Sapa, Hanoi - yes, Erica wrote this
Sunday, July 29th, 2007So we crossed into Vietnam from Hekou, taking in all of the summer heat and humity in. We quikly learned that ATMs in parts of Vietnam have “office” hours and we could not withdrawl cash. Oh well, here to learn. We caught a bus from Loa Cai to Sapa, a tourist town in the mountains. We got there at about 6 on Saterday which we soon learned is actually the worst time of the week at the worst time of year to get into that town. Sapa is a tourist town for Vietnamese to cool off from the HaNoi heat and it was full to the brim with no room for the slackers who just rolled in. We were flagged down by a woman who runs Sonha Guesthouse and she offered up her cousin’s sparish room for us to stay until we could get a room at her place. I say sparish because it was a space behind the family telly. It was certainly more comfortable than the park sqaure, and the family was very kind and personable, with 2 lively children. Still, it was nice to actually stay with a family for the night and get a sense of how people live in that town.
At some point during our 4 day stint, we trekked out to the minority villages where the Black Hmong (pronounced Moe) and the Red Zsa people live. They actually follow you all over Sapa saying ‘buy from me you buy from me’ and ‘your so beautiful, you buy from me!’ Some found them an annoyance but they are so incredibly friendly and outgoing, Marc and I loved them. The path to the village was steep and really muddy. The guide kept looking back and asking if I was OK, I swear he thought I’de be the first to fall. I may not be graceful, OK, I’m really not, but I damn well didn’t fall! At lunch you could count the by the mud baths who’de taken a tumble down the muddy slopes. Did I mention that it’s Sapa’s wet season? The minority villages also plant those amazing rice terreces all over the mountains, creating a spectacular view. We also discovered Bai Hoi, fresh beer, in Vientnam in this town. At roughly $0.30 a glass, where the Bia Hoi is, you can find us at some point during the day. It’s a beautiful thing.
After Sapa we hit HaNoi. It’s crazy! It’s hot! There are so many motorbikes going in every direction! As a pedestrian, you pray to whatever you happen to believe will save you, and then I guess you just sort of go for it and hope no one had too much rice wine. There are no real traffic rules that anyone really follows here other than if it’s bigger than you, best to get out of the way. And the honking, constantly. I think they believe that it magically protects or perhaps it just substitutes for defensive driving or traffic rules. Not sure, but it is a bit scary at first. And still now kind of. Hanoi is really beautiful though. You can really see the French influence here with all of the elegent row houses and store fronts. But your not in France, and you know it.
We went to see Ho Chi Mihn at the mosoleum, yes, we actually saw him. He’s been there for over 30 years exept for the the winter vacation every year he takes to Russia for routine maintance. We must have waited in line for an hour to see him for maybe 2 minutes. Military guards line the whole way with no less than 3 check points to make sure we didn’t have cameras or whatever else the didn’t want us to have. There were so many people there waiting to see too. Lines of people winding around various buildings and streets. At the military history museum we got to look at downed US planes and soldiers uniforms as well as Vietnamese. It was all a bit soboring. You know looking at that stuff that those where people who never made it home.
More Bai Hoi, lovely Bai Hoi. A bit about being a vegitarian in Vietnam. It’s really hard. There are a plethora of places to get pho, of which I can eat none. It’s full of meat with meat juice. Marc has gianed a great fondness for noodles in the morning. Honoi is actually known for pho bo (noodles with beef) so I’m sure it’s great, but none for me thank you. If you order tofu, sometimes it comes smothered in beef chunks or stuffed with pork. And it goes beyond that. While meandering through the market, we walked by and did a double take on a pig roasting on a spit. Wait, that’s not a piglet. That’s a dog. Nose, teeth, toung, part of an ear. And you can order up ground cat in a spring roll if ya like as an appitizer. Dog tastes like lamb appearently. I’m sticking with tofu.