Meanwhile…back in Vietnam

Day 3  - Our first true “trekking” day!
CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO SEE IT LARGER!
We arrived in Sapa the night before, and being dark, we did not get to really see what a glorious little village this was!

It truly reminded me of an Alpine Village.  Bells rang at 5 AM…which were not too intrusive.  Diane and I were super lucky that we were NOT housed in the part of the hotel that also had a Techno-music concert at 5:15 AM. YAY us!
Diane and I would wake up relatively early, head down to breakfast, and then ease into the day.  We were perfectly suited in that.  I also enjoyed that while we did Trek and sight-see, we were NOT forced out at ridiculously early hours.  Both days in Sapa, our start time was 9am.  I find that perfectly civilized!
I made it pretty clear at our “pregame” meeting for the trip that I read TREKKING not HIKING.  Many of the women on the trip were much more hard core HIKERS…so understandably in my “schlep-rock” (as Corey would call it) way I became a little fussed up over the thought of not being able to keep up.  This is something I do pretty regularly…especially when it comes to diving. I really need to learn to trust myself and my capabilities.  Something to work on.
Well, the day dawned, and off we went on our first…TREK.  First, Thang had to change our travels b/c of construction on the trail.  Second, North Vietnam had had plenty of rain over the past weeks b/c of the monsoons that had ravaged Thailand.  OK then…off we go!
We hiked with and through villages with Black H’mong. We started our trekking in Lao Chai (Black H’Mong)  The Black H’Mong where Black on their heads…this is how they are identified.
We would descend into these rice fields. Trust me that these pictures do NOT do the area justice!
Here is Diane at the beginning of the hike.  She said she was happy I snapped a pic BEFORE we started!
There were waterfalls and rivers.  All beautiful!
Thang warned us that we were going to be ambushed on our trek.  WHAT? Ambushed? Ambushed in North Vietnam is NOT a good word!  Americans are VERY sensitive to words like “ambushed” (did I mention I saw the lake that John McCain landed in when he was taken prisoner in Hanoi? I’m just sayin…).  In this case “ambushed” meant that locals would come out of the village, escort us, chat us up, and then hope we would buy their wares at the end.
So, off we walked.  The trek was not too too difficult.  There were some very slick places.  I had no trouble keeping up.  I stayed in the front for much of the hike figuring I would stay with the more experienced hikers and watch where they put their feet, etc.
Here is a man and baby hanging out in the rice field.  He stood up so we could take a better picture!
Much of the path was smooth yet a little rocky. Soon enough we got to the “mountainous” part where the locals came in handy!


The holder on the man’s back is solid wood and HEAVY.  He moves it on is back when it is empty and full of rice.  They beat the stalks of rice against the walls of this.  It is back breaking work.  And bring that together with the hills these terraces are carved in to…well, I think I said it before… I will never look at rice the same way again!
You notice that those working in the fields were mostly western clothing.  Those helping us on the mountain part wore traditional clothes. 
I do not have pictures of the paths where I needed a little help (a hand here, a hand there).  I needed that much concentration to not slip.  We all did really well!  Here is a shadow picture of a heart made from grass that Diane got from her “escort”
Here are a couple of us crossing the bridge before going to the next village.  The local in the back was with us the entire way.  She climbed down that darn thing in shoes much like crocs…I was in full hiking boots and thankful for it!
This is the OLD bridge…I like the one above..but I did cross this one…it was rickety!
This little guy was picking gourds off the roof of his house under supervision of his dad! 
Here is a large carving from limestone.  There were much smaller selections but we did not really stop long enough to shop.  They were cool!
Rice drying on a mat.  It is raked constantly.
TRAFFIC J A M – Village style…we saw more of these…I’ll show those to you tomorrow!
I REALLY wish you could see what was in the hat…it was BEES..yep…this guy was moving through the village w/a hat full of bees…I could not get a good snap of that.
We finished with this part of the hike…it was about 12K.  We then took our bus to Ban Ho, which is the home of the Tay minority hill tribe.  It was here that we learned many things!
This is where we had lunch…and you know what greeted us? GARLIC Sweet potato  FRIES.  If you closed your eyes you would swear you were at the ballpark.
First however, it had been a long walk and we had consumed water.  SO, we needed a restroom.  OK…I did NOT take pics of this…but here is where I saw first hand it is REALLY important to live as high up on that mountain as you can.  The toilets consisted of two sheds.  There were two cement troughs poured with mountain water constantly running down through the sheds.  Yep….holes in the ground.  The rest I leave to you.  Suffice it to say…strong leg muscles are a good thing, as is good balance.  “Nuff said!
ANYWAY, meanwhile back at lunch.  We were treated to local fair cooked in the home. There was a soup, greens, rice and two or three different meat dishes Now, if you like, you can come and board here when you hike!  They have beds and will take good care of you.  After a lunch we walked through this village…beautiful streams (umm, I think??)
(See the terraces in the back?) That is a water power station on the right…it has made the water pretty dirty in that area…yes, I swear the power plant did it!
When we got back, we had two cooking demonstrations.  We made two desserts.

The rice ball looking thing was made from rice we helped pound.  These were both interesting experiences, and yes we tasted, but I will probably not miss never eating them again! The tamale looking things were steamed.
After this, we headed back to Sapa and the resort. The drive was interesting because the roads are CHOPPY and were damaged further by the rains.  Sometimes if felt like we had to all move to one side of the bus to keep us from going over an edge.
We got back to the resort where Diane and I headed off to our 90 minute massages.  This cost a total of $55 USD. 
It was definitely a treat after our day of hiking.
I had never had a Vietnamese massage, and lets just say, I as pulled, contorted and stretched into shapes I did not think myself capable. 
I had never had a masseuse ON TOP of me (get out of the gutter people)…and in the end, I was not sure if the next day I would sore from the hiking or the massage.
When I awoke the next morning…I could not tell!
It was the best massage I ever had.  (Let’s just say…there was toe pulling involved…my family is now instantly jealous!)
I love Vietnam!