Well here we are in yet another Vietnamese destination. Sapa is way far north in Vietnam, not far from the border with China. To get here, we took the night train from Hanoi -- we were in the "hard sleeper" section, this name gave us some trepidation before we left -- how hard was hard going to be? The train ride turned out to be totally fine, the hard sleeper actually had a thin, but comfortable mattress with a sheet, pillow and duvet, so we were pretty set up for comfort -- we all managed to get some sleep, though maybe not quite as much as we would have liked -- the train ride arrived a few hours earlier than we thought, and there was some sort of pump to the sinks near our compartment and it made a ka-chunk-ka-chunk noise all night! The train took us to a place called Lao Cai, which is literally only about 100 metres from the Chinese border.To get to Sapa from Lao Cai we had to negotiate a price for the minibus ride, which is about an hour up into the mountains. That is where having a travel guidebook can be pretty handy in terms of giving you a ball-park figure about how much something 'should' cost vs. what they quote you (something like 4 - 5 times more than it should be!) The mini-bus ride to Sapa was very beautiful -- unbelievably steep terraced hillsides where rice and other crops are grown, bamboo growing in large sprays beside the road and up the hillsides everywhere in between, and lots of Hill Tribe people walking up the road in traditional dress. Stunning! The extremely twisty road was a bit of a challenge -- we all arrived in Sapa feeling pretty queasy.
Sapa from the balcony of our hotel room...
Sapa is quite a trip -- the various hill tribe women come here to sell their wares and they are very, very aggressive in their selling tactics -- we literally stepped off the bus and were met by at least three beautiful women in traditional garb who then attached themselves to us chatting away with us and trying to sell their things until we managed to find a hotel with a room. At first it can seem kind of fun and funny, but it has quickly become a bit overwhelming -- you can't go anywhere without at least 4 - 5 of these women attaching themselves to you. One has to work really hard to say "No thank you!" over and over again without getting frustrated or irritated, trying to just keep a smile on our faces while we move onwards.
Even when one is sitting and having a meal at the market, they will stand behind us and keep trying to engage and sell us something. They just keep pulling out new items to try to sell, lacing their sales pitch with questions about where we are from, how old the children are, etc.
We'll try to describe Sapa itself, or the small part we have seen so far -- it is again this crazy mix of European style, some local Hill Tribe flavour, and then a good dose of Vietnamese sense and style. Toss in a few cows mucking about in their manure, some chicken blood and mud on the street, and a few dogs in baskets in the market and you've got the idea. Tall pointed mountains surround the town and so far have been shrouded in clouds and mist since we arrived. In the stores, markets and roadside stalls there are everything from apples, to foreign sticks and herbs, to pig's penises/testicles for sale to the most amazing looking french pastries in pretty little bakeries. All of the buildings are clustered closely together, kind of tumbling over the hillsides with streets winding up down and around -- many of them only really stones and dirt cobbled together in some areas and then regular concrete in others. There is the usual honking and roaring of motorbikes and trucks, lots of nursing dogs nosing around for scraps here and there are lots and lots of little children and babies! Boy are the babies and children beautiful -- I mean really, really beautiful -- I just want to scoop them up and cuddle them, they on the other hand are not sure what to make of us!
Kai and Pippin are still getting lots and lots of attention -- it is really hard to know what really goes through their minds when their cheeks get pinched and their hair gets stroked. One day I'm sure with some distance and perspective, they'll be better able to articulate what it has been like for them on this trip.
The people have been remarkably open to being photographed by Ronato. As a result he is in his element snapping away. The people are individually all like works of art to behold. All ages of these people are stunning to look at. Their colourful ethnic dress and jewelry is wonderful to see in this modern age. These truely are sights that are disappearing in our modern "generica" world. I am glad the children still have an opportunity to see this.
Well on that note we will leave you with a few more images.
Until our next post....
Sapa from the balcony of our hotel room...Sapa is quite a trip -- the various hill tribe women come here to sell their wares and they are very, very aggressive in their selling tactics -- we literally stepped off the bus and were met by at least three beautiful women in traditional garb who then attached themselves to us chatting away with us and trying to sell their things until we managed to find a hotel with a room. At first it can seem kind of fun and funny, but it has quickly become a bit overwhelming -- you can't go anywhere without at least 4 - 5 of these women attaching themselves to you. One has to work really hard to say "No thank you!" over and over again without getting frustrated or irritated, trying to just keep a smile on our faces while we move onwards.
Even when one is sitting and having a meal at the market, they will stand behind us and keep trying to engage and sell us something. They just keep pulling out new items to try to sell, lacing their sales pitch with questions about where we are from, how old the children are, etc.
We'll try to describe Sapa itself, or the small part we have seen so far -- it is again this crazy mix of European style, some local Hill Tribe flavour, and then a good dose of Vietnamese sense and style. Toss in a few cows mucking about in their manure, some chicken blood and mud on the street, and a few dogs in baskets in the market and you've got the idea. Tall pointed mountains surround the town and so far have been shrouded in clouds and mist since we arrived. In the stores, markets and roadside stalls there are everything from apples, to foreign sticks and herbs, to pig's penises/testicles for sale to the most amazing looking french pastries in pretty little bakeries. All of the buildings are clustered closely together, kind of tumbling over the hillsides with streets winding up down and around -- many of them only really stones and dirt cobbled together in some areas and then regular concrete in others. There is the usual honking and roaring of motorbikes and trucks, lots of nursing dogs nosing around for scraps here and there are lots and lots of little children and babies! Boy are the babies and children beautiful -- I mean really, really beautiful -- I just want to scoop them up and cuddle them, they on the other hand are not sure what to make of us!
Kai and Pippin are still getting lots and lots of attention -- it is really hard to know what really goes through their minds when their cheeks get pinched and their hair gets stroked. One day I'm sure with some distance and perspective, they'll be better able to articulate what it has been like for them on this trip.
The people have been remarkably open to being photographed by Ronato. As a result he is in his element snapping away. The people are individually all like works of art to behold. All ages of these people are stunning to look at. Their colourful ethnic dress and jewelry is wonderful to see in this modern age. These truely are sights that are disappearing in our modern "generica" world. I am glad the children still have an opportunity to see this.Well on that note we will leave you with a few more images.
Until our next post....
Skye, Ronato, Kai & Pippin
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