Travel Blog Chapter 11: Sapa Town, Mountain life.

After checking into a creaky small hotel called Son Ha Hotel, I did a short exploration around my vicinity and explored the Hmong market where they were selling all kinds of food commodities including apparel that would appeal to foreigners. It was a Saturday and the entire vicinity was quite crowded with Asian and Caucasian faces. As it was still drizzling and the mountain air was freezing, I headed back to the hotel.

Back at the hotel, I inquired about available treks to the surrounding Hmong villages and also the climb up Fansipan Mountain. At 3143 metres, it was known as the "Roof of Indochina" and was the highest mountain in the region. Looking at pictures before this trip of the mountain, this was one of the main objective in visiting Sapa. I visited a few adventure, hiking companies regarding available tours on the same day and the next and compared prices. Eventually I settled on a particular company with a trekking tour to the surrounding Lao Chai Village the next day. This would be the same company eventually that I booked the trek up Fansipan Mountain with as well.

Our unofficial Hmong Guides

Shops in Cat Cat Village

Miracle sculptor...amazing handicraft skills

Waterfall in Cat Cat Village

Misty Mountains

Our "Tour group" with our Hmong guides

Hmong children playing in the rain

As the day was still early, I got a map from one of the tour companies and went on a hike on my own to Cat Cat Village which was just outside Sapa Town. I was met with Hmong Girls trying to sell me handcrafted souvenirs. Their English was surprising good. It would be a norm to be confronted with..."Buy from me Sir...You promise you will buy from me..." every time you meet the Hmong girls. Anyway along the trek to Cat Cat Village I met a few travelers and one of them was a Dutch couple. Giving up on me, the Hmong girls decided to trail this couple hoping that their "service" to be unofficial tour guides around Cat Cat Village would evoke enough sympathy and I had the pleasure of being in the "tour group." We hiked through Village homes and waterfalls and I must say the scenery was really breathtaking. At one point, we saw a boy who was sculpting little figurines. It was quite amazing to see uneven shapeless stones take on human forms in his little hands. It was amazing and magical to say the least as the boy was not more than 10 years old.

A foggy day

Amazing chess set hand chiseled by the Hmong boy genius

Our Hmong guide

Posing in front of waterfall in Cat Cat Village

Talking to the Dutch couple I found out that they had just graduated from Senior High School and were taking a year off to travel before going to University. Eventually our Hmong guides were so persistent and I must say endearing that we bought some souvenirs from them. Apart from being good business women, they believe in communalism as well as they wanted me to buy from both of them.

I had my dinner in a small cozy cafe and being the habitual eater that I was, I would be going back there for a few days. That night I had trouble sleeping as it was really very cold and the flush in my toilet was not working well and the heater was abit off as well. It was going to be a difficult stay. I made a wrong decision to reserved 2 days in a row and on the first day already I was looking forward to checking out.

I woke up very early the next morning as I could not get back to sleep and to my annoyance I had a very big swelling on upper lip. It was swollen and I looked like I had a bee-sting. It must have been an insect bite. Hopefully it would go down soon. I had my breakfast in a small eatery and prepared to go for my trek that day. My Hmong guide was waiting for me in my hotel punctually and I was brought around to other trekkers in their hotels as I followed my guide to pick them up. That day my perception and stereotype of Hmong culture was going to be shattered.

Raining and seeking shelter before trek to Lao Chai Village

Chi and her friend

Trekking through the mountains

Trekking down

My trusty but inappropriate footwear

Clearing mist..beautiful greenery

Rice Padi fields that stretch for miles

Our Hmong company

My Hmong guide was called "Chi" and was a pretty and petite 17 years old girl. With her colored hair, she would look like any cosmopolitan girl without the traditional garb she was in. I found out later on that their homes have computers and internet access as well. Our trekking group was made up of a Canadian and French Couple. It was not a very good day for trekking as it was drizzling in the begging and started to pour with rain after awhile. But it was a blessing in disguise as the rain cleared the fog surrounding the mountainside and we could see miles and miles of rice fields after the fog was cleared. The sight was amazing and as far as your eyes could see, there were rolling hills and endless fresh greenery. From the point of view of someone who grew up in a city, this was gorgeous. We hiked for a few hours and Chi was one of the best tour guides that I have had on the trip. Her English was perfect and there was a slight American accent. It was amazing as here in an obscure town far away from the city, you have people speaking even better English than Vietnamese in the City. She explained that it was the many interactions with tourists.

The hike continues

Amazing sights

Lots of hikers that day

Nearing our pit stop

More photos...

Stopping for lunch

Like a scene out of smallville..

Lush greenery

Pit stop

Another view

Eventually we had our lunch with very delicious Hmong food in one of the pit stops and met a few trekkers who were actually doing the treks alone. I thought that was a good idea if I had time and if I were travelling in a group but as I only had a few days in Sapa, a tour would bring me to the main places I wanted to see. During the treks I realized I had on the wrong footwear and I fell down a few times and it was an interesting experience trying not to fell down the rest of the way while Chi and some of her Hmong friends who have tagged along to sell us the souvenirs were skipping effortlessly like deers along the mountainside. It was an awesome trek and I met a school friend where we took a photo together. It was the weirdest coincidence to meet in Sapa in the mountains when I have never met her in Singapore. Chi offered her service for  personalized tour the next day if I want to see more of the mountains and villages. The priority for me ws to arrange a hike up Fansipan mounatain the next few days but it seemed that all the tour comapnies that I went to have no one that wanted to go up the mountain leaving no option of a combined tour.

Our trek continues

Hmong weaving apparatus

Tilling the land

Another nice view

Returning fog

Boars

Chi educating us trekkers

That night I had my dinner at the same cafe again and met an Austrian couple. Phillip was a doctor while the girlfriend was an Architect. More people taking a gap year. I'm starting to think that Singaporeans are missing out alot by not embarking on such things. I decided to go for a hike to the rest of the Sapa villages the next day.

Travel Blog Chapter 10: Lao Cai to Sapa

Bought the ticket to Lao Cai and set off in the same evening I came back from Halong Bay. Reached the train station at round 7.30pm and got into my train at 8pm. The first sign that things may not go so well that night was when a local Vietnamese man actually switched his seat on his own accord with another person and was sprawled over my seating area when I arrived. He tried to persuade me to go somewhere else to sit. Trying to be understanding I relented but eventually realized it was a no go as there were too many switches going on. It was going to be a long night.

The train was a hard-seater. We left the station in Hanoi at 8.30pm and was supposedly going to reach Lao Cai at around 7am the next morning. An almost 12 hour train ride. After the excruciating ride from Saigon to Hanoi, I wasn't especially looking forward to this ride. I must say this one sealed my aversion to trains.

Lao Cai was the transit point to get to Sapa so I would have to take a bus from the train station up into the mountains. No idea which bus also but I supposed that I would figure it out when I reach Lao Cai. Nearing midnight, the people around me started to drink and make merry. There was this bunch of women that looked like they were dance hostess or something who started to sing. And the wine was aplenty as most of the Vietnamese started gathering around my area to drink and sing folk songs. At night, when they were done and when more passengers got on the train, we had to squeeze. The women and men, started to sleep between the aisle of the train, under my seat and seats that were meant for 2, were shared by 3 people. It was uncomfortable to say the least. That dude beside me started to lean on my shoulders and when I indicated no, he pleaded with me to allow my shoulder for him to sleep on. Not homophobic or anything but that was too much. I was thankful when I finally reach Lao Cai in the morning. The air was quite cold when I got off the train and I was met with swarms of locals persuading us to engage their service. This Vietnamese dude started following me around and told me he has a bus waiting to bring us up to Sapa and would leave immediately. I gave in eventually and followed him. I was tired and wanted to get on with the journey asap.

Street in Sapa

Unpredictable Weather

Food Fusion

The bus ride up the mountains took around an hour and a half. It was quite an enjoyable ride and the the view was beautiful and should be even more so if not for the mist. Along the way, I saw the first signs of the Hmong people in their traditional garb. It was raining and the air was really cold when I got out of the bus. Sapa I must say was beautiful. Sapa town was small. It was a Saturday and the town was crowded with tourists. It  took quite some time for me to find a reasonably priced guesthouse to stay in.

View of Sapa

Rice Padi Fields in the fog

Travel Blog Chapter 9: Halong Bay, Jumping boats and Danang girls

Halong bay was listed in 1994 as a UNESCO World Heritage site. In Vietnamese, Halong bay meant "Descending dragon bay". The bay belongs to Halong City and features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various shapes and sizes. Halong bay was the center of a larger zone which includes Bái Tử Long bay to the northeast, and Cát Bà islands to the southwest.

We set off very early in the morning. After breakfast we took a cab to a nearby bus interchange and boarded a mini bus to Halong bay. We would realize later that the bus did not stop directly at the bay but we would have to transit to another form of transportation to reach the bay. There were weary looking travelers at the interchange. Saw a number of backpackers reclining on the seats waiting for their transportation. Our bus left the interchange an hour or so later after enough passengers have boarded the bus. Taking buses in Vietnam is a very noisy affair. The conducter would keep shouting at potential passengers at the door asking if they were going the same route. At the same time, the driver would endlessly press his horn to signal as well as to get slower moving vehicles out of his way. There was no such thing as graciousness on the road. So essentially you get a road full of vehicles horning at one another. It took some getting use to.

We were out of Hanoi after about an hour or so and I was glad to see the scenic side of Vietnam again. I am just not very city inclined. I get bored in the city quickly. Along the way, more passengers get up the bus, and it was becoming very cramped. Saw a communist procession prep nearing one of the towns that we passed through. There were communist flags everywhere. We passed through a mining town and the buildings were filled with soot and it was black everywhere. Really unhealthy for the inhabitants. Eventually some Chinese got up at a place near Ha Long City. I found out that you could cross into China via Ha Long City through border crossing at Mong Cai. It was weird listening to mandarin speaking people in a bus full of Vietnamese. At the same time, it made me think about people back home. These people got off at Halong City. An hour or 2 later we got off and made arrangements to transit. My bladder was full then and I seriously needed to relieve myself.

Posing in front of the bay

View from the beach

Beach area

Our next mode of transport was motorbikes doubling up as taxi service. We got up a bike each and sped off at almost 100km/hr to Halong bay. Eventually we paid them 10000 dong each which was a dollar at most. Halong bay was beautiful and we explored the islands the next day but in the meantime we had to find a place to stay first.

Boat Jumping

Inside the cave of one of the islands

The cave

The next day, we got a ticket to do island hopping. The ticket was sold by a Vietnamese lady who pushed the package to us telling us that it was 100000 dong. I found out later that that was just the cost of island admission or something. But the price of the tour was another thing altogether. We had to pay another 200000 to 300000 dong if I remembered correctly. I was irritated with the whole set up to say the least. It was really misleading as the 100000 dong was printed on the ticket and there was no indication that we had to pay more. That was the start to a bad day. We thought it was gonna be real island hopping, as in getting out of the boat onto the island. Eventually it was just one island while the boat just passed through the rest of the islands and we saw those islands from a distance. It was absolutely disappointing. What saved the trip eventually was meeting interesting people on the boat. And yes, did I mention that we had to switch boats a few times? The women, children, elderly had to jump from boat to boat to reach a new boat. Some of us were reshuffled and eventually the boat that were were on was more spacious than the first. Inside the boat we were persuaded to buy handmade souvenirs.

Halong Bay-Looking almost magical

On the roof of the boat

International mix

Posing for the camera

Our last photo on the boat

Okay I got to stop complaining because that trip wasn't that bad. The islets looked almost magical from the boat as I got up to the roof of the boat to enjoy the sea breeze. Eventually, my privacy was interrupted by most of the passengers coming up as well. Nam and I got to know 2 Vietnamese women form Da Nang. They asked me accurately if I was from Singapore. It was a surprise how they knew. They said it was from the accent as they had talked to Singaporeans before. They were working at CDM, a major American company and one of them was a translator so that explained the good English. We had fun taking photos on the boat and we would leave together for Hanoi later. I would say that the rest of the trip turned out to be very interesting indeed. Their cameras were out of batteries so I told them I would take photos for them and send it to them via email.

After the boat ride when we were back at the bay, we went to take more photos around the bay areas and had our lunch at this delicious eatery. After that, we packed our stuff and checked out of a cheap hotel. The women were staying in a more expensive hotel. We met at a bus stop and took a bus out of the bay area to another stop to transit to Hanoi. It was a different way to get back to Hanoi as we found out there were no direct buses going back to Hanoi from the bay at that time.

Waiting for the bus

Waiting for the bus as well-spot the difference

Vietnamese girls from Da Nang

Stranded by the side of the road

Long road back to Hanoi. Queen's idea.

We got off at a stop by the side of the road and over there we were met by buses going by very aggressively asking us to get on. These were the mini-buses and they drove at break-neck speed. Due to safety issues we wanted to take the cheaper and more conventional public buses to Hanoi. And we waited for at least an hour or more for our buses. We felt stranded in the middle of nowhere and wondered if we were at the right place.

One of the women, Queen told me that she would walked me back to Hanoi as it was walkable. I stared incredulously at her and she burst out laughing. We spent the rest of the time waiting and joking around while Nam bravely fended off all the persuasive drivers that went by. It was an interesting afternoon. Eventually our bus really came and we got on. For the rest of the journey I fell asleep on the bus and reached Hanoi 4 to 5 hours later. My legs were stiff and I was sorry to say goodbyes to the 2 women that we met. We exchanged contacts and promised to stay in touch. They promised they would show me around Danang if I ever go there in the future. I would get the hang of saying goodbyes as I progressed into my trip as people I met, I knew I may never get to see again in my life and this made the time spent with them very precious.

Travel Blog Chapter 8: Father Ho, beautiful sunsets and letters

The next day in Hanoi was spent visiting all the main attractions. We visited the Ho Chi Minh memorial palace, Ho Chi Minh museum, the palace where the imperial scholars had their exams, Hoan Kiem lake, the tourist attractions surrounding the lake and went to a few interesting places to eat.

The Mausoleum

Posing from a distance from the Mausoleum

The military guard

We started off very early in the morning and after our breakfast we went to the Ho Chi Minh memorial palace where they preserved Ho Chi Minh's body after he died on 2 Sept 1969. According to what I studied in university, the story behind the embalming was this. The Soviets wanted Vietnam to honor their leaders the same way that they honored Stalin so a mausoleum was built for Ho, modeled after Stalin's mausoleum in Russia. There were political reasons behind that initiative during then. So there we were, queung up to enter the mausoleum. We had to surrender our cameras and handphones a sthere were no electronic device allowed inside the mausoleum. The military guard "encouaged" our pace into the masoleum and we were forced to walk quickly into the cold chamber where Ho Chi Minh was. It was an interesting sight as from the distance he looked almost live in the coffin that he was lying in. We were in and out in less than 5 minutes. Not a lot of personal time to appreciate the father of modern day Vietnam.

The Ho Chi Minh museum

Posing in front of the museum

Souvenir shops around the museum

The old palace

After that, we proceeded to the Ho Chi Minh museum where I was rudely singled out as a foreigner. There was no identification check but I somehow looked foreign to the guard at the entrance. As such, I had to pay to get in while the Vietnamese were able to get in free. I wasn't pissed about having to pay more than I was irritated that I was singled out because I looked foreign. Must be the beard or something.

Venue for imperial scholar exams

statues with French or Greek influence, I'm not sure

Had our lunch at a posh Vietnamese/french restaurant. I was seriously underdressed. My Vietnamese friends were dressed in shirt and pants while I was in my t-shirt and bermudas. It was a buffett restaurant and the women were all dolled up while the men were dressed in their best. The food was simply delicious and it cost around 20 USD at best. Really worth it considering it was pretty classy.

By the main road in Hanoi

By this time of the trip, my charger was damaged and I had to find a way to get a new charger. My handphone just wouldn't charge properly. At the same time, there was something wrong with my camera. The batteries seemed to run out really fast. It would get worse during the rest of the trip. Anyway the rest of the evening was spent looking for a post office for me to post a post card to a friend in Singapore. I would realize later that she only got the postcard 3 weeks later when I was in Laos. Slow postal service. On the streets that day I struck up a conversation with an English man. He was teaching English in Vietnam and had been living there for around 8 months. He had met a Vietnamese woman and fell in love with her. But it seemed that the relationship wasn't working out and she wasn't reciprocating. So he was planning to move out of Vietnam soon. His heart was broken he shared and he wanted to go to maybe Singapore or Malaysia after that to find employment. Interesting story.

Youth culture in Hanoi

Skaters tearing up the streets

beautiful sunset in Hoan Kiem Lake

Sky growing dark

Visitor attractions around Hoan Kiem Lake

Went to Hoan Kiem lake in the evening, beautiful place and watched the sunset there. Went back to the old quarters and did some shopping before heading back home for dinner with my vietnamese family. Now, the difference between South Vietnam and North Vietnam was that in North vietnam, the people were more formal and polite in their behavior. I felt like I was living in a Japanese/korean family. The language was different as well. Thank you is pronounced as "Gam On" in Saigon while in Hanoi it was"Gam Ooon". In fact it sounded so different that I thought they were speaking in another language. My South Vietnamese friend had trouble understanding them sometimes.

Another thing I found out was that in communist Vietnam, the government workers were paid very little but accommodation would be provided by the government. the family I lived with worked for the government and they have a very nice house situated in the middle of Hanoi, opposite the French embassy. It was 4 storey high and seriously look posh. People would rather work for the private sector in Vietnam due to the marginalized salary in the public sector. The food was more bland as well. Healthier I guess, compared to Saigon. And the thing about Vietnamese is that they enjoy pork fats. They would consume the whole thing while in Singapore, you usually separate the fats from the lean meat. All these took some time to get used to.

That night, we prepared for our trip to Halong Bay the next day. We were going to leave early and hence had an early rest. I was in dreamland very quickly.