Blogs from Northwest, Vietnam, Asia - page 19

Patek 16.3.2012 - Sapa - Ta Van Dnes byl na programu prvni den nasi 2-denni tury. Vstali jsme v 8h na snidani v nasem novem hotylku (hotel Prince,15 USD na noc se snidani. Prisel nas pruvodce,asi 20lety Hmongsky kluk (z vesnicky Cat Cat), trochu stydlivy na prvni pohled. Sedame do autobusu,vyzvedavame jeste dalsich 5 lidi a poodjizdime do dalsi vesnicky vzdalene asi 2 km jizne od Sapy. Od tamtud uz po svych. Jdeme z kopce, nasi spoluturiste hodne foti a povidaji, coz by nevadilo, kdyby se co 5 min nezastavovali a nefotili se navzajem. Uz od pocatku nas pronasleduje parta "tet", jak jim rika Miki, ktere se nas stridave vsechny vyptavaji odkud jsme, jak se jmenujeme a kolik je nam let. Nejvic je nam sympaticka mlada 20ti leta Su, ktera vypada tak na 14 let. Zastavujeme ... read more

OK, folks – the theme of this post is, “We don’t have a clue.” It’s liable to turn into a sermon, so I apologize, but we learned so much recently about how people in other lands live (even after our trip to India) that I can’t resist writing. We’ve met so many people on this trip who believe that they’re surviving pretty well, living lives that are truly poverty-stricken according to American standards. Even though we’ve seen so much on our previous trips, this trip has been a good continuing lesson for us on our essential cluelessness about the real lives of most of the world’s people. We left Hanoi after one night and traveled northwest into another “ethnic minority” area, centered on the town of Sapa. After our time in the Central Highlands, we looked ... read more

What a difference a day makes...It's a struggle to leave the warm duvet, knowing in all probability the weather hasn't changed from yesterday. Still pretty cold in the hotel, but needs must, biological if nothing else and eventually stumble down into reception. Sunshine, yes it's the sun and there's a mountain peak. Rush for the camera just since this might be a short lived glimpse of Sapa scenery. And it is as the place is enveloped once again in thick fog. It's the last day in Sapa, at least I've seen a mountain! Oh look, it's clearing again - sunshine, warm sunshine too.... read more

The way to Heikou - border town with Vietnam was quite scenic and we really loved the views surrounding the Red River. There were not many people going this direction so we were put in a small minivan rather than a bus but we were not alone on this journey. We shared this ride with a Scottish couple – Lorraine and Kevin who happened to go exactly in the same direction as us in SE Asia. The way we met was quite strange (as Kevin says), it was in a dark and empty Sunny Guesthouse very early in the morning and it went a little bit like that: Kev: Hey Guys, where are you going? Us: Hey, we are going to Heikou, how about you? Kev: Us too and then to Vietnam. What time is your ... read more

Geo: 22.3945, 104.056We boarded the overnight train to Lao Cai with a bus connection straight uphill to Sapa. Since it takes 12 hours, the train offers up the very civilized option of sleeper cabins for the night but it's a cabin for 4 so you have to hope you aren't linked up with the heavy drinking and snoring types- we ended up with a couple of honeymooners but given the size of each of the berths (designed by the same guy who worked on that knee-crunching bus in Laos), the honeymoon would have to be delayed. Being stuck in the fetal position didn't make for the most restful sleep but there's something eminently romantic about train travel that adds a certain joy to every trip. The bus trip up the mountain was another story and we ... read more