Blogs from Northwest, Vietnam, Asia - page 15

A tribute to the hmong people of Sapa Our 10 day stay in Sapa has come to an end. A lot of people would think that 10 days in Sapa is way too much. We were in the same boat at the beginning of our stay. However as time passed by, we got deeper and deeper beneath the skin of this little community in the north of Vietnam and really got to appreciate this place and its people. This is a great privilege having plenty of time to explore. One of our many highlights was the encounter with the hmong people. In the beginning we found them rather annoying. They are eager sales people and really push it to the limit. They almost match the Egyptians in their effort to sell their stuff. However they do ... read more

On the eve of my departure, I got the worse call of my life. Pat Cullen, a great friend and even better person had just passed away in a motor bike accident in the streets of Hanoi. At the tender age of 19, Pat was due home in a week's time. This was not only a huge blow to our group of friends, but a larger than life reminder of our own mortality and the world we live in. I was devastated. Being able to pay your respects in some way is crucial after a loved one passes away... and I couldn't. There was no road side marker to take flowers to and no home or family to console. I was just left with a gaping hole in my heart and friends by my side. It ... read more

19 Sep to 26 Sep 2012 – I was back to Lai Châu province. I just visited this province a couple of months ago and it was my first ever visit to the 60th province of Vietnam in my list. When I was in Lai Châu last July, it rained all the time, so I couldn’t go to Mường Tè, although I already saw the bus going on the route. I decided I would go back on my next trip to the North West. Mường Tè was my priority destination on this trip. Whenever the Vietnamese say “Mường Tè”, it always means a place far away in the mountain which is very poor and remote, although it’s located only 620km northwest of Hanoi. The travel companion and I went to the bus station at 5:30am, but ... read more

Our journey started by getting the night train from Hanoi to Lao Cai. So we get into our bunks and this time we had one bunk on top of the other so no more Mike sleeping on top of another Vietnamese, ha ha. I had the bottom bunk so I left Mike in charge of the rucksacks. It was funny as the last night train trip we had I said to Mike you need to be really careful about your ruck sack as they get pinched from your bunk. I proved the point as when he was asleep I knicked his rucksack, ha ha. So Mike decided that he needed to keep his arms through each rucksack which did not help with him getting a good nights sleep to start with but the ruck sacks are ... read more

El día de ayer fue muy tranquilo ya que teníamos que estar en el aeropuerto a las 3 pm. Nos levantamos tarde, compramos algunas cosas para desayunar en el hotel y nos quedamos leyendo y buscando algunas informaciones en internet hasta el mediodía. A eso de la 1 pm partimos para buscar un restaurante cargados con nuestras mochilas. Por supuesto que con las mochilas nos transformamos en el objetivo de los tuk-tukeros que nos ofrecían llevarnos a donde fuéramos. Yo los venia ignorando completamente, pero como María es muy preguntona empezó a sondear precios para el aeropuerto. Vale aclarar que cuando a estos tipos les das media bola no te los sacas más de encima! Nos sentamos a comer en un restaurante en una mesa a la calle. Yo me senté mirando a la calle y ... read more