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“Twelve bucks gets you a hotel with a pool!!” |
The last day in Sapa sure didn't disappoint. Turns out you don't need a beach to get a sunburn, just a sunny day or two in the mountains! The day dawned clear with beautiful fog in the valley. We met up with two friends from Seoul, and decided to take a van tour to the other side of the mountain. Featured on the trip are three tribes, the Lao, the Thai and the Red Hmong people whose villages seldom get visitors, and hence get really excited about tourists. It was amazing. The first tribe, the Lao people, were really excited to see us and show us around. They were jumping in front of each other to have pictures taken, and only ask for copies to be sent to the village the next time there's a tour(don't have to pay or buy anything). We saw some beautiful children, the black teeth of the Lao people, and how they lived(very simply). It was amazing to see--it was like visiting a folk village(or Old Fort William for those of you in the know), except that it wasn't there for the tourists, that's just the way they live. Talk about perspective... The irony is that many of the houses have televisions, and we saw satellite dishes!! The villages don't have main electrical lines, but many generate their own using water generators(hydroelectric ) and run their tvs!
So we wrapped up our Sapa visit with our friends, and headed off down the highway(1 1/2 hour bus ride to the train station for our overnight train ride) only to turn around 15 minutes in, 'cause someone got left behind. So we get back to where we started, and it turns out the people who got left behind were 2 extremely drunk Welsh girls(not really trying to fuel any stereotypes ;) ), who didn't really want to leave Sapa, took their sweet time getting on the bus(no sincere apologies to putting everyone back a 1/2 hour), and spent the whole trip (remember 1 1/2 hours?) talking about the virtues of rice wine, Sapa, and people hating them. We all mentally crossed our fingers and hoped they wouldn't be in our cabin on the overnight train cabin. Sean and I lucked out and shared ours with a retired French couple who spends 3 months every year travelling. Got to practice my French, and chatted with them for a long time. Interesting people.
Arrived back in Hanoi today to pick up plane tickets, and fly(time-saver!) to Danang. Stood outside the Danang airport trying to work out how we'd get to Hoi An--look confused long enough, and someone will always offer to charge you for something! In this case it happened to be a taxi ride to Hoi An for the right price, so it worked out. Got to Hoi An($12 gets us a room, with a bathtub in the bathroom and a POOL downstairs!!), and walked around. Then we went CLOTHES shopping!!! Hoi An is known for custom-made clothing (they'll make anything, from any material), and I went nuts. Whole new wardrobe, pretty much. Good thing shipping isn't too expensive!!
A nice swim in the pool, some internet to burn some time before bed(I'm so TIRED!), and I'm off.
previous travel blog entry
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