# Tenth Day - Trek and H'mong Mountain Retreat 11/10/10

Source: https://sumnerevans.com/posts/travel/2010-vietnam-trip/tenth-day-trek-and-hmong-mountain/
Published: 2010-11-12
Travel, Trip to Vietnam

## Sumner

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).

Let me tell you what the resort was like. The H'mong Mountain
Retreat was extremely beautiful, probably the most beautiful place I
have ever seen in my life. The bungalows were on stilts over
the terraced rice paddies. If you looked down the mountain you had a
wonderful view of the many rice paddies. Behind the rice fields was the
town that we crossed the bridge on. And behind them was a
splindid view and the mountains. The place was totally wonderful.

Ok back to the story. After dinner we sat and talked with Mrs. Elsa
Marie and then went to our house (it sounds kinda weid to say because it
wasn't our house but... You get the point) to get ready for bed. I fell
asleep almost instantly and didn't wake up until late the next morning.

Announcements:

Check out the post called "Airplane to Seoul" if you haven't already. I
forgot to publish it until just a few days ago.