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Published: August 7th 2010
Same same
Phuong, myself and Linh in front of the Dong A hotel in HanoiI'll start off with being honest ... I have no idea where to begin.
So much happened, I had so little time to write anything down so I'm probably forgetting some things, but here we go ...
From the beautiful Ha Long Bay I got back to Hanoi where I got a room at the Dong A hotel. I didn't care much for the room but it had wifi and I didn't spend a lot of time in it anyway. I arrived in Hanoi some time around noon and I was meeting Phuong at 3pm. So I took my time to eat some Pho and walk around in Old Town. I also booked my night train to Sapa. Well, to Lao Cai actually, as there are no trains to Sapa.
At 3pm I met Phuong. I had texted her that I needed a new t-shirt, as mine were all rather dirty and the last time that the laundry was done, it hadn't helped much. So she picked me up with her boyfriends motorbike (who was sick at home) and drove me to a store. I was wondering why we went there, as there's a million people selling t-shirts
The green t-shirt
The greent-shirt that Phuong picked out for me in the Plaza. I love it, haha on the streets of Hanoi. But it became quite clear rather quickly. She didn't know there's a difference between shirt and t-shirt. So we ended up in a fancy shop. I tried telling her that I wasn't looking for a shirt, and didn't want to spend a lot of money on something that would just get dirty again rather quickly. It took some drawings of a shirt and a t-shirt to explain that I was looking for something else.
So off we were, to another store. This time we ended up at the Plaza. A shopping center, haha. So again I wondered why we went there but she knew a place where I could buy a cheap t-shirt. And right she was, kind of. I told her she should pick out a t-shirt for me, and she chose a green one with smileys on it, haha. And so now I have a green t-shirt, with smileys on it. For some reason she wanted me to take pictures of her and me wearing the t-shirt. So we ended up doing that some time later.
After buying the t-shirt we walked around, doing our best to communicate. Which started to
Sapa roads
Driving around Sapa isn't as easy as it sounds =P go rather well, as I got familiar with her use of English. We ended up in book stores and she showed me the books she liked. I showed her what I usually read, she didn't care much for it, haha. Then she figured she owed me a birthday present. I couldn't talk her out of it, so I told her that she should buy me something cheap. As the idea is more important than what she buys. So she takes me to another t-shirt shop, hehe. She picked out a shirt but I found it waaaaay to expensive for her to buy. It was 190.000VND. So no go! I told her that it should be very very cheap. And so she ended up buying me a bracelet from a woman in the street : 10.000VND. But I love it, hehe.
Then we did some more walking around Hoan Kiem lake. We talked about a lot. About why women in Vietnam want to be white, her father being very sick, etc etc. In the mean time, we had been waiting for Linh to contact us. Linh didn't have time before 5pm, as she had to study from 1pm until then.
Typical view
This is what you get to see. A lot of this. The pictures really don't do the reality justice It was passed 5 and we didn't hear from her. Phuong called Linh and she said she would have time at 7pm. So we decided to go see something. Phuong wanted to take me to the Ho Chi Minh museum. But I felt more like seeing the statue of Lenin! Yes, there's a statue of Lenin in Hanoi! A replica of the one in motherland Russia itself. So we went there. It was already quite dark by then, so I'll have to work on the raw pictures to get them to turn out good.
Then came a surprise. We would go to Linh's house! We passed the Ho Chi Minh museum on the way, and 2 huge lakes, one that even had big boats on them (West lake). We arrived at Linh's place and I received a great welcome. Linh was in the process of cooking and I was invited to eat with the family. Well, her brother wasn't home and her father went to Saigon. So it was Linh, her mother, Phuong and me.
I waited in their nice living room while Linh and Phuon were cooking. I asked if I should help, but they didn't need
any at the moment. It's also very strange for a man to help, but I offered anyway. So while they were cooking, Linh's mother offered me some nhãn. It's more or less the same as the Rabutan, but it has a green shell and tastes sweeter. Very good! Linh came to the living room from time to time to talk and translate things between her mother and me as her mother doesn't speak any English.
After a short time, I was called to the table. I sat down and I received a bowl and chop sticks. I got some rice and in the middle of the table there was a big plate that held a big bowl of duck/pork, some fish sauce, vegetables and ... I forget what else. Her mother came to the table as well, with a few red bulls. Haha, yes, they drink red bull during dinner here. She had stepped out to buy the red bulls, and a big bag of nhãn for me to take along on the train! Very kind of her. So I got a glass of red bull and we started dinner. And I must say ... it was great. The
Death of a chicken
Think this picture says enough, the next ones are on request =) first thing I ate was the duck. I could eat it with my hands and I expected it to feel warm. But it was cold. Linh told me that her mother started cooking the duck in the morning, and that it had been cooking for half a day. And I could tell! The meat was very soft and tasty. I've never had cold duck before, but I will again if I have the chance =) Then the pork, also great. Really, very well prepared. Linh's mom wanted to know if I liked something every time I tried it. I was just honest when I said it was good, very good! Then some vegetables, which you are supposed to dip in the fish sauce. You are supposed to just dip it in a bit, but I accidentally dropped all my vegetables in the sauce, which provided everyone with a big laugh, especially when I ate it after that, haha. I needed some rice to go with that! Phuong then taught me how to eat rice the Vietnames way. Holding the bowl to your mouth and just scooping it in with the chopsticks ... I'm still new at that 😉 After that
it was time to do the dishes. I helped with that, and Phuong found it quite funny, as she had never seen a man do the dished before, haha.
There were plans for us to go to the Ho Chi Minh museum, but time was running out. Phuong headed home and Linh and her mother walked me to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, where every day at 9pm a huge Vietnamese flag gets taken down, with a ceremony to go with it. Big crowd! Mostly Vietnamese even! They're very fond of their "Uncle Ho" as they call him. Then we walked on to find me a motorbike driver. Linh arranged one for me to drive me to the Dong A hotel to get my trekking bag, and then on to the train station. We said goodbye, I thanked them and asked Linh to make sure her mother received my gratitude as well. And then it was off ... yet another crazy motorbike driver from a German Japanese who lives in Vietnam, go figure, haha.
He drove so fast because we had to be quick! My train left at 10pm and it was well past 9 already. Upon arriving
Kids
Also everywhere! Hehe at the hotel, the first thing I saw was Caroline sitting at the computer. I didn't have time to chit-chat so I said hello while I passed her by. I got my bag and on the way out asked her something, but I don't remember what. Then told her I was off to Sapa. The xe ohm guy was getting impatient already. So now I was carrying 2 bags on the back of a crazy motorbike driver, hehe. Exciting is the word! But he did manage me to get to the train station in time. I didn't have a lot of time to spare though.
I could not make heads or tails from the train ticket, so I asked someone for some information. All I got was that I had to be at platform 9. So I went there and a guy comes up to me. He didn't speak English at all but it was clear he wanted to "help" me get to my cabin. I told him no but he wouldn't listen. He grabbed my ticket and pulled it, I kept saying I would find it myself but he wouldn't let go and was pulling it quite hard.
Refreshing waterfall
in Cat Cat village, next so Sapa I didn't want it to tear, so I eventually let go myself. We started walking ... and walking ... and walking. This was a very long train! And I had to be aaaallll the way in the back. He got me to my cabin and of course wanted money. Not just a little ... 50.000VND for the walk! I told him he was crazy, haha. There were only Vietnamese people there and they asked me (2 spoke English) what was wrong. I informed them that the guy took my ticket even though I didn't want him to, and that he asked me for 50.000VND. I gave him 5000VND, which is about 25 cents, just to get rid of him. As it turned out, I was the only guy in the cabin that was not part of a Vietnamese family, haha. And 1 person of the family was in the next cabin. They asked me if I would switch places. As I was alone anyway, I had no problem with that. I went to the next cabin and from a bed at the ground floor, to a bed 2 levels up. I got 40.000VND for that! Beds get 20.000VND less expensive
Oh no!
It had to happen at some point. I got intimate with the Vietnamese soil, haha. It's just a skimmed leg and arm. The UV filter on my camera got busted though. But the camera works just fine. the higher up you go they told me, so they paid me back the difference.
While all that was going on, 2 Spanish guys passed by in the hallway. So when I got settled in I paid them a visit and we had a nice talk. They gave me a cookie, and I gave them some nhãn. In the cabin next to theirs there were some Japanese people. All aged at around 22. A guy, who was travelling around for 3 months, and 2 girls, who were just spending 10 days in Vietnam. The Spanish guys, José and Emannuel left the conversation long before I did. But we all had a great time talking and laughing. But eventually, it was time to go to bed, it was around 11pm I think.
I woke up at around 5, the train should arrive around 6 but pulled into Lao Cai station at around 7am. Lao Cai is the last stop, otherwise you'll find yourself in China. So everyone got out and was attacked by minibus drivers when leaving the train station. These guys know how to rip you off! Haha. They know you're going to Sapa. At first they'll throw
Another nice view
Title says it all with prices as high as 300.000VND (15USD). But that quickly goes down to 100.000VND (5USD) due to competition. But you can get that down as well. I went with a guy who offered to take me to Sapa for 5USD, and he put my bag in his minibus. The Japanese people found one for 3USD. So I took my bag and put it in their minibus. It took exactly 7 seconds for the driver that asked 5USD to go to 2USD, haha. So I got back on to his minibus, informed the Japanese and went to find the Spanish guys to tell them as well. 2USD (40.000VND) for a 40 minute drive ... yeah we can live with that. So we all ended up in the same minibus. If you really want you can get it down to 30.000VND, but I didn't care about that half dollar.
And so we arrived in the town of Sapa.
Are you still with me? I'm actually keeping it short here, haha. I haven't even told you about Sapa itself yet. Ready? Here we go ...
Sapa is a busy place. There's a lot of tourists here. Especially in the weekend.
Rice
anyone? I went to many hotels to see rooms and compare prices and views from the rooms. Prices range from 30USD for a night to 6USD. I didn't find a 8USD one but I did manage to find a room at the Family Hotel. Very friendly people here in this little hotel just a few paces away from the busy center. And the view is great! Not obstructed by other hotels. I was only able to get in my room at 5pm ... so I had to wait a looong time. But I could put my bag in a storage room (the owners room). In the lobby I met a German couple, a Swiss girl named Claudia and ... the very first Belgian guy from Beringen, Geert! Haha. I spent the rest of the day with Claudia and Geert. Geert and I kept talking to each other in English, purely out of habbit. We both hadn't spoken our own language for weeks! So it needed a little adjusting to go to Flemish again.
As we all arrived the same day, we went to see the town of Cat Cat. This was a good walk away, with a lot of stairs. It was tiring, but not very, we could more or less easily do it. We followed a path by a river, it was beautiful. Everything here is beautiful by the way. I made a tumble coming back up from the river, skimming my knee and leg ... and camera. It survived, the camera is ok. But the UV filter is busted so I'll need a new one. That's ok, that's what I bought the UV filter for! A little further we all went down to the river again to get our feet wet. The water was so good. There's nothing better than cold mountain water to cool yourself down! We spent some time there, because it was so good. Then we continued on the trail, but a Canadian couple we had seen before had come back, telling us it's a dead end. So we went back to find a side trail we saw on a map. Long story short : we ended up at some farmer's house and had to go through his fields to get back on the path, haha. There we met the German couple again and they joined us.
When we came to a crossing Claudia also wanted to see the village next to Cat Cat, no idea what the name was. It was another 2km away. That doesn't sound like much ... but here in the mountains, after doing a lot of walking already, under the warm sun (it's not cold here! Not hot, but not cold either), it does get very tiring. But we went there anyway. We saw a lot of kids playing, you know the type, wearing a t-shirt, no pants, and huge boogers from their noses.
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Haha, and as I'm typing this, Caroline just walked into the Family Hotel, but she can't stay here. Well, she can, but she doesn't want to give out her passport as the hotel owners here take it to the police. Ah well.
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Anyway, so we found ourselves in this little, very nice town, but it didn't really offer a lot more than what we had already seen (and one of those things was a guy who invited us in his house to witness the death of a chicken they would eat that night, doesn't get any more personal than that, hehe). So we turned back but that meant a long long walk back up to Sapa. It was so tiring. We were al so happy to get back to the town and to our hotel. We got back at 4:30pm and so I still did not have my own room. But I was able to take a shower in the owners room. After that we met in the lobby and looked for a place to eat. As a place called Gerbera restaurant was in both Claudia as my guide, I decided we should go there. Walking there, my feet, legs and back still hurt.
But the food was great! Geert had a "goose hot plate with honey", Claudia had the "Duck in orange sauce" and I had the "Chicken hot plate with honey". That way, we all had a bird from the menu, haha. The hot plates were simply delicious ... so sweet because of the honey. Then back to the hotel, I did have my own room by then, so I brought my stuff to my room and hit the bed. I switched on the tv, in the hope that I wouldn't fall asleep as I wanted to see Claudia when she got back. She was scheduled to leave for Dien Bien Phu the next morning. But ... I failed. I fell asleep with the tv on, and woke up the following morning. Claudia had already left. I met Geert in the lobby, and he told me that he didn't manage to get out of his room anymore either, haha.
Britt (yes Yves, that Britt), a friend of mine from Belgium, and her boyfriend should have arrived in Sapa by now. We're hoping we can all meet up tonight to have a drink or eat something together. I don't know if we'll succeed in meeting each other. But we'll see.
For now, I have to figure out what I'll be doing today. I'm thinking or renting a motorbike and touring around. I'll try to not repeat the Thailand experience 😉
Congratulations! If you made it all the way down here. You must be tired of reading by now, hehe. I'll probably be able to update more often now, as I have wifi here and I'll have wifi in Hanoi. The trip is coming to an end, only 5,5 more days to go. So I'm already starting to wind things down a little. I've had a lot of very busy days lately. I'll do some more things here in Sapa, but in Hanoi I'll probably just relax for the last few days. I've already seen Hanoi anyway =) And then it's the long long long trip back home.
I wonder what my room looks like, haha.
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Lise
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Amai zeg vanalles gedaan daar precies =). Ik wou dat ik daar ook was! Nu is het hier in Geel Reggae é, misschien dat ik strax eens ga piepen als pap vrijkaarten heeft^^. Jouw kamer ziet er fantastisch uit =D. Je mag iedereen later bedanken ;P. Kmisje xxxxxxxxxxxxx