"Sapa" "Sapa" "Sapa"

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As we disembarked the bus into the bright hot morning air, we realised that we had no VMD (dong) and a quick look in the photocopied pages of the Lonely Planet we had, showed that there was no bank in town. So there was no other option but to use the black market, in the form of a young man who met us as we got off the bus. He seemed a little disappointed that we had no Lonely Planet to sell him, but more disappointed that we didn't need to buy one. He did however cheer up when we said we needed to change some cash, he offered us 169 VMD to 1 yuan. We knew that we were being had but it turned out to be only about 30 VMD under the bank rate. We only needed a little cash, because we knew that once we crossed over the border there was an ATM that we could use. So we changed our last 250 yuan and set off for the border, a two minute walk from the bus stand.

We turned the corner and could see the bridge that marked the crossing point between China and Vietnam, we walked into the Chinese border control and up to the passport contol officer, who took one look at us and sent us back to fill out a health and customs declaration. This done, we returned to passport control... Now I don't know for sure, but we must have some very interesting stamps in our passports, because it took the officer a good 10 minutes looking at each passport, before he would stamp it and let us leave his country. With our newly stamped passports we made our way to the bridge. As we neared it, two more Chinese officers walked up to us, saluted and asked to see our passports. These guys must have seen a lot of passports, because they just looked at them very quickly, returned them, saluted again and waved us on our way.

On the Vietnamese side of the bridge, things were a little simpler... Having filled in our health declaration we went to the first counter, the officer stamped it and handed it to the next officer (so we side stepped to the next counter). This officer asked if we had anything to declare, he then stamped the the bit of paper and passed it to the passport control officer (we did another side step), and were asked to show our passports, to have the stamps checked and to have add one more stamp added to the pile. Whilst all this was happening and we were edging ever closer to the exit, a larger and larger group of people were getting ready to pounce on us....

.... "Do you need moto bike", "do you want change money", "need bus", "hotel", "blood transfusion". Unfortunately for them (and also for us we would find out later), the two young ladies who had the travel consession in the customs hall got to us first. They took us to the ATM and then arrange for our train ticket to Hanoi (you have to use a travelagent for this) for five days hence and laid on a bus to Sa pa for 30,000 (N.B: It is roughly 15,000 dong to the pound or two American dollars).

So with cash in our pocket and our tickets on order, we got in the mini bus to Sa pa. It was now about 10am and getting very hot and all we wanted to do was lie down somewhere cool and sleep. The border town of Lao Cai is said to be the hottest place in Vietnam and it certainly felt like it sitting in that bus, whilst Sa Pa (it's 38km neighbour) is the coolest. The journey to Sa pa was hot, slow and very noisy, because everytime we past a pedestrian, the female banshee (who was our conductress), would scream at the top of her voice "Sa pa", "Sa pa", "Sa pa", until the walker was either out of earshot or was squeezed into the mini bus. The road to Sa pa is a almost constant 10% uphill gradient and as the minibus got fuller, it also got slower. In the end, the 38km journey took a some what arduous hour and a half. Having arrived we booked into the CatCat hotel for only 220,000 VMD a night (very nice). Especially as it had wonderful views of the mountains and a comfortable bed, which we fell to sleep on straight away.

When we woke, we went for a short stroll into center of town to see what was about and to have something to eat. It did not take long for us to be approached by two of the ever present H'mong village hawkers. They were friendly and even though they insisted on waiting for us outside the restaurant window, when we declined to buy anything, they were not nearly as persistent as we had expected. So full of good food and fresh mountain air, we returned to the hostel to finish catching up on our lost sleep.

Next morning we awoke to a glorious day, the sun was shining, there was a cool breeze and a fantastic view from the balcony, we went down for breakfast and to book a two day hike into the hills, with an overnight stay in one of the villages. Having done this, we went to have look at the town in daylight to see what it was really like. The town is not the most beautiful you will ever see but the market has some weird and wonderful things to look at.

Whilst walking through the market I decided to get a shave from a street barber, followed by a quick haircut and finishing with giving my ears a once over (I can now hear a sparrow fart at 30 paces) and all for under two pounds. We then stocked up on some essential supplies for our trek, water, fruit, cookies and other stuff and then went to lunch at the Camellia restaurant (the chicken with lemon leaf was great) and everyone is realy smiley.

The next morning, after an early start and a hearty breakfast, it was just a short wait to meet our guide Mi Mi a very talented and articulate 19 year old (Black H'mong) girl in traditional dress. We started our walk in good spirits and headed out of town and off the road and on to a well worn path down through rice terraces. By the time we stopped for lunch (beside a large river with wonderful views of the surrounding hills) we were quiet hungry but even so, we could not finish the feast (mini baguettes, laughing cow cheese, tomatoes, cucumber and boiled eggs followed by a huge fruit salad of oranges, banana and (my favourite) appley/pear) that Mi Mi prepared for us. The good thing was that everything we could not eat, was shared out amongst the children who waited outside ready to pounce on you as you left the "restaurant," with the universal call of "you buy something from me?".

In the afternoon we visited some small villages, saw how rice is separated from the husk (using a water thresher) and were shown around a local home by its elderly occupant, including the two enormous indigo vats in the corner of the kitchen. As the afternoon started to draw on, we reached the village we would be staying in. Our house was on the outskirts of the village and looked more like a large barn than a house, we where met by one of the ladies of the house, who invited us in (you have to wait to be invited before entering). The lady showed us where we would be sleeping that night (up in the eves of the house), along with three other treckers who were to join us later.

After a leisurely drink of tea, we took a stroll down to the river to cool down. The water was very cold but refreshing and by the time we returned to the house the other guests had arrived, two french gents and Vincento (from Singapore) 50 years old on the outside and 18 on the inside. Emma bravely took a cold bucket shower in the four foot by four foot bamboo room next to the kitchen and then went into the kitchen to help Mi Mi and the other women prepare supper. Emma: I sat myself on a low woven stool as far out of the way as possible and watched Mi Mi unload ingredients from her backpack onto a basic wooden table. The kitchen was five foot by fifteen, with a mud floor, bamboo walls and a metal grill ten inches or so off the floor that served as a stove and was fueled by just a few sticks of bamboo. I helped the ladies prepare some vegetables but most of the time I simply sat quietly, watching in awe as they prepared a feast from nothing, in no space and with hardly any equipment. For me, things like sitting and watching the women, looking around the kitchen garden that was attached to the house, looking out over the rice fields, being surprised to find a little pig in a bag trying to make an escape, finding happy chickens in a basket, showering in what was little more than a bamboo box, listening to the rain that night thunder down on the roof .... these little private moments were the most precious for me.

When supper was ready to be served, Mi Mi asked if we wanted to eat on our own or with the family, we opted for the latter, put several tables together in the front yard and all 12 of us sat down to eat. No sooner had we started, than out came the rice wine and after a few rounds, the conversation became more lively. After supper Mi Mi and Mang (the other guide), were teasing Vincent about his dancing, so he treated us to a full demonstration of the differant types of ballroom dances. This put us all into hysterics (not because of the dancing but because of his running commentary). Having picked ourselves off the floor, Mi Mi suggested that we play cards (spoons, a drinking game), which led to much laughter and ultimately some hangovers. All of a sudden there was a huge peel of thunder, a flash of lightning and the heavens opened. We quickly moved inside and continued playing. Whilst the lady of the house covered the five foot mound of rice in sacks that were in the porch, precariously close to the falling rain. As time passed, one by one people drifted off to bed until only three of us were left, so we called it a night.

In the morning we stumbled (some people stumbled more than others), downstairs to the biggest pile of pancakes you have ever seen and lots of strong coffee (Vincent even managed a couple of shots of rice wine, mad fool that he is). After breakfast and our goodbyes to the family, we started back on our trek. Because of the rain during the night the ground had become VERY slippy. We were extremely pleased to have the hiking sticks that we had bought in Dali, and we put them to good use all day. We were followed by a group of H'mong women who tried to help us at ever opportunity along the paths, that were sometimes more like sled runs than footpaths.

We walked until midday, passing through bamboo and pine forest until we came out by a beautiful waterfall. We followed the falls down to where it joined the main river, as this was the pickup point for the end of the trek. Having (on Mi Mi's advice) purchased one piece of embroidery from each of the ladies who helped us, we sat down and started to play cards again. As more people reached the end of the trek, more people wanted to join in our card game, until we could fit no more around the table and the noise from all the people playing reached a crishendo, like the sound you hear just as the new year is rung in with people laughing and shouting to be heard over the laughter. MiMi called us over and said that we had to head towards the road, as our jeep that would take us back to Sapa would be arriving soon, so we said our goodbyes to everybody and headed back to the real world that is Sapa.

That evening we met up with MiMi to go and see some traditional dancing at one of the local hotels. As we were walking we changed our path so as to follow some noise that was coming from the town square. A stage had been set up and some sort of presentation was going on. People would file up onto the stage, be given some flowers, a plaque, have a photo taken and walk off. Then a group, all dressed like John Travolta from Saturday night fever would come on play a tune and strut their stuff and the whole thing would start again. After a few rounds of this, we got bored and continued on towards the traditional dance which was quite entertaining, after which we headed straight to bed.

Our penultimate day was spent wandered around town, bying Vietnamese coffee filters, crystallised rasberries (for which Sapa is known), tiger balm for our bites and finally going to a small gallery and purchased a picture by a local artist called VU Thang, who we later heard is known internationally. He normally specialised in lacquer work but we favoured an early water colour. Emma spent the afternoon finishing the book about Sa Pa that she had purchased on our first day in town and we wandered up the hill through the orchid gardens to check out the view from the radio mast.

The next day was our last in Sa Pa. We went by motobike to see the Silver Falls, which was very pretty but just as we were taking our photos the camera decided to brake, so we only got a few picture we returned to Sapa to pack and take the night train to Hanoi.

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