Sapa

From Halong Bay we traveled north to Sapa, a small town in the heart of the mountains in northern Vietnam, close to the border with China. Sapa originally was a small market town which was used as a meeting place for the rural tribes that live in the surrounding mountains. It has now grown to a tourist town, used as a jumping off point for treks, overnight stays in near-by villages, Eco-tourism (which is not so eco in Vietnam), and mountain biking though the passes.
After an interesting experience on the night train, sleeping in a 4 person "soft-sleeper" room with a mattress which was about an inch thick and a blanket slightly damp from the humidity in the room, we were jostled north. We arrived bright and early and after a slight bus break down (forgot to put gas in the tank) we arrived happily and tiredly to our hotel. After a nap to catch up on the sleep we did not have, we rented scooters to check out the surrounding mountains. Tamara and I had both ridden scooters in the past, but as it was for both of us greater than 5 years ago we thought a lesson may be helpful before navigating the twisting streets out of the quite little town. Also I didn't want to run down a tourist wandering through the streets!
After a quick stint of finding my balance, remembering how to turn, and figureing out how to start the bike with breaks on, and just a little gas to the thing didn't go shooting off (very important lesson!), we were off.
Once out of the town I felt much more comfortable and even got the scooter up to a whopping 15km/hr! We were speeding away. Ha ha. It took a bit of time for us to develop some confidence , but the uphill long sweeping turns into the mountains to pass by the rural towns and terraced slopes were a good place to work on that confidence.

The mountains around Sapa are terraced, much like those of Peru and Machu Picchu. Up and down the slopes were broad flat steps that during the late spring and summer months are vibrantly green with the rice paddies. Water buffalo help to work the ground and during their off season roam through the mountains grazing. We were in the off season, so although lush with weeds, it was not quite the same appearance. Beautiful all the same.
We scooted up the mountains to arrive at the Silver waterfall, then further into the mountains to find the pass. Unfortunately the pass wasn't quite so magnificent to see as the valley too like Hanoi and Halong Bay was filled with smog.
I first believed the smog to be caused but Hanoi's large populating squeezed into such a small city, however the mountains should have been devoid of that pollution.  I know think it is pushed south from China, settles on the northern lip of Vietnam, further assisted by some of the larger cities such as Hanoi.

Shu and Ta

After the pass we returned back to town, as we had not quite dressed appropriately not accounting for the cool mountain wind that is intensified while on a scooter. While wandering through the market place and looking for  lunch spot we met Shu,  a local village woman who offered to take us to her village the next day and show us the mountains and the villages. She would take us to her home and cook us a traditional lunch before taking us to 2 other villages and then arrange for a motor-taxi back to Sapa. She asked us for $20 for the excursion. The hotels and tour agencies charged $30-40 per person, and the lunch was had in a restaurant serving "fast food", within the local village. I was more than happy to pay a local the money rather than the hotel or tour agency. We arranged our meeting for the next morning.
After lunch that came with the show of a dump truck backing up into a guy on a scooter (guy jumped off, his scooter didn't make it), we had a good tour of the small town wandering its streets and back alleys. Next was a one hour back and neck massage to work off the knots in our shoulders from slumping around 25lbs bags, and a fresh coat of nail polish for a whopping $3 per person.
The Vietnam Dong as it is called has allowed Tamara and I to become fast millionaires. 1 Canadian dollar buys you 20,000 Dong. I regularly take out $5 million from my bank account, making me feel like a high roller. ($5 million equals $253 CND)
The dollar takes you far here, with most meals costing approximately $3 dollars and a 450ml beer is 75cents!!! We are enjoying our millionaire-ness.
The nights were cold in Sapa, and our light jackets and cardigans were not cutting the cold. The only hotel that has central heating costs $180 per night. Happily our $35 per night hotel came with electric blankets and a fire place! We snuggled down into our heated beds, started a fire, and decided we loved our hotel.

Water Buffalo

The next morning we met Shu, and her friend Ta who escorted us through the 3 hour journey down the mountains into the valley towards Shu's home village of  Loi Chau. We picked our way down the mountain side along the trail the locals use( rather than the road like the other tours), and spoke to our host. She taught herself English by speaking with tourists at the market place in town. Many women from the local villages walk 2 to 3 hours in the early morning to be in Sapa by about 9 am. There they wander the town streets and talk to the visitors practicing their English and trying to sell their crafts of weaved purses, pillow cases, bracelets or silver and gold jewelry. Shu had taught herself English in this way and now as her English is fluent enough she can host visitors to her home and entertain. She told us about how they take the plants that they grown and harvest to use as dyes for their clothes, and weave and cook the grasses they weave into the fabric for their clothes. At 30, Shu had 3 children and had been married 10 years after a 2 year courtship with her husband. She had lived in a village that was a 1and a half day walk from Sapa, and a days walk from her husbands village. They had met in the festivities surrounding the new year, where the locals dress in their new clothes and walk along the paths of the villages towards Sapa. They dated over two years talking only when they met on the paths. She says now it is easier for the villagers to meet and date as cell phones allow the couple to call and text one another. She explained that it was normal for the locals to marry young, her brother was only 12 when he married, and many marry around 15-18. The government provides elementary school, and a bit of middle school, however most have to travel into Sapa after elementary school if they wish to continue their education.

Lunch

Ta making us a gift

By the time we arrived at Shus home we were starving. We were offered fresh sugar cane to chew while we waited. Sugar cane looks like bamboo, and when you peel it offers a fibrous flesh that you bite off and chew for the sweet juices, you then spit out the fibrous left overs. We had a HUGE lunch and claiming that we were vegetarian were filled to the brim with fresh vegetables cooked over an open flame.
Tamara and I had an amazing time with Shu, she was wonderful and friendly. She joked and teased us and taught us a lot about the local culture, while we explained why we remained unmarried and without children at our very advanced age.
We returned to town thoroughly enjoying our experience and do not think it could have been any better than if we had tried to do it ourselves, or though a travel agency.
A night train returned us to Hanoi, and after another jostled sleep we caught a flight to Hoi An.

Ta's Gift

Shu, Me and Ta. Dressed in local clothing

Shu, caught this picture as she was re-doing her hair. She has only cut her hair once in her life. At 1 year of age it is custom in some cultures to shave the child's head to signify they have survived the most difficult time in a child's life. A high percentage of children in most second and third world countries do not make it to their first birthday.