Living the Good Life: May 2015

Hey everyone,

Although the next stop was technically Hanoi, we ended up back there a second time later in the trip so I think we'll just combine all that info into one blog later.

We did this crazy thing where we took two night buses in a row from Phong Na to Hanoi then to Sapa so by the end of all that we were pretty exhausted. I don't recommend it. Plus I almost got left behind on the first night bus when I went out for a pee on one of the stops and the bus drove away. This was also at 3 in the morning and I hadn't taken anything out of the bus with me so if there hadn't been a Vietnamese guy that had gotten off (on purpose) and called the bus back for me I would have been royally screwed. So yes, the bus came around and I was back on. I look over and Jared had slept through the whole thing!

We wandered around Sapa the first day, getting our orientation for the place. This was actually the first (and so far only) place I have actually been 'cold' in SE Asia. Had to actually wear a sweater AND my jacket. Whoa.

The lake in the middle of town. The town itself has a very Swiss ski chalet feel.

H'Mong women hanging out on the steps. They come in in droves each day to sell their handmade goods. Most families can only produce enough rice for about 8 months of the year. Food for the rest of the year needs to come from the income earned off the sale of souvenirs to tourists. Yes, these women (and their children) can be quite pushy, but pushy is what is currently feeding their families.

There are quite an assortment of hill tribe villagers in the Sapa area, but the two we came across and have pictures of are the Black H'Mong and the Red Dzao. These people were historically subsistence farmers growing rice on their terraces up in the hills. Though technically Vietnamese citizens, there are H'Mong scattered throughout the hills of northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar. In many ways they keep to themselves and disregard the 'goings-ons' of the other citizens of the country they are in, not really paying attention to land borders. However, I think this is changing as the hill tribe children attend government schools and farmers pay property tax.

A couple of Red Dzao women and their children

Lots of pigs on spits in Sapa

The next day we rented a couple scooters and made our way out to Ta Van where there was a festival going on to celebrate the H'Mong New Year. Everyone was dressed up in their new traditional dress they had handmade for the coming year.

The biker gang I belong to

Lots of people!

This game involved blindfolding 3 men and the first to touch the loose goat won.

Sorry I now realize some of these pictures have a rather graphic air to them but what might see totally abhorrent to us is just everyday life for these villagers. Why wouldn't you celebrate a festival with a little horse meat?

I won't mention the fact his penis was in that jar on the right hand side. Because that would be too much information.

More cute H'Mong ladies

How this bamboo bridge did not break I don't know

After the festival was over we spent the afternoon cruising around on the scooters, soaking up the sights of Sapa area. We took the long way to Ta Phin village, had some food there and were thoroughly accosted by Red Dzao ladies trying to sell us trinkets. We ended up buying- you just gotta.

Later on that day we cruised out to a waterfall, but mostly for the purpose of seeing the scenery along the way. It's the dry season here, so waterfalls are there, but visions of their wet season selves.

The next day we began a 2 day walking tour of the area, which included a homestay with a family in a H'Mong village. Our tour guide was 'Mi' and the homestay we stayed at was actually her sister's family's home.

In the morning we walked to Mi's house and had lunch there. The walk was very strenuous- mostly because I hate walking uphill! However, by then end we had a really nice view. It took us about 3 hours to get there, but you can also scooter there from Sapa by another route in about 20 minutes. It's crazy to think these villages were settled way before scooters and someone would have to do that gruelling hike every time they wanted to go to town.

All species hangout in front of Mi's house

Jared carried Mi's basket for a while after lunch as we made for her sister's house

The family pig

Our home for the night

Village with a view

Hanging out on the front porch with the kids and the piglets

Making spring rolls in the kitchen

The neighbourhood kids crowded around the only tv in the village for an hour of cartoons before supper. It was like clockwork, when the program was over they all got up and left. I think that because tourists regularly came to this house for home stays that they have become more affluent than other houses in the village. Even though it may not seem like they have much, I think other houses are just a packed dirt floor (this was concrete) and no luxuries like tv.

One amazing feat of SE Asian kitchens is the amazing food they can produce despite their meagre appearance.

We had a great bed to sleep in that night. I felt bad because it was so big and the rest of the family was crammed into the other side. The funny thing was they seemed so genuinely happy to have us there the whole time. We played hide and go seek with the kids- they were really cute.