Advertisement
Published: April 8th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Sapa -
This entry will have to be quick (short on time) . . .
Our overnight train was interesting - 4 beds per berth. Myself, Kober, Martyn and our guide, Khan, all shared a berth. Mom and Dad shared one with another friendly couple whom were from England.
The mattress was actually comfortable. The noise of the train and movement of the train easily disturbed all of our sleep (except for Kober). The train ride was from 9 Pm until 5-6 am.
Upon arrival into the town of Lao cai, our driver was ready to take us on our 45 min. ride into the mountainous region of Sapa. On a humorous note, prior to leaving we had to go to the bathroom. As I waited for the restroom to become available, a woman approached Kober and I trying to sell us items. She soon tried selling us "sexy card" and then she flashed a light from a small flashlight in her hand that displayed a large pornographic picture on my shirt. Anyway, this was the only time somone tried selling me pornographic material, so far.
The weather into Sapa was a white out. The drive
is supposed to be terrific - filled with green mountainous terrain filled full of rice terraces. Upon arrival into Sapa, we checked into our hotel, had lunch and were off to begin trekking at two different places. Kober was feeling too ill to participate so he slept in the hotel. Martyn was not feeling all to welll either and he almost did not participate, but decided he had enough energy to continue.
Our first stop was into a rustic (the villages are all rustic) village inhabited by the Red Dzao people.
Upon arrival into the village, we were swarmed by the females trying to sell us items. Mom was surrounded by many Red Dzao as she stepped out of the van. The trek was short, but very enjoyable. The people were very friendly and gentle - the perrsistance of trying to sell us items stopped when we made it clear that we would not buy anything until we were ready to leave.
The village displayed the poor conditions in which they lived - however, this has been a way of life for them for hundreds of years. The places where they relieve themselves is anywhere. There is not a
Red Dzao village
Mom being greeted by the females ready to sell designated place for doing this. I recall seeing a little boy, 2 or 3 years old, deficating in front of his home.
The second portion of our trek was to another village down into a valley (Cat Cat valley) that is accessible from Sapa town, not too far from our hotel. This portion of the trek took about 2 hours to complete. Despite the mist and poor visibility, we could still view some of the surrounding terrain. During the last portion of the trek, we were still 30 minutes away from getting out of the valley and we were greeted by a significant downpour. We were all entirely soaked to the bone. The temperatures were not too cold so it was not too bad. It was actually comical. Prior to this portion of our trek, we decided raincoats would not be necessary since it would onlly be 2 hours - we were wrong. As we approached Sapa town, we ventured into an ethnic market that was covered by tarps. There were no other tourists around since our guide was leading us through a short cut back toward our hotel. The market was dark, full of people huddled together at
Red Dzao village
Martyn looking for a wife . . . undecided multiple places either eating, selling various animal parts all displayed out on tables - whether intestines or extremities or heads - fires at numerous places for cooking, children playing, a mix of Vietnamese dressed in regular clothes and others dressed in typical ethnic minority attire - colorful robes or head dresses. The smells and sounds of the market were memorable.
I will have to continue this blog at another time since I must go. I will further describe our trekking travels for days 2 and 3 of trekking
Advertisement
Tot: 0.078s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 7; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0546s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb
Brett Cavanaugh
non-member comment
Awesome
What a great experience, Jeff! Both Christina and I wish we were there with you---wonderful descriptions of the things you are experiencing. Looking frward to getting more updates. Brett