The road to Sapa...

If you're not faint of heart, don't suffer car sickness, and have good insurance, I'd strongly suggest hiring a taxi in Lao Cai to take you up into the mountains to Sapa. 37 uphill on a narrow winding road, with steep drops to the river below. Blind corners, on which the taxi driver will pass slower traffic, with blaring horn and my prayers to get us through safely.

Rice paddies up steep hills, and truly wonderful views. The roads have the ever present dogs, children, water buffalo, slow moving motor bikes, trucks, farmers with carts. The drive back down the mountain was even more of a white knuckle experience, complete with squeling tires. I think our driver was trying out for rally racing.

We spent close to three hours wandering about Sapa, and in that time, the weather changed every ten minutes.

Oh, you might be curious about all this free time I have to go sightseeing. Easy. Our client group we're working in Lao Cai had asked for two full days training, but on arrival we found out that meant half-day, followed by drunken "friendship luncheons". Day 1 lunch was at a place specializing in goat (five were tethered to the front door - we had goat done four five different ways). I lost count of toasts/shots at 21. I did my country proud and held my own. The only part of lunch I declined (politely) was the fresh raw goats blood pudding. Day 2 was a duck restaurant, and of course, more boozing. Day two ended with fond, drunken expressions of eternal brotherhood, talk of family, politics and the American War. Great guys. Some truly wonderful people, some who I've met on other trips to the country before. But, I'll be happy if I never have to survive another of those lunches. Hang over at dinner time is not my idea of fun!

Sapa - Hmong portraits

Tragically, I'm no portrait photographer, but these will give you some sense of some of the tribal peoples in Sapa. These are Hmong women in the market area of Sapa. Yes, I bought something from everyone who allowed me to take a picture. I have a very heavy suitcase soming home...

While waiting for our taxi drive to come back (he'd gone off to the local sleeping room for taxi drivers) we chatted at length with the woman who has the one year-old little girl. Saw lots of Hmong women, teens and children in traditional dress, but no men in traditional dress.

Sapa is the jumping off place for trekking in the mountains, and close to the highest point in Viet Nam, Fan Sai Pan mountain.

Off the beaten track - part 2

So, we get close to the school/commune and the school vice director gets on his cell to tell them we're coming. The school has electricity and a land line. It's actually two buildings - one primary, one secondary, both one room, each with two classes to a room. One group faces one wall, while the kids on the other side of the tiny room face the other wall.

One picture shows Anh (brown shirt on the right, with commune school vice director and senior teacher by the school time table and drum. The drum is used to signal different times in the school day. The pond is in front of the elementary school and that is the secondary school in the background.

Some of the pictures show the river that has washed away homes, fields, roads, livestock. In one (with the sweaty foreigner) you can see one of the temporary homes in the rice paddy, and the washed out road and some of the mud slides in the background.

The road ahead was washed out, so out come the boxes of supplies and off we go on foot to wade across the river. The entire school had come out to meet us on the other bank. Wow! Amazing reception. Many of the children had never seen a foreigner, or anybody my size. Wonderful people. We posed for a few pictures, addressed all the children crammed into one room, had tea, then had to take off as darkness was falling and the dark clouds were coming in. I was afraid the mud would get worse and we'd be stuck if the rains came. We'd passed many minor mud slides on the road, none yet cleared.

We were invited to stay the night in the commune, which is amazing when you consider they didn't know we were coming, and little to offer. Many were living in thatched lean-to's in the rice paddies (with their livestock) as their homes had been washed away. Men were in the river with water buffalo dredging for timber to salvage to rebuild their homes. Logs were be sawn by hand to make planks. Incredible people, incredible experience. Not one I'll soon forget.

Off the beaten track

A few weeks ago the worst rains and flooding in forty years hit the far north of Viet Nam (along the China border). Mud slides followed. Hundreds died. Homes, roads, livestock, rice paddies were washed away. Anh had taken it upon himself to collect a large box (incredibly tightly packed. Darn heavy) of childrens clothes, knowing he and I were to come north to Lao Cai.

Not knowing how best to distribute the clothes, we decided to hire a local taxi and head out to the hills of Bát Sát district, where we were told some of the worst flooding/devestation had hit. To accompany the clothes, we picked up two large boxes of school supplies at a stationary store in Lao Cai. Off the beaten track we went.

Stopped at the district people's education committee (see building picture, with water bufalor in soccer field) to get permission to proceed (tea, speeches, made to feel very welcome) and by coincidence met the vice-director of Trinh Túông commune who was there for a meeting. His school/commune was one of the worst hit, and was cut off when the road was washed away. He was heading back, so hitched a ride with us.

From Loa Cai, it was about 2 and a half hours of gravel, rock and mud roads. Single lane, dodging water buffalo, kids, dogs, ducks. Amazing scenery, and not an area where many foreigners ever get to. We followed the Red River for a while (it flows south through Hanoi, to the South China Sea) with Viet Nam on one bank and China on the other.

There were quite a few places I thought the taxi driver would refuse to pass (amazing mud) but he said that it's no problem. You simply get a local farmer with a water buffalo to pull you out. I was glad I was in sandals.

Lao Cai

Overnight train from Hanoi (not at all comfortable - bed length not made for tall foreigners, AC blowing hot, humid, musty air) arriving in Lao Cai in the far north at 5:30 am. Usual chaos outside the train terminal, then off to our hotel - the local People's Committee Guesthouse. A seven story concrete "local" hotel with no elevator. As the foreigner, I was given the VIP suite on the third floor (30 USD a night).

On the train, Anh (prn. "Hang") my translator and I had booked the only two bunk compartment. No loud Aussie backpackers to share a tiny room with. As this is the non-stop train to the northern border town of Lao Cai, which is the jumping off spot for the famous Sapa area, the train is full of backpackers.

This is a town right on the China border (other side of the river) and NOBODY is on the street at lunch. Even at other times, it's pretty deserted.

Did I mention it's the rainy season? Hot and humid. Or, humid and hot. Standing outside at 6:00 am the sweat starts rolling down the back of my scalp.

Summer in Hanoi

Hanoi. Sixth trip to Viet Nam now. I’ve noticed lots of changes in the past three years. More high-rises, better sidewalks in a few places, more luxury cars.

Today it’s 33 C, high humidity, monsoon downpours, lots of backpackers desperately clutching copies of the Lonely Planet guide. It’s another hazy summer day.

According to a piece in the online International Herald Tribune the other day, inflation rose 27% last month in Hanoi. Food prices are up 74% over last year. A shoeshine has gone from 19 cents to 25 cents; a good haircut from $1.25 to $1.87; a tiny cup of tea on the street from 3 cents to 6 cents; a one-time-use rain coat from 12 cents to 37 cents, a massage from $4.37 to $6.25. It now costs 12 cents to park your motorbike on the sidewalk, and if you get a flat tire, it costs 12 cents to get it pumped, double the prices of a few months ago. My taxi to town from the airport, which cost $10 flat rate last year (40 minute ride) was $16 the other night. The economy is slowing down, factories are closing, workers are leaving the city to return to the countryside, and the stock market is at a standstill. This was the Asian Tiger a couple of years ago. Yikes!

If you’re ever planning to come to Vietnam, two great sites to check: Free travel guide http://vietnamtravelnotes.com/2008/06/27/a-travelers-guide-to-ha-noi-vietnam/ from an ex-pat Blogger living in HCMC http://vietnamtravelnotes.com/

For the scoop on food, a “must read” is www.stickyrice.typepad.com/ The pictures alone are amazing. Rich texture and colour. I get hungry just looking. An all round excellent guide to eating/drinking in Hanoi. I finally got round to trying Fanny Ice Cream, a well known local place serving French gelato. Wow!

Off tomorrow on the overnight train to Lao Cai on the China border for a couple of days work, then back to Hanoi and a flight home Saturday midnight. While in Lao Cai, apparently my local hosts are taking me up in the mountains to Sapa, one of the more famous destinations in Viet Nam. It’s supposed to be beautiful, with lots of local mountain tribes. I’m quite looking forward to it. If you go to http://www.terragalleria.com/vietnam/vietnam-region.north-west.html you’ll see some professional photographs of the Sapa area.