In an attempt to spread our business around, and hedge our bets, we had booked an excursion to Sapa with another company in Hanoi, Ocean Tours, leaving on the overnight train that evening. I know what you’re thinking . . . we are getting soft, booking all of these “tours”. In our defense, we had to have a guide to do the trekking we wanted to do anyhow, and it just seemed cheaper to organize it in one fell swoop. So, with an hour or two between our arrival back in Hanoi from Halong Bay and our departure by night train to Sapa, we quickly grabbed dinner, charged our laptop and ipods for the ride, and headed off.
The train was comfy and I was having a very restful sleep when loud knocking on our door signaled we had arrived in Lao Cai, the gateway to Sapa. It was just after 4am. (And I am meant to go trekking today??) As we rode the bus from the train station in Lao Cai to Sapa town, things started to look up. The scenery was incredible. We were dropped at a hotel where we were able to shower, relax, and have breakfast before our trek began at 9:30. I had a little cat nap, but it did little to relieve how sleepy I was.
We had a group of five, a really nice New Zealand couple named Jettie and Felix, Perry, myself, plus our guide Mang, for the two days trek. Mang was truly the cutest thing ever. She is a tiny Hmong woman of 20, and was wearing her traditional clothing, a conical hat, huge hiking boots, and a North Face backpack. Adorable! She has a personality to match. Very sweet, obviously used to being around westerners, but brought up traditionally in the village near Sapa, she was able to give us insight into local life and way of thinking.
As we started out, it wasn’t difficult to notice that our group size had increased by 4 or 5 savvy hilltribe saleswomen. Luckily Mang warned us that saying things like “maybe” and “later” would only encourage these women to follow us for the entire two days, expecting us to purchase a blanket, shirt, or both upon our return. Even with a clear “No thank you. We are absolutely not going to buy anything, ever.” they kept with us for a couple of km. Luckily, Mang found us the perfect opportunity to escape.
Mang’s sister, Cheng, and Cheng’s husband were working in the fields by the side of the path. Mang asked if we wanted to try, and of course we all did. It was pretty muddy, but definitely fun. I think we were at it for about 45 minutes. I cannot imagine a full day! It is amazing to think that all of the rice terraces that you see in the pictures are built and planted by hand this way. Mang told us that she and her friends would often have crazy mud fights while planting rice together. I could see that it is definitely a job where you want to mix in a little fun.
After our rice planting, where we were likely more of a hassle than a help, Cheng graciously invited us to her home for lunch. She and Mang cooked up a fabulous meal. Mang summed it up when she said that “nothing is simple”. The rice we ate was planted and harvested by hand, the banana flower was picked, peeled, washed, and prepared by Mang, etc. Everything takes time and effort. This carries forward to the traditional clothing that they were all wearing, which they weave, dye using indigo, and sew into clothing themselves. Absolutely nothing about life there is simple or easy. It makes our lives seem quite easy; sitting in our ergonomic, air-conditioned offices, ordering take out for dinner, and annoyed over a couple hours of overtime. With this in mind, I was an easy sell when Cheng inevitably brought out her own hilltribe handicrafts to sell. I ended up with a bracelet which I’ll likely seldom wear but I’m happy to have.
Unfortunately, I left Cheng’s with a bum knee. Asking for the toilet, Mang directed me to “nature”. So, I respectfully tried to get as far off the path as possible. Getting back down turned out to be steeper than my sleepy head calculated and I came down too hard and at the wrong angle. Luckily I could keep hiking, but it’s still a little sore a week later.
After lunch us foreigners were getting anxious, as we recalled the first day trekking to be 14km and felt we had actually covered only 3 km or so by that point. We said our good-byes and continued on, only to stop also at Mang’s mother’s house for a rest and a chat. At this point, we all gave up on our exercise goals and enjoyed the unique experience that Mang was sharing with us. It was so strange to talk to her about her life in Sapa town and see her getting all sorts of calls and texts over her cell phone, then at the same time to see her family living in one room houses with dirt floors and no bathrooms. It seemed real collision of tradition and modernity.
The remainder of the day trekking was gorgeous, and luckily easier and shorter than we all expected. The highlight of the afternoon was when Felix dared one of the young boys along the path to prove he really could ride the water buffalo. Well, he proved himself alright, as did Mang. So of course our boys had to give it a whirl as well. Mang tried to get it running with Felix on top, but that buffalo was not interested. Too hot I guess!
Our homestay was with a family who has a little boy around seven and a baby girl around 14 months. They were fantastic and again provided us with a delicious traditional meal. The homestay was pretty modern, with hot water and a shower. Perry was quite impressed with me that I actually showered there though. I think my cleanliness standards are getting lower and lower, and I must be getting tougher. But really, how can you be expected to keep a clean bathroom, when the rest of your flooring is made of dirt?
It was interesting for me to observe the way this family cared for their children. They were obviously a very loving family. Often times though, the kids were left to their own devices. The baby girl was just crawling around in the dirt, both inside the house and out, getting into just about everything. Her parents were completely unfazed, I think because they just have too much other stuff to do. It seemed her big brother’s responsibility was to keep an eye on her, but he seemed to be the typical big brother and spent at least half the time picking on her. It’s funny when you compare how much we shelter small children with all kinds of antibacterial soaps and baby gates and such. These people just don’t have those luxuries. The parents did keep their little one close when they went out to work in the rice fields the next morning though, taking turns with her on their backs. The seven year old was left to watch the house. In the paths around the villages, there were many children as young as three or so just wandering around on their own. I suppose they are too heavy by that age to keep on your back while working and the parents likely have no other option. They have to work the fields to grow food, and there is certainly no daycare or social assistance. Again I was reminded that we are very lucky.
Second day was a gorgeous hike as well; similar terrain to the previous day with a bit more uphill. We visited a different ethnic group’s village, but didn’t have the same sort of special experiences that we had with Mang’s family. After lunch, Perry and I separated from the group to see a nearby waterfall, while Jettie, Felix, and Mang carried on for another night.
We had decided to stay one more day in Sapa to check out the town itself, so after the waterfall we set about finding a place to stay for the night and a place to eat. For dinner, we settled on a local restaurant that was packed full of Vietnamese people. (It must be good!) As we were looking over the menu, a large group at the next table invited us to do a shot of rice whiskey with them. So nice! Of course we did, and they insisted that we sit down to dinner and drinks with them. Although there were many plates of food on the table, it was definitely more about the drinks. I think I had about 10 shots while Perry must’ve had at least 15. Yikes! Normally I’d make sure to eat a bit to stay sober, but the food was . . . . very . . . authentic. Greasy pig skin, fat, and cartilage just wasn’t a good idea for me at that point. This group was so kind and friendly though, we just couldn’t refuse. So, we drank and stayed hungry. Luckily though, these guys knew when it was time to call it a night. All of them red faced, we headed to a nearby cafe for some potent Vietnamese coffee before saying our goodnights. Perry and I, once safely out of site, stopped for a bowl of noodles on our way home because we were just so hungry still. One of the guys signed a 50,000 VND bill for Perry, telling him he must keep it always for good luck. Perry has tucked it away safely with Mom’s good luck $1 bill that she gave each of us when we departed Canada. Hopefully this means we will have good luck and not run out of money before the end of our trip . . . . ;-)
Next day we hung around town. Mostly, I wanted to rest my knee which was hurting quite a bit after the second day trekking. We had a leisurely breakfast, checked out the market, and planned our next move in Vietnam. The only person who had to exert a lot of effort that day was Perry. A very small lady with a very gigantic and heavy bag of merchandise grabbed him in the market and put him to work! I think she liked his big muscles . . . He, along with her and about three other people, managed to lug the gigantic bag down the road to her shop. She was extremely grateful for the help. I’m not sure what she would have done had we not strolled by.
Late that afternoon, with the feeling that Sapa is a beautiful place full of very friendly people, we left to catch the night train back to Hanoi, where we planned to find a connection south.
For photos of Sapa go to http://gallery.me.com/adamschen
p.s. I think I have broken iPhoto with all of my photo quips and descriptions. Apple tells me only generic file names allowed. I'm not just getting lazy . . . . ;-)
No comments:
Post a Comment