Hilltribe Trekking

We spent the last week galavanting around Sapa, a mountainous town tucked away in Northern Vietnam.  Stumbling off our 12 hour overnight bus ride, we were immediately greeted by packs of Black Hmong women dressed in their elegantly handwoven outfits and carrying loads of clothing,blankets, and jewelry to sell.  "Hello.  Where you come from?  You buy from me," they repeatedly asked with charming smiles.  The Black Hmong are part of the hilltribes surrounding the town, all of whom still practice very indigenous lifestyles.  Mason and I decided to hike with 2 from the Hoa Tow village to their home one day in hopes of learning a bit more about their lifestyle.
We started the morning off with a trip to the market to buy lunch which we would prepare in their village.  A bag of 30 tomatoes, bamboo, tofu, pineapples, and spinach to feed a family of 15 costed us 4USD.  Csi, a 20 year old woman with fluent English, held her 3 month old baby on her back for the entire trek through muddy hills and misty waters.  She informed us that they all give birth in their homes and usually the Shaman of the village gives them some medicinal herbs to take for the pregnancy.  The women make their living through tourism and the men and children usually work in the rice fields.  The 3 hour hike was completely fogged over and added an eerie twist to the cliff drop off which would later be revealed as the most beautiful rolling hills of rice paddy fields.  We learned about marriage customs, traditions, and basic living skills from these people.  Everyday they wake at 4 am to make the trek to Sapa either by foot or moto.  
When arriving at their house (which was essentually 4 walls made from planks of wood and dirt floors with a kitchen area, living and praying area, and 4 bedrooms) grandma was smoking her pipe on a wooden stool by the fireplace.  Eventually the whole family emerged from the rice fields to gather around the fire and chat while cooking lunch.  2 hours later, we finished cooking the spinach, noodles, tofu, and boiling the rice.  Husbands, children, grandparents, cousins, everyone was there!  Grandpa stumbled out of his little room almost face planting in the fire from too much rice wine.  When it was time, women sat on one end of the table and men the other.  We all shared from the communal bowls of food and our rice wine glasses were never empty.  Whenever someone yelled out, "Hao!" it was a sign that everyone had to toast and drink their glass down only to be refilled.  They dressed me in some of their handwoven material and easily convinced me to purchase this beautiful artwork at the end of our stay.  The trek down was a bit easier at only 40 minutes on the muddy slopes and a 45 minute moto ride back into town.  Luckily the fog cleared up and allowed the rolling hills covered in rice fields to shine through.

Limestone Cliffs in Halong Bay

Halong Bay, the famous Northern Vietnamese attraction sporting thousands of limestone peaks, floating villages, and islands over emarld water.  We started the 3 day trip off with a 3 hour ride to the coast with our small group of companions where we boarded our junk boat for the evening.  First stop was a cave hike through some stalactites and mites before loading onto our kayaks around the floating markets.  Dinner was served on the boat and we sat around the deck enjoying our Vietnamese guide's guitar and singing skills.  The following day was filled with hikes, beaching, jumping off boats, and hanging around Cat Ba Island, one of the only inhabited islands in the area.  Our group really made the trip exciting and personal:  2 Australians, 3 Singaporians, and 2 Germans,we learned alot from each other's cultures and indulged in travel monopoly in teams by country.  

The Heart of the City

Hoan Kiem Lake is about 1 mile in circumference and constantly bustling with life.  It is the heart of the urban setting providing a green space escape for many of its residents.  This morning I headed out for a run around 5:45am not expecting to be joined by thousands of other Vietnamese!  Tightly packed in, I weaved my way through so many walkers, joggers, Tai Chi groups, Zumba dancers, fan performers, and even a section where the young men had turned trees and park benches into a weight lifting area!  How creative!  Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and bodes around 6 million people.  We are currently staying in the Old Quarter which has silk shops, jewelry, traditional architecture, street sellers, and motos abound.  The building structures are wall to wall lined up next to each other with about a 7 foot width extending the majority of space to the back.  It's easy to spend days just strolling the city.  So far we have visited the women's museum, water puppetry show, Cathedral, and Ho Chi Minh City Masoleum.  Ho Chi Minh's body lies in a stone complex open to visitors to view.  We did not expect to wait in line for an hour to see someone's body!  Funneled through overhang walkways outside, we waited in line as if it were an amusement park in the rain!  People were dressed in their finest and guards carrying large rifles with bayonnettes surrounding were plenty.  No cameras were allowed inside and they were very strict to keep you moving right up next to the person in front of you.  Approaching the doorway, my apprehension grew for what I would see.  Why was everyone so excited?  I was hushed the moment I stepped foot inside the building, climbing a few staircases with the rest of the silenced people.  We turned the corner and eerily circled a glass casket with Ho Chi Minh lying inside.  4 guards stood at each corner making sure no one stepped out of line.  Others lined the wall moving us along disallowing you to stutter for even a moment.  Finally we emerged and gathered our belongings to look for some rice and veggies and fresh sugar cane juice found for a dollar on the streets.  The street food is mainly plenty of noodles, soups, rice, and different kinds of meats including dog.  We are preparing for our 3 day boat ride at Halong Bay, one of the Unesco World Heritage Sights known for its limestone cliffs/mountains shooting out of the water and over 3000 islands.  The limestone in this bay ahs been forming for 500 million years.  It will be my first time sleeping on a boat so I can only hope for the best!

Dalat, Vietnam

Charming and marvelous, Dalat is a little city perched inland Vietnam at about 5000 feet above sea level.  The weather here is comparable to Colorado, with its mountainous terrain and cooler nights.  The hustle and bustle around town is balanced with the vast array of colorful flowers and strawberry fields abound.  The french-colonial style reminds me a bit of Luang Prabang yet with added waterfalls, lakes, springs, and glorious mountains.  We arrived a couple of nights ago and got the chance to stay at the Dreams Hotel-an 'our pick' in the Lonely Planet boasted about for its legendary buffet.  Endless fresh fruit, omlettes made to order, laughing cow cheese, bacon, and fresh passion fruit juice kept our stomachs satisfied throughout the days activities.  We hiked the tallest peak here in Dalat which was set at about 2200 M.  Lang Bian Mountain has five volcanic peaks and takes about 2-3 hours there and back.  First we had to hike through a redwood forest type terrain with pine trees and horses roaming freely.  Instantly it turned to a jungle like hike with rocks pressed up right against your face given the steepness of the climb.  I only fell twice due to the slippery route from harsh rains the day before.  When we finally reached the top, we had a 360 view of the beautiful town and endless mountainous land that is Dalat.  People here are very charming with their soft pale faces and friendly smiles.  Every morning people are dressed for what we would think is the arctic-big down jackets, ski masks, and gloves.  Several people spend their time hanging around the huge lake in the middle of town, fishing and sitting under their umbrellas to hide from the sun.  We are having a hard time leaving this marvelous town, especially given the bus route that is to come.  On the 5 hour ride in, we packed the aisles, let out the spare tire on the side of the road to make room for more backpacks, took a rolling start to get the bus moving, and almost came to a few complete stand stills on the mountains because of the weight capacity.  It was quite the ride and I am looking forward to our next 18 hour journey toward Hoi An for which we got sleeper bunks on the bus!

Mekong Continued

The Mekong River is one of the world's longest extending from China down through Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.  It has truly been a large part of our travels here in Southeast Asia as we found ourselves down in the Mekong Delta in Southern Vietnam where the River empties into the sea.  First in Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon-where we explored Vietnam's compelling history though museums and tunnels that were once used by the Vietkong during the Vietnam War.  Entering these tunnels, we got a moment of what it felt like to submerge underground in the 1 m tall hideouts.  The soldiers would stay in these tunnels which had multiple levels, some as far down as 8M underground.  The total distance of the tunnels was 200 KM extending for mind boggling distances underground.
Shortly after we decided to do a homestay on a little island in the Mekong Delta with ample fruit gardens and a rustic feel.  Taking their bicycles through the villages, I scored a 50 cent pedicure with the local women.  We had a few short spottings of the 91 year old man whom owns the place and looks a bit like Ho Chi Minh himself.  A local Vietnamese took us on his fishing boat through the canals and onto the floating markets where we bought pineapples and watermelon from other boats. 
Mui Ne sand dunes was amazing! Very unexpected as it almost felt we had entered the middle east with its ocean to the right and huge white sand dunes mixed with red soil to the left.  The sand was surprisingly cool to hike on and the view was an incredible mind blow.  Our guesthouse was perched on the coast with numerous fishing boats and a beautiful sunset in view!

An Untapped Wonderland

Laos is amazing!!! Finishing our Mekong River boat ride from northern Thailand down through Pak Beng and finally to Luang Prabang by slow boat really set the mood.  For two days, we saw handfuls of villages with thatched huts, several roaming cows and buffalo, traditional rustic appearing fishermen, and endless rolling mountains.  Meeting Ramsay in Luang Prabang, the four of us adventured into one of these Hmong villages with a population of 300 for a night.  Biking through rocky paths, crossing rivers, and trekking the hilly peaks to arrive at our thatched hut with moderately comfortable mattress really mixed things up.  Not many people had any English and we surely could not converse in Lao, so smiles and gestures it was!  The following day we hiked out of the village about 5 hours to the river where we'd relocate in a beautiful Zen resort high up with the whisping trees.  A boat ride, elephant ride, and kayak trip later we were back in Luang Prabang~the fabled riverside World Heritage status town.  Definitely one of my favorite places honoring its French influenced villas, ample boutiques/cafes, and Lao style night markets.  We had a wonderful dinner consisting of lemongrass chicken, buffalo, Lao style omlettes, and banana desserts with our Thai friend, Winna before continuing onto exploring caves, some more kayaking, and final Wat tours in Vientiane.  The Laos part of our trip has truly been magical making it very difficult to package it up in preparation for Vietnam.  I would recommend it to anyone looking for mystical mountains, beautiful people, and by far the most pristine land in Southeast Asia.