Sapa, Vietnam

What a beautiful few days we've had in Sapa! This place is amazing. We took an overnight train from Hanoi and arrived bleary eyed at 5:30a.m. Upon arrival at the Holiday Sapa Hotel we were greeted by 20 Black H'mong women swarming outside our van asking us to be their friends... After a lovely breakfast overlooking the mountains we realized that these 20 women would be joining us on our journey! So our group was now the Black H'mong women, a French family of four, our new Spanish roommate, Sonia and our guide, Cho. Together we trekked 8 hours through the mountains of Sapa. Breathtaking doesn't even begin to describe the views here. And good thing we had our new friends with us, it was two girls for every trekker, helping us to keep from sliding down the mudhills, falling in the river and avoiding slippery rocks. Despite all of our trekking gear, we each had our fair share of falls. The H'mong women, however, with their rubber sandals, managed to stay on their feet and then to keep us on our feet all day.

Once we arrived at our homestay with a Dzay family we had to pay up. The girls took out all of their "goods" and because of their loyalty and much needed assistance on the trail we all have acquired some really fabulous handcrafted bags and pillowcases. I guess we knew it was coming but in the end they earned their sale.

At night we were treated to a homecooked Vietnamese dinner, apparently it is common practice to serve your guests massive amounts of food... and rice wine. Also, common practice, the guest must finish all the food and cannot turn down the drinks. Despite our protests, we ended up drinking quite a bit of the home-brewed rice wine, which tasted more or less like straight shots of vodka. After the wine started to kick in, it was time to hear about the love stories at the table. Our Dzay hosts had met in the Sapa "Love Market", went home together immediately and were married within a month. Apparently this is a very modern and common way for the young tribal men and women to meet.

Luckily we had a guide who's English was really great and we have learned a lot about the hill tribes in Northern Vietnam. Also, we continue our French lessons  - I think we may have learned more French than either Thai or Vietnamese. Unfortunately, we arrived in Hanoi this morning to find that there has been a storm in Ha Long Bay so we cannot take our scheduled tour. We are re-booked for the one day trip tomorrow so fingers crossed the storm will pass.

 our first look at Sapa

we meet our "crew" - very chaotic

up and down through the mountains and valleys

 Amy, Gi and Yea

 Jackie, Ma and Coo

 Suz, June and Chi (yes, these girls are 14 and at times were carrying me up the mountain)

our group heading down the river

post day 1 of trek.. with our new souvenirs

preparing the spring rolls, our host (right) was most excited when we started drinking the rice wine, she even gave us a toast saying she was so happy to have us in her home and that she is grateful we visit Vietnam

 there was soooo much food!