we left of at the end of the kayaking , but that was not the end, another full lunch awaited us on this never feed-ending vessel... overstuffed we disembarked and began the drive to Ha Noi. an under four hour ride lasted over five with the horrible capital city traffic. on the one one our group female members had to use the facilities . we looked at the guide book and in perfect Vietnamese we aked where is the bath room. the driver looked at us like we came from laos. after several attempts we asked him to call his boss (the boss knows English) and then moti made a psh... sound and then the driver got it. he pointed ahead and did not stop. a few minutes later, a possible nice looking rest stop appears and Mom almost beheaded the driver, urging him to stop, he still pointed ahead and 10 seconds later pulled in to the scheduled stopping point, an impressive sweat shop/ tourist trap with everything super over priced. soon we were on our way with less pressure and made it to the office at 4:30. we paid the agent company and now we had to wait for the night train. Moti volunteered to luggage sit and the rest of us hopped a cab down town. we walked the small market streets of ha noi. the market here is un remarkable , and it started raining slightly and we didn't stay long. we passed by the little lake in the center of the city and saw the pagoda in the center of the lake. we took a taxi back to the train station. it dropped us off on the other side and we debated if we were in the right station or not, since it looked different from this side, but eventually we found the pass to a waiting Moty. we split off for dinner. i stopped at a local joint and got some Pho with chicken then walked a round a bit and refueled with a chicken burger before boarding the train. we got some more water and snacks and soon tried to pack 4 people and 5 suite cases in to the small cabin. in the end everything fit just barely and we got ready for the night.the beds are just enough for my height, barely. i was on the top bunk and after a bit of reading i tried to sleep with the rocking back and forth motion of the train.i think i managed to sleep about 5-6 hours, before movement woke me and i couldn't fall a sleep again, and soon it was time to leave the train. we took a car from Cao lai station to Sa pa -30-40 K away up the mountain. this is a foggy day, but the driver still passes other cars like crazy. we reach our hotel, the rooms are not ready but we take a great shower at the hotel spa and get ready for a hiking day. we go the the market, dodge some local places then one of the local tribes woman starts tagging a long with us. we semi get rid of her when we stop for breakfast at one hotel, but she lurks outside. after breakfast she is still there and we end up taking her as a guide. with prediction for a muddy day, both I and Mom buy shoes and we convince shai that the hike is mostly down hill and easy. and soon it begins, we walk down the village and soon they leave the main road and take smaller trails these tribes use to harvest the rice patties. these are small , narrow , steep and somewhat slippery roads. our guide brought in 2 more tribes woman, all in traditional wear. they are in flip flops , skipping on these slopes as it is flat even ground and us clumsy people slowly walk it and trying not to slip.
Moti thought he had good shoes, but with no traction he soon slides down and gets a booboo on his hand. while worries of tetanus comes to mind, the 2 younger tribes woman begin helping him descend. they use their feet as stairs to help, very resilient people. the walk is slow but very pretty as we walk next to local farm houses, in and across the rice terraces, lots of ducks , chickens, pigs with piglets. the far view is hidden in the fog, so we don't have the impressive panoramic view we want to see.
the road is mostly down for an hour and a half, then there is a 20+ minutes of straight up hill, followed by more downhill. it is chilly here. not what you'd expect in Vietnam.
after 3 hours we get to the river area and reach the real villages, there are more local tribes here, working the field, herding the buffaloes, and mostly selling arts and crafts. after hour 4 we reach the village of the younger Moti carriers ladies and we stop for lunch of fried rice and chicken and a swarm of "buy from me" bees. a girl of maybe six , comes to us with a face you cant say no to, wanting us to buy bracelets from her, and more woman come with very similar wares. since we had the ladies help us on the way, it is expected of us to buy only from them, this is how we repay their services, buy paying to much for items we don't need, but they were helpful , so it feels right. i bought stuff as well and way over paid... again.
one lady kept nagging at us to buy the exact same stuff we just bought from the others. but she is from the other tribes, and we don't want to offend our guides. all this occurs during lunch, they stuff the bags and bracelets in your face. 3 for a dollar, 3 for a dollar, non stop. you'd think if you buy something it would stop? after giving in and buying the bracelets, the lady moves on to other members of the group, with the same price requests. next time we need to buy vendor repellent.
other woman, said they are from the same tribe as our main guide which is in the next village and we should buy from them when we get there. we were marked for payment. we kept moving from this village to the next and these marking woman as our entourage. ensuring we don't buy from others waiting for our business. beside this entourage, the road passed through the village and it is interesting to see how they live, but they are also very obviously poor. still there are more cars here, they have cell phones, we think it gets better. as soon as we reach their village, my entourage announces that now i will buy. they don't ask if i want to they assume i would. Shai, densest attract the same attention, they must also see the sucker tattoo on my forehead. i get a little puzzle gift for mattanchuck and also buy something from my stalker. the walk itself was around 5 hours long and in the end we took the ride back to down,
after a nice long shower i napped for an hour, then we went for dinner. i had more fried rice and potato soup , and now making the updates and soon sleep will kick in
a cold but a very enjoyable day had passed, my muscles are aching, tomorrow the weather will remain cold, but i hope not as foggy as more hiking is expected.
good night from Sa Pa
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