fri day 168

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With an early start of 06.30 I got picked up from the hostel with a couple of others and driven round to meet the coach. Getting a good seat/bed on the sleeper bus we were soon to be on our way. I hadn't organized myself with any snacks for the 6hr journey as you always stop for a rest break. Well, not stopping and only the Vietnamese being offered water I was pretty famished by the time we got there. I'd found an old banana at the bottom of my bag so that had to do me. As we got closer the scenery changed dramatically, large lush green hills, rivers and hill tribe women selling their goods along the sides of the roads. As we pulled into the station the bus became surrounded by hill tribe women and children selling us stuff and or offering home stays. As I hadn't got anything booked I overheard a girl saying she had a booking at a hostel - I walked with her and two Hmong ladies who showed us the way. Walking through the small town of Sa Pa we made it to the hostel and I got booked into a dorm for the night. Unfortunately not being the best dorm in the world - with 10 seconds of hot water from the shower,no fan and no air conditioning,room a bit dirty and staff standing around trying to be too cool to actually sort any of the problems! gripe over - it would do for a couple of nights. Putting down my bag i headed out for a bit of a look around, firstly back to the central market - where the bus dropped us off. Finding a cheap supermarket on the way i stocked up on some snacks and walking partly round a lake i had made it back - only taking about 15 minutes. With the market being about half full of Mhong women and children selling their fruit, vegetables and nik naks mainly to locals, it was a great place to get a photo or two. With the policing unit paying a visit and generally hanging around it was fun to watch some of the women quickly packing up their goods and scurrying off before having to answer too many questions! One section of the market was dedicated to meat and fish - having a wander round sure enough i saw dog being sold - as i got my camera out the stall holder became a little tetchy and started to cover the evidence! so, being a bit more discrete i went round the corner and took a picture from there. Walking back to the main square and what is a large amphitheatre i had a sit down and watched the general goings on. Initially there were a few groups doing various exercises from skipping to volleyball until the evening started to draw in and the Hmong women and Dao women come along and set up a makeshift market selling more touristy things, such as postcards, bags and purses that they've hand made. The women are very friendly, they speak their own language which to listen to sounds like a cross between French and Vietnamese, although a lot of them have become pretty fluent in English - better for business! Seeing Mai again which was the lady that walked me from the bus station i arranged to do a homestay with her tomorrow, for the next two days - along with the other lady from the hostel and the Hmong lady that she walked with. I felt more reassured to be sharing it with someone else rather than going at it alone. Buying a couple of bits and having to barter hard with the ladies ( and still probably paying over the odds) i headed back to the hostel with a headache that just wouldnt shift - after taking some medication i fell asleep - only waking to remember to take my contact lenses out!

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