You buy from me?

---

I arrived at the Lo Cai train station, which services Sapa, much earlier than expected; 4:25 to be precise. Given that I thought we were supposed to get in around 6:00, I was not ready to go. Fortunately, last night I practiced my usual habit of keeping everything together. So all I had to do was quickly throw on my shirt, grab my sheets and bags, put on my sandals and go. I was off the train within a minute and managed not to forget anything. The only thing wrong with me was my shirt was on backwards. I discovered this after I met up with a few people I recognized from my group outside the station.

We found our guide and, after about 20 minutes of waiting, we went out to our shuttle bus. There we waited another 20 minutes for another group to arrive. I began to wonder if somehow I ended up on an earlier train with this later train supposed to be in around 6:00.

The ride out to the hotel in Sapa Town took about an hour. We drove on rough dirt and old paved roads through thick jungle that covered the surrounding mountains. On arrival, we were treated to breakfast before leaving our bags in storage and meeting our small group guides at 9:00.

My guide, Chu, was a 14 year old local girl who speaks excellent English. She didn’t pick up English in her minimal schooling but rather from communicating with English speaking tourists. I found hers to be much better than many guides who were formally educated.

Joining me on the tour were Paul and his girlfriend Liz from Reading, England, Peter and his wife Gerry from Queensland, Australia and two girls from Switzerland near the French border. The Swiss girls largely kept to themselves but the rest of us talked throughout our three and a half hour walk.

Paul and Liz work together in England. She was in Singapore for work so he joined her and they took an extra few weeks while they were in the area to visit northern Vietnam (her choice) and Phuket, Thailand so he could take a day trip to SCUBA dive at Ko Phi Phi. They head there next.

Paul and I talked a bit about diving - his first dive was at the Great Barrier Reef, too - and his trip to Nepal a few years ago. He did a trek through the Himalayas similar to what Dave and I are planning to do in a month. The only difference is he did his with his grandparents (he‘s a couple years older than me so my guess is that they would have been in their 70s). They did a trek every year and were well known by all the locals for their age.

The walk itself went for, I would guess, a couple miles. In the fog, we started down a long dirt path that serves as a road before working our way down some steps to a local’s home used to show tourists. It felt a bit like Cribs Vietnam. Inside the small doorway was a low ceiling with a slab floor serving as the base. To one side was a small bedroom that sleeps 4-5 people. The rest of the home’s interior was common area, complete with animals and an open fire; though with the bedroom situation I guess the whole house is technically common area.

Just down the path was a small replica village complete with hand operated clothes making machines, bottles of snake and medicinal wines, huts on stilts with uniquely made ladders leading up to them and a table of large knives for sale. In one of the huts a few of us tried carmedon seeds, popular in Indian food. They are used medicinally here for colds. They tasted a lot like a really strong cough medicine.

As the sun began to emerge for the first time in days, we continued our descent, coming upon a machine that used the water flow to power a grinding machine. Below it was a group of water falls and a stream leading under a bridge. At the base were a few huts selling food and drink. Paul, Liz and I stopped in one and were soon joined by Chu. Paul and I grabbed a beer each and he also had pork on a stick and sticky rice both off the grill. Liz ordered a potato, something none of us had seen here yet, that was cooked on the grill. She split it with the rest of us, adding some chili sauce for some great flavor.

We rejoined the rest of the group and began our ascent back to our hotel. After some slow climbing, we came upon a rickety old bridge suspended by some questionable steel wires. As we all crossed, it bounced up and down. The wood that we walked on was also not of the best quality. Amazingly no one fell through. Most made it across pretty quickly as a few people are afraid of heights.

We continued our ascent as the sun continued to shine. The one advantage of having been in the tropics over the last month is that I didn’t mind the heat - it was probably in the mid-70s Fahrenheit. Everyone else was sweating profusely. We stopped along the way for everybody to cool down with drinks and ice cream. I spent the time soaking in the view of the surrounding hills. Our last stop before returning to the hotel to check in was at a government house. It was no surprise that this was the nicest home in the area. It also had some spectacular views.

Throughout our walk we were inundated with people selling hand made fabrics, bracelets, drinks and postcards. Their pitch - “you buy from me?” A “no thank you” typically followed, though I did pick up my first batch of postcards on any trip within the past year.

When we returned I checked into my private room, got cleaned up and grabbed a late lunch downstairs. Afterwards, I headed out for a bit of touring of the town. There really isn’t much to see in the town itself - a French built church and a market. Surprisingly, the market actually sold what I consider to be useful items - multi-tools and fold-up shovels for trekkers (which is why people come to Sapa), razors, playing cards and flasks. Most of the other markets just sell junk jewelry, knock off designer clothing and apparel and all sorts of tourist knick-knacks.

On my way back to the hotel I passed a few motorbike drivers asking me to use their services. While I was hoping to be away from this sort of thing, they were much less persistent than the ones in Ha Noi and respected a “no thank you”.

Near one group of them was a manhole cover which led to what must have once been some sort of underground hole. Today it is used as a trash bin and is almost overflowing. The concept of formal trash removal has not prevailed in cities, let alone out in the countryside.

Other than heading down to the hotel’s restaurant for my complimentary dinner, I spent the bulk of the evening relaxing in my room. I got to bed early and will hopefully get the proper rest that I’ve lacked for the last few weeks.

---

Photos

Pigs
A group of pigs are squeezed into a small cage. However, most roamed free.

Road
The dirt path we walked down. It also served as a road.

"Do not give money for children"
Give it to the adults instead.

Sapa school
Someone burns a fire next to the red roofed school.

Stairs
A typical staircase.

Knives
Numerous traditional knives were for sale.

Waterfall
The waterfall was one of the highlights.

Group
Me, Liz, Chu and Paul after we had our beers, sticky rice, pork on a stick and potato.

Stream
A stream runs well below the unstable bridge.

Sapa mountains
Numerous mountains were blanketed with fog intermittently throughout the day.

Market
The market that actually had some useful items.

Garbage
The local concept of a garbage can.