So we booked ourselves on to a 3 day tour and headed off to the station. We showed our tiket and was passed to about 3 different people before being taken to the right train. Bit worrying at one point when they said we only had a receipt which wasn't valid but we got there in the end! The train was so much better than I imagined it to be. 4 beds in a cabin which were bunk bed. When we arrived there were 3 Vietnemese people in there all squashed on to one bed but one of them ended up being booted out somewhere else so there was just 4 of us. Me and Jan ate a load of cookies and then went to sleep, waking up at 5,30am when we'd arrived. We go picked up and taken off to the mountains. More winding roads upwards which wasn't bad at all because the views were fantastic.
We got dropped at a hotel and used the shower facilities and had breakfast. We were then allocated a tour leader and began our trek for the day. The hilltribe women joined us as they were walking back to their villages. I walked with 2 young girls who were telling me all about their lives in the mountains. They go to school in the mornings and then help their mum's with the housework and weaving etc for the rest of the day. One other lady (who didn't look 32) told me al about her wedding. They wear the sam as wat they had on except it's made out of a satin material instead. And they kill a pig and have a party with lots of rice wine. After a few hours of walking amongst stunning scenery we stopped for lunch. The usual rice etc. And then continued on to the cillage where we would be staying for the night. I got handed some sugar cane which I had a good old gnaw on. It was nice enough but couldn't get used to the fact that you chewed it then had to spit out the wood. Weird. I felt really rude just spitting it out on the road in front of me. Or on my shoes which most of it went on. When we got to the village where the hilltribe girls lived they whacked out all thei stuff and went in to sales mode. Although I only then realised that they'd started sales mode right from the start as they expected me to buy from them seeing as they'd been walking with me. "You buy from meeeee" they kept saying. And so I did. And once I got out my purse I was surrounded by about another 20 girls. "YOU BUY FROM MEEEE. You buy from her so you should buy from me...". Ahhhhh. So I bought a few bits of tut and then managed to escape.
On to the home stay. We got there (we, being a couple of Ozzy girls and a couple of spanish woman), settled to rest our feet and then went for a nap. I was expecting to be actually in a village home but it turns out it was purpose built for tourists. It was still just a hut but wasnt quite as authentic as any of us expected it to be! After our nap we were made dinner (more rice etc, but all really tasty), poured some rice wine, had some chats with the group and then it was time for bed to rest weary heads.
In the words of Peter Kay 'take in that fresh air. Ooo you'll sleep well tonight'
And we did.
It was the best night's sleep I'd had so far on my travels.
Up the next day and we were made a gzillion pancakes for breakfast. That's a lotta pancakes. But was needed for the trek ahead. We walked over rice fields upon rice fields. Great views. I found some a bit tricky as it was up so high and we had to do balancing acts with huge mountains on one side and even bigger drops down the other. But the hill trib woman were there to help. Although I was well aware that this time they would be expecting something. I didn't care, I needed the extra hand. Yeh that's right i'm still a wuss even after all the bloody treks i've done! We stopped for lunch after walking down the steepest mountain side where I threw a mini paddy at myself. I know I can do these things, physically, but meanwhile my head is spinning. So I shouted at myself to get on with it and stop being stupid. Kind of worked.
Lunch, with the tribe woman surrounding us again. I managed to get away with purchasing just one thing this time. It was some sort of instrument. It's pretty cool actually. I'll video you a tune and put it on here sometime!
Then just one final hill to climb and there was our van to take us back to the hotel. We had a few hours to kill so went to a cafe called... wait for it... "baguette and chocolate". I had the BEST cup of tea here. You know how good it tastes after such a long walk. Well it was a build up of 2 days f walking so imagine just how good it was. So good I had another one. Mmmmm. Then back to the hotel for some dinner (I swear our days are pretty much set around meals). We sat with Sophie and Jessica, two of the Ozzy girls from Newcastle (Oz Newcastle). And then driven back to the station and back on the train to get back to Hanoi. Think we drove through bumpyville this time.
In my blurry eyed sleepy state when we were thrown off in the morning, I left my half read book on the train. DOH. It was only 5am and raining. We got a cab back to our original hotel which was closed. Eventually they opened. We'd been told we could just have a shower and leave our bags there for the day as we were leaving in the evening. But it turned out we'd be charged for the day. After some chats they said we could go to their other hotel for a cheaper option. Fine. We carted our stuff over and then proceded to climb hundreds of steps to get to the roof room. Fine.
The rest of the day we just chilled doing our own thing and then met up again for lunch. Another place where we could draw on the tables. We relaxed with a pizza and wine, it was really nice before heading back to be picked up by our bus to take us south.
Email of the week comes from an anonymous fan after I emailed you all explaining Sapa as 'I have never been gobsmacked by such natural beauty' ...
"'Never been so gobsmacked by such natural beauty' ?
think you've been away too long...let me remind you of the lush plains of Eltham Park South, the syringe littered bexley woods, the rolling hills of swanley, & the views of the urine puddled Avery Hill estate from the peak of one of their towers... "
You Pizza Hut all you can eat vouchers are winging their way to you in the post...
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