sick almost the entire time! Could you blame me for writing the honest truth of how I felt?!?! SUE ME 😊

Moving on... well we stayed in Sapa for 4 days and 2 of the days we spent trekking into the minority villages to see first hand the lives of the people here. WOW what an experience this was. The first day we started hiking early in the morning (it was cooler then but still hot). You have to see this place for yourself to catch the beauty of it (all around you every where you look you are surrounded by green and the rice fields are so vibrant in color that it is sometimes memorizing. You want to take a picture from every angle but realize even though it is a digital camera there is the possibility of taking too many pictures. We walked and came across the H'Mong people first (they are the ones who are usually hanging around town trying to sell you everything). They wear the indigo blue and wrap their bum-length hair around their heads and stick a comb in it... if my hair was long enough I would try it out! The children and some older women speak very good English because they have for years mimiced the tourists and are able to ask you interview questions like whats your name, how old are you, do you have a boyfriend, where are you from, how long are you here etc etc!! They are also quite capable of talking about themselves. They do not speak Vietnamese but their own language (unless they go to school which many of them don't b/c it is difficult for their families if they are not working). We did however go to visit a school and saw 2 boys there studying by themselves. Their houses are very simple and basic... cement floors, wooden walls held up on beer bottles with cracks to peek through, very open concept and tiny beds with netting, a small kitchen area (that can only be described by pictures). We did a homestay and Adele and I were trying to move the bed away from the window and think we might have busted the bed b/c we were terrified of moving in our sleep in fear of breaking the bed oops!! We also came across another minority group called the Zao (sp) and they wore red and had a different hair style. During most of the trek these people would be walking with you the entire way trying to sell you things and just talking to you so an 11 year old girl was able to inform me of many things including the fact that they were able to marry so young and also marry different village people other than their own. I definitely found talking to this little girl very interesting and helpful. It was so hot that we took a break in the river to go for a swim in the rapids!!! We had a great time here with Mel and Harvy and "trying to cross to the other side" Mark you would have hated this...
At night, we had an amazing traditional Vietnamese dinner cooked by our guide... she was an excellent cook ! After dinner the french guide taught us some little mind twister vietnamese games with rice and a bottle. He then shared some "happy water" with us which I had a hard time drinking b/c it has been a while! Off to bed early because of the misquitos (need to get to a city to buy the malaria drugs). The next morning we had yet another amazing meal of banana crepes and chocolate with fruit and coffee (all of this cost 16$ Am). Trekked for a bit to another village where we came across the cutest little 4 year old girl. She didn't say anything to us but we all thought she was gorgeous. Our guide told us that both of her parents died and one of her 4 siblings also due to illness. It was very hard to see this but the lady who was there took care of her as she did her own son who was also adorable. He just got back from hearding the water buffalo with his dad. Mel and Harvy gave them some M&M's and it was the cutest thing watching them eat these treats. Adele had extra pencils in her bag so she gave them a pencil and some paper each and we showed them what they could do. I don't think any of us wanted to leave but it was time to move on. We made it to our next stop for lunch and again went swimming in the river to cool down. We had an audiance of about 5 kids but they were cute and minded their own business. (I forgot to mention about the fact you can brush shoulders with the water buffalo on the paths and they don't seem to be scared at all). The day ended with a trip back to Sapa by jeep (a jeep we think was used during the Vietnamese war). This was worth every penny of an experience and more!!!
Today we woke up early to get to the Bai Ha (sp) Market which is supposed to be the most colorful and exciting market in the area (a not to be missed). They sell everything here from all the bacades, jewelry, fruit, vegetables, live chickens, squirming, sqeeling pigs; anything goes! I must say that some of the things I saw were quite distasteful such as the nadling of the pigs (they were tied up by the feet and yanked all the times, picked up in the most unusual ways and shoved into tiny bags; this was not easy to watch but you turned b/c of the noises. The chickens were hung by their legs upside down from the handle bars of the motorbikes still alive to be taken home... just not nice! The people here are of a different group (flower h'mong tribe) and they have very bright colors. We went to a house here to see how they live and our guide explained to us that the women do everything and the men just drink, smoke and go hunting. A lady was making a basket and her some was cooking lunch and we kept thinking to ourselves how different their lifestyle is. The guide also explained to us that the children are not excited to go to school and would rather stay home and hunt, cook, clean, work the fields etc! Life changing expereince!
After yet another "EXCITING" bus ride around and around the mountains and bouncing up and down we made it to Lai Cai which is where we are catching the train to Ha Noi tonight in an hour or so! I would just like to tell you how sweltering hot it is here and how I can't wait to get to a beach so I don't feel so filthy dirty all the time (I hope that doesn't mean I want to go home too 😊
Anyways, thanks for writing everyone...
KK- you would be walknig around in your bathing suit if you were here loce you

I miss everyone and I am looking forward to sharing some pictures with you when I get home!

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