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Published: October 13th 2005
Traveling up to the region of Sapa has def shown us a new way of living. It is a city only one hour from the Chinese border. It is the coldest city in Vietnam because of its high elevation. After arriving at 6am friday morning after an intense over night, bumpy and noisy train ride (this is def far from any euro-rail we've experienced...even being in first class!!) we were a bit graugy from the sleeping pills we popped. So as soon as we got to our hotel, we passed out in our beautiful room. We had a balcony view of the mountains and rice patties, which this region is most known for... breath-taking!! When we awoke, it was raining pretty hard... talk about a nice clean start after a couple of days breathing in the Hanoi culture.
We had a guide take us through the mountain rice patties of Sapa. After 14 grulling km of hiking, we found ourselves with the "Da'y" people. This village is right by a river at the base of the patties. Our guide asked a family he knew if we could stay over night. This household consisted of 4 generations! Everyone played a role,
last night in Hanoi
view from above the streets where we enjoyed a beer and a poor attempt at a pizza...and we jumped right in (see pictures!).
Best part... we ate crickets!! Not just one, but multiple!! As we sat in the smoky, dank cooking area our tour guide was dumping (LIVE!!) grass hopper after grass hopper onto card board and tearing off their heads and legs and then removing their insides. Fun fact - they kept moving around until they're dumped in a pan...ewww. This is, however, a treat to the Vietnamese. Today we saw little kids with their dad hopping around the rice patties trying to snatch these little creatures, and then they stuff them into water bottles. It was hard getting them into our mouths, but once they were in they were damn tasty; we continued to help ourselves to more!
Mixture of moonshine rice wine (sake) and grass hoppers... MmmMmmm...
Next we take an overnight train back to Hanoi, and a bus to Halong Bay!
xoxo S & J
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Ashley
non-member comment
just like old times...
Well I can tell you, after 4 years of living with Stacy, I'm not surprised you guys are smoking, drinking people under the table, and eating weird, random fried things. Sounds like an amazing adventure! Thanks for letting us tag along through your pictues and stories. We miss you and love you, have fun and be safe!! -Ashley