So, after all of the trekking and the home stays and all, we get ONE day
to hang out. Today we DID get to just relax, unlike last week. Our
family went on an overnight train from Lao Cai to Hanoi. I slept very
well unlike Sumner and mom. But when we got to the hotel, we found out
that they had an available room for us to stay in until 10:00 AM. The
minute my mom’s and brother’s heads hit the pillows, they were sound
asleep. Guess they are not meant for train rides. When they FINALLY woke
up, I had read about two whole books! (also I am a really fast reader,
so that makes a difference.) That afternoon we went to a silk shop and
got my self a fitted ao dai, (according to the north pronounce it ow
zie). I got one for next year, and another one for the next 2-3 years.
The first ao dai is turquoise-ish, and when you move, the little trees
and flowers that are the prints, they turn different colors. The one
that is for a few years to come, is a pretty white color, and has a
light blue coloring to it. Now for dinner we are having some sort of
snackey dinner. Don’t know what it is, but I hope that it will be yummy.
Gute Nacht! (goodnight in German).
Today was our last day in Sapa. Today we got up and had breakfast and
then went back to the room to hang out and try to figure out what we
wanted to do today. We decided to go to the radio tower. Everyone said
there was a wonderful view so we went. When we got down we paid and
checked out. Then we started out. We walked up lots of steps and then
had to get tickets to go the rest of the way. Then we walked up more
steps until we got to a Mt. Fan Xi Pan Lookout (Pronounced like: fancy
pants without the “ts” at the end. Fancy Pants isn’t really very
original because we met some other people that named it that also) Then
we walked a little way more and arrived at a fork. We went left and got
to a little covered area where we stopped and had a drink because Hannah
had a headache. Then we arrived at a Europe Garden. We saw a look out on
the top of a hill but mom didn’t want to go all the way to the top. I
wanted to go further but mom was to tired and Hannah had a headache. So,
I decided to go up a path that I presumed went to the radio tower. I
went up some steps and then more steps and then into finally got to the
top. It probably wasn’t as spectacular as if we went up to the other
lookout but it was a nice view. In the foreground was Sapa all laid out
and then behind that in every direction were mountains. After I took
some photos I went back down and surprised mom and Hannah by my speed.
Then we headed back down the hill. Once down we went back to the hotel
and hung out in the lobby until time to get on the bus to Lao Cai. The drive to Lao Cai was a little traumatic because our driver was a
little crazy. We were thankful that we got off the bus alive. We were
dropped off at a Kangaroo Cafe sponsored restaurant and settled down at
a table. The man who seemed to be in charge of the place asked us for
our voucher and then went to get our tickets. He told us that we would
leave for the train station at seven. It was six something so we decided
to have dinner. While we were waiting for our food another van full OK
let me re-state that. Another van BURSTING with people. There were
nineteen people in a bus that fit, oh, fourteen people? Also there was
everyone’s luggage along with the people! We ate our food and then the man came to take us to the station. We got
to the station and he took us to the train. He wasn’t as helpful as Mr.
Viet but he took us to our cabin and then went away. The cabin was nicer
than the last time but it was basically the same. The beds were a little
bit longer (mom could fully stretch out on it). The water bottles were
in a basket (instead of just loose on the table). This was an advantage
because when the train bounced the water bottles didn’t bounce out on
the bed (not that they would, but just the small things make it nicer).
Also we had a trashcan which was nice. The…
Today started with breakfast (good thing to start with). And then
after breakfast we met some people who were also staying at Sapa Rooms
and they asked if there would be any opportunity to buy. We laughed
because as soon as you walk out the door you are bombarded by H’mong and
Dau (pronounced: z-ow) women saying “you buy from me why you no by from
me, you bye this, you no want? Ok you buy this..” and after they give up
on one person if there are others in the group they bug them. We told
them to go to the market in the square and pick up one of the things
that they like and then they will have a multitude trying to sell you
the exact same thing.
OK we started the day with a little trauma because when I woke up I
realized that Hannah was not in her bed but I found her in mom’s bed.
Obviously Hannah had been scared because of the mice and the bugs. But
after we got up it was basically OK but we didn’t want to stay another
night so we called Mr. Khanh the manager of Sapa Rooms and asked if we
could come back. He understood our predicament and let us come back. But
before we did we stayed and had a wonderful time enjoying the beautiful
scenery because we were going to do the cooking class at the retreat. We
had a nice time just relaxing.
Today I woke up and was surprised to see that I was in a house with wood
boards above me. I was the last one to wake up because the family was
awake at five and mom didn’t get much sleep so she was up and Hannah
just was awake. I got out of bed and went to the fire. They had already
started making breakfast, so we just sat around waiting. Then our
hostess got out a frying pan and got the batter she had been making and
made these pancake-ish things. While it was cooking Sume (if you read
the last post you heard about her) arrived, for she would be taking us
back to Sapa (and we didn’t know this at the time but to take us to Ta
Van). Once all the pancakes were cooked, we sat down to eat. I am going
to tell you this now so I don’t have to later (pretty good reason,
right?) The hotel supplied the food for us at the homestay so that is
why we had all that food at dinner and why we were having pancakes for
breakfast. The pancakes were not what we think as pancakes. They were,
as Hannah described it, rubbery. I thought that they were defiantly not
prime and mom didn’t think much of them either. We had banana, honey,
and sugar to go with it. We started to eat one, but after about half of
it Hannah started to make faces and looking longingly at the rice that
Sume and the hostess were eating. I guess that they must have seen her
doing that so they asked if we would like to have rice with them. It was
just the left-overs from the night before but it still was very good.
After breakfast we packed up our bags and hung out for a minute until
Sume said it was time to leave. We went into the town that we had lunch
in and got in a van to go back to Sapa. As we were leaving we saw big
tour bus filled with people and we were very grateful that mom had
planned all the transportation beforehand and that she had planned the
trip so we did the trip by ourselves instead of with an enormous group.
When we got back to Sapa I made that quick post, shot an email to Oma
(that’s what we call our grandma) and Skyped dad. Then we set out on
another trek. We were fortunate to be with Sume again for the trek. We
started out down the road going to Ta Van. We had been walking on the
road for about an hour when we met up with Sume’s cousin’s group
(Sume’s cousin is also a tour guide for Sapa Rooms) and met a young
couple and one set of parents. We went on and were a little ahead of
them when Sume’s cousin called out to our guide and said that she wanted
to go together so our groups merged and we made friends. After a little
while we saw a truck that had overturned on the highway that in the US
would be a one lane road but here in Vietnamese is a 8 lane highway! Ok
I exaggerated but it actually was a highway with two lanes and could be
3 lanes if two cars were going and a motorcycle wanted to go in-between
them! A little after we saw the wreck we stopped for a rest. Hannah and
I ran up and down from where we were sitting to a power pole. There were
step-like things that looked like they were supposed to be rice paddies
but didn’t get finished. They were good obstacles but since I have
longer legs it was easier for me so I won almost every time. After that
we went on down and when I say down I mean *down. *We walked a little
ways and arrived at a little bamboo bridge made of two bamboo poles. It
was easy for our guides, the sales ladies (I didn’t tell you but we had
accumulated good deal of girls trying to sell us things), and Hannah and
I to cross. But the older people had some trouble making it across.
Luckily for us it was at most one yard long. We walked along some
terraced rice patties and then across one of the retaining walls and
then down some more. We walked across one more bamboo bridge and went a
little way and then arrived at a quarry. If dad had been there he would
have been able to tell you what kind of rock it was but all that I can
tell you is that the rocks were white. We walked through the quarry
(nothing was going on) and went down a hill. About have way down we saw
a big digger thingy and a car that was smashed on the treads! We were
thinking that these guys definitively didn’t get the safety award for
the year! We got to the bottom of the hill and went across the bridge.
To the right of the bridge was the old bridge which was closed but not
very well, for, you could still go on the bridge. After we crossed the
bridge we went to a restaurant to eat and then headed on. The rest of
the way was just small villages and beautiful views of the valley with
terraced rice paddies. There was one incident that I will tell you about
though. We stopped at a large shop and Sume asked if we wanted to buy
anything. Mom said that we would look and see what the prices were like.
Well we went in and realized that there were no prices because in
Vietnam they look at you and if you look like you have a lot of
money then the price goes up about two to three times! Whereas if you
look poor then you get a lower price! Once they tell you a price you
must bargain for it no matter what it is, chopstick, you bargain for it,
little donuts that are being sold to you on the streets of Hanoi, you
bargain for the little donuts. You bargain for literally everything
except food at a restaurant. Once we looked we walked on to Ta Van. In
Ta Van all of the group, us and the Australian/English group (I forgot
to tell you where they were from) hopped into the van and went up to the
mountain retreat. The other group got out to look around and then headed
back to Sapa. We stayed and were directed to our room. After we set our
luggage down, we explored the retreat. There were, I think, five little
bungalows (maybe six) and one but H’mong house. There was also a big
house that was on stilts where we would have our meals. The big H’mong
house one was the one that we were going to stay in. It had three rooms
and a balcony. When you went in you were in the living room it was
basically a brick floor and two wood benches and a table in the middle
of the floor. On one of the rafters there was some corn for decoration.
On the right of that room was a bedroom with two beds and a lamp and to
he other side was one big bed. After our explorations we had some rest
and then after a while went to go eat. We went to the house on stilts to
go eat and were directed upstairs (they used the bottom level as a
relaxation place). We sat at a table that was made of logs so that it
was hard to put water and food on the table. Dinner was delicious but it
was way to big for the four of us (we ate with Mrs. Elsa Marie, the
Danish lady).
We made it back from the homestay safely. It was very fun but I can’t
tell you about it now because we are going on another trek to Tavan to a
mountain lodge. Bye
Read the last post (the end at least) and this will make sense. I didn’t
wake up until about 5:30 in the morning on the train. I slept very well
but couldn’t go back to sleep so, I looked out the window. We seemed to
be stopping but I guess that we were just passing a train on a
side-rail. We then sped up and went for a while. We kept on going but
before we got to the station the crew came by and knocked on our door to
tell us that it was time to pack up and go. So we woke up Hannah (mom
was already awake) and packed up our stuff.
Today was our last day in Hanoi. We started the day as normal with
breakfast. Then our driver picked us up to go to class. We did class and
learned more about present perfect tense (I don’t even know what that is
in English so it was very difficult to do in Vietnamese.) Mr. Tan works
on very complex stuff that may or may not be practical, such as present
perfect tense, instead of doing things like where is the bathroom or I
need a hotel but he is a very good teacher. After that we summarized
what we did during the class this week.
Today we had a day off from class so we did things around Hanoi.
Breakfast was as usual and then we went to our rooms to work on the
blog. Hannah and I were getting restless and we wanted to go do
something. So we decided to go to the army museum which was about 25
minutes walk away. When we arrived at the army museum the sour faced man
said that it was closed. So we decided to go to lunch we started out for
a place that mom’s book said was good but when we arrived it was closed!
Then we tried another restaurant but it looked like a nightmare to even
get in. Next we tried another but it too was closed. Then mom said that
we needed to go to the hotel that we are booking our trip to Sapa with
so we headed in that direction trying to find a place to eat. We didn’t
find anything so we just gave up and went to the Kangaroo Cafe. I had
the same thing that I had last night, chicken and rice in a clay pot
After lunch we walked all the way back to the army museum. We went to
the first building and looked at the exhibits there. There were
bazookas, rifles, cannon, swords, and all sorts of other weapons. Then
we went and looked at some ancient cannons all rusty and old. Next we
saw some anti-aircraft guns that shot down french planes in Vietnam’s
war against the French. Then we saw a hunormus (huge and enormous mixed
together) missile launcher that shot down American B-25’s during the
Vietnam war and an anti-aircraft gun like the one that shot down John
McCain’s plane. Beside those guns there was wreckage from a plane that
had been shot down. After we saw that we went to the second building and
saw the tank that burst through the hedge at the presidential palace at
the fall of Saigon. Next we went to the flag tower. The flag tower is a
tower that was constructed in the eighteen hundreds to fly the flag and
I think to serve as a fortress. Mom stopped after the first set of
stairs, but Hannah and I wen all the way to the top. we went up some
stairs that a man dad’s height probably would have bonked his head on
but there was no warning sign no nothing. You then had to climb another
set of stairs that led to another level and then you had to go up some
spiral staircases that in the US we would have not been climbing up
because there were no handrails and very skinny steps. Once at the top
we saw another way down and we went down it. We weren’t sure where it
led so we decided to explore. All it led to was a little altar and a
window. We headed back up looked around and then started to go back
down. We made it to down the spiral staircase but and then tried to go
down the next set of stairs. We were unable to because all the exits
were blocked off and we couldn’t escape! Luckily we were with someone
and we wandered around with them they went one way to go find an exit
and we went the other way. We didn’t find an exit but finally a woman
came with the key to let us out. With that saga over we headed back to
the hotel because the museum was closing in about five minutes. We
headed back to the hotel and were just going to settle down and rest
until bedtime but when we arrived at the hotel they told us that there
was a message from Miss Joy. We were going to just get a piece of bread
to eat but Miss Joy wanted to go out to eat. We decided to go to get
some street food that Miss Joy had recommended. The restaurant is a hole
in the wall place that you go in and there are skewers that you can put
in a plastic bin and then they barbecue it for you. It was very smokey
because the exhaust from their grill was jetted out onto the sidewalk
where we were sitting! The food was excellent! We had okra with bacon,
many different meats and a few vegetables. We had almost finished when
everyone started screaming and yelling and the owner of the street stall
ran around like a chicken with her head cut off grabbing chairs and
tables (the tables were things like pizza trays on little stools and the
chairs were the little stools) we didn’t know what was happening but our
food was swept away and our chairs from under us. Then the moment of
truth came when the police car came into view obviously the restaurant
had “been serving too many people” And had gotten busted! So the police
just sat there and didn’t leave. When we left they still were there. The
police here in Vietnam are most of the time not here to help, they are
here mostly to arrest people that can give them money and then get their
money so if someone scratched you don’t go to the police to help thy
could arrest you for something ridiculous like frustrating a policeman!
When the excitement had gone down the lady asked us to sit down and
finish we just wanted the bill so we asked how much it was we paid and
left. I think that some people just left the place didn’t pay. During
that sort of confusion it is easy to do. We went back to the hotel and
went to bed.
