After spending a few days in Hanoi, then a few more on the water in Halong Bay, we headed north to the mountains for some hiking (or trekking as it is called in many other parts of the world). This post is a little out of order, but stay tuned for posts on those places. After arriving back in Hanoi from Halong Bay, we boarded the overnight train to Lao Cai, a city on the Chinese border. We shared a sleeper cabin with a nice couple from France. They didn’t speak much English, but that is OK since we just wanted to sleep. However, the train was incredibly bumpy and we were tossed around by the quick curves and abrupt stops. Somehow I was able to get some sleep, but Jesslyn did not. When our train arrived the next morning, our guide was waiting for us at the train station with a sign that said, “Ms. George Jacob Hiltz”. Close enough. Also waiting for us was pouring rain, not a welcome sight since we had 2 days of hiking with an overnight stay in a rustic village in between. We hopped in a car which took us to the town of Sa Pa via a curvy, steep, uphill road. Amazingly, our driver managed not to run head-on into the large trucks or scooters that were all over the road. On the drive, we discussed some alternative options with our guide, and agreed that we would re-arrange our itinerary so that we would start our hike the following day, and hope for better weather. We didn’t have proper gear for hiking in the rain, plus it was very cold and we didn’t know what to expect in the village where we were to sleep. We were ecstatic that we could check in to the hotel room early so we could take a shower and a nap in a stationary bed. The hotel was surprisingly nice and spacious. The odd thing is that it doesn’t have any heat. We would soon learn that no one has heat in Sa Pa, apart from perhaps a fireplace. The temperatures can reach freezing in the winter due to its 5,000 foot elevation. Everywhere we went, people were wearing winter coats and hats inside, including the staff at the hotel and servers in restaurants.
After some rest and lunch, we did a little shopping to prepare for hiking in the rain. Hiking is a popular activity here, so there are many shops selling outdoor clothing. All the shops sell predominantly “North Face” products. I put that in quotes because most (if not all) are fake, or, as they call them, copies. For the most part, they don’t try and pass the copies off as original, and tell you that something is a copy. Some shops claim that some of their items are original, but I am not sure because even the “originals” are very inexpensive, perhaps they have minor defects. The copies, can be really good though. Earlier in the trip, we had seen some obvious copies, especially in Laos. The giveaway is that the logo doesn’t look quite right. But I couldn’t tell the difference of many of the items we found in Sa Pa. We bought 2 pairs of trekking pants, a pair of shoes, 2 fleece hats, a long sleeve shirt, and a shoulder bag for $130 and everything performed extremely well. If we had room in our bags, we would have bought a lot more. It seems to be legal here, or at least blatantly tolerated.
That night we had a really nice meal of slow cooked pork, bamboo shoots, sweet potatoes, and steamed rice at a restaurant in town. The pork was one of the best things I have eaten on our entire trip. I also had a tasting of rice “wine”. Sorry for all the quotation marks, but I have to use them here again because it isn’t wine at all. It is technically rice liquor because it is distilled after it’s fermented. “Happy water”, as they call it, is very popular here.
We were elated that it was not raining when we awoke the following morning. We got ready and headed to the hotel lobby where our local guide was waiting for us. As we entered the lobby, we noticed some local women standing outside, peering through the window with big smiles. We could tell they were local because they were wearing the traditional, brightly colored scarves on their heads. Then, as we left the hotel, three of them followed us. Actually, it was more like they joined our group, walking along side. They started asking us questions, “where you from?”, “you have brothers or sisters?”, “you have children?”, “how old are you?” (this seems to be a totally acceptable question everywhere we’ve been). We were prepared for their sales pitch, but there was none. They didn’t try to sell us anything, but rather just walked right along side us. It was a little odd. We asked our guide why they were walking with us and he told us that they will try to sell us something. We just didn’t know when. As we went off road, some of the trails were single file, and they would walk between us. It started to annoy me. Our guide would try to explain something to us, but now I was 5 people behind him so couldn’t hear. Imagine hiking along in the White Mountains with 2 of your friends. Then all of a sudden, 3 other people start hiking with you, interspersed amongst you, asking you how old you are. Very odd. I then figured that this is their home and we are visitors, so I needed to get over it. The sneak attack befell us when we stopped for lunch. As soon as we sat down, we were bombarded with scarves, hand bags, and bracelets being pushed in our faces. The women were very aggressively trying to sell them to us, but to their credit, they did not persist for very long after a few polite, “no thank yous". Unfortunately for them, they walked about 5 miles for no sale, but that approach must work quite well since they invested all that time and energy. Another local woman trying the same tactic with another tourist did add a little comic relief. We caught up with another hiker, a big, young Scottish man. Next to him was one of the local women, about 5 feet tall and 60 years old, holding his hand helping him along. The Scot had mud all over his jeans. He had obviously slipped and fell in the mud, and now had some help to prevent another fall.
Our guide in the lead, followed by Jesslyn, then 3 local villagers.
The most striking feature of this region are the picturesque terraced rice fields which cover the sides of the mountains. As we hiked through and between villages, there are an incredible amount of farm animals roaming free. “Free range” meat is a trend in the U.S., but it has been that way here as long as they have had domesticated animals. We were hiking along trails and roads with chickens, ducks, goats, pigs, and water buffalo. We got a kick out of seeing the little piglets running around chasing each other and rooting through the mud. We must have seen 100 pigs on our hike, but never more than 5 or 6 together at a time. Luckily, water buffalo are very gentle and friendly.
The terraced rice fields distinctive of the region.
Jesslyn smiling because the rain has stopped for the moment.
So many loose farm animals. We love this image of a chick poking its head out.
Water buffalo grazing on the side of the road. Luckily they are friendly.
We were depressed to see so much trash on the ground alongside the roads. We had witnessed local people in Laos just tossing wrappers on the ground, and it was obvious that was what happened here as well. I believe that not long ago, they didn’t have plastic waste. It used to be all organic which would be eaten by the pigs. I know it is nice to come from such a privileged background where litter is at the top of the list of things to worry about. But I do hope that the culture changes so that littering is not acceptable.
There are over 50 different ethnic groups in Vietnam, each with their own culture and language. The majority of people in the country are of the Viet group, and “Vietnam” means “Southern Viet”, dating back to when the country was the southern part of China. Our trek was through the mountainous areas which contain some of the minority ethnic groups. We first hiked through Cat Cat village, home of the Black H’Mong. Here they grow hemp and indigo from which they make beautiful fabrics for clothing and scarves. We spent the night in Ta Van village, home of the Giay people, and visited the Giang Ta Chai, home of the Red Dao on our last day of hiking. It was amazing to see just how close these villages are to each other considering they each have their own language, culture, dress, and architecture. Today, the villages are friendly with each other, and inter village marriages are common.
A local woman working the strands of hemp.
Jesslyn admiring the finished fabric and the loom used to make it.
We were doing a homestay, which means sleeping in the home of a local family. Our host family consisted of a couple and their 10 year old daughter. We arrived at about 3:30 so had a couple of hours to kill before dinner. The family wasn’t very interactive, so we decided to take a walk to check out the village. There isn’t much in the village, but there was an inviting looking cafe with a fireplace. We popped in for something hot to drink and unbelievably ran into two of the Aussie med students who were on the same boat as us in Halong Bay. So we played hearts with them until it was time to head back to the homestay for dinner.
The house we stayed in is more of what we would think of as a cabin. It was the same house where the wife grew up and was built by her grandparents. We were surprised at how large it was until we learned that she had seven siblings and at one point, three families all lived there. There is electricity, running water, and sewage, but it has a bare concrete floor, rough-cut lumber for walls, and a tin roof. There are gaps in the wall leading to the outside, which isn’t great for keeping heat in, but necessary to let the smoke from the fire out. In the kitchen, there is a metal tub with hot charcoal which the family huddles around for warmth and for some of the cooking. There is no sink, but pipes running down the wall to a faucet near the floor. Under the faucet, the concrete had an indent and channel to catch the water and drain it outside. They used large plastic tubs to wash the dishes. On top of a wooden counter were two gas burners on which most of the cooking was done. While the counter acted as a workspace for cooking, they were just as happy to use the floor. Squatting next to a wooden chopping block on the floor, our host cut chicken, pork, and vegetables for dinner. There was no oven (actually many apartments we stayed in in Europe also lacked an oven). Pieces of smoked pork hung in one corner from a rack over a small fire pit.
We sat around a very low table. Our hosts sat on even lower wooden stools, about about six inches off the ground. Jesslyn and I sat on normal sized plastic chairs. We were each given a small bowl and chopsticks. Our bowls were filled with steamed rice from a large rice cooker. On the table was a bowl of fried tofu and pork with tomato, another with greens sautéed with smoked pork, another with chicken and mushrooms, and another with fried potatoes. Our hosts said, “please enjoy”, but I sat back and waited to see how it all worked as I noticed there were no serving spoons, nor did we have plates. No need, everyone just eats directly from the bowls on the table with chopsticks (except for the individual bowls of rice). We were flattered they were OK swapping spit with us. It was all incredibly delicious. I am not a huge tofu eater, but it was awesome. They grow their own soybeans and make the tofu in the village. The food is seasoned with fresh garlic and lemongrass. The condiments were fresh: crushed chili peppers with salt, and soy sauce. No one used the soy sauce, so it must have just been for us. Along with the meal we had some rice wine which the family makes themselves. It was much better than what I had in town the night before. For desert, fresh watermelon. Everywhere we’ve been in Thailand, Loas, and Vietnam, dessert is almost always watermelon sometimes with pineapple.
After dinner, we sat around the hot coals some more to try and stay warm. We were wearing our fleece, rain coats, and winter hats. Even with all the clothing, it was still chilly and I thought of how cold it was going to be sleeping away from the heat. The family retired to the other room to watch TV where they huddled together on a bed under a blanket. Oh yeah, they have TV (I am guessing satellite), and even mobile phones. We were a little disappointed that we didn’t get to interact with the family more, but the language barrier was difficult. They didn’t ask any questions of us, so the conversation as kind of one-sided. Just before 9 pm, we got into bed and grabbed an extra blanket to try and stay warm. These were the thickest blankest I have ever seen. I quickly warmed up and ended shedding my fleece jacket and hat. Despite the extremely hard bed, I fell asleep quickly and had to wake up Jesslyn at 8:30 the next morning.
For breakfast, we were served thin pancakes with honey and bananas to put on top. They were good. But oddly, Jesslyn and I were the only ones eating them. Then more food was put on the table: pork, sautéed cabbage, steamed rice, and some chicken leftover from dinner. It was a little awkward because there were no rice bowls for Jesslyn or me. I think that they intended for us to eat only the pancakes, and not the other food. If so, I am sure it is only because they were trying to cater what we would normally eat at breakfast. That is very nice of them, but we want to eat like the locals! Jesslyn and I remember how things went down from here a little differently, but however it came about, we did end up having some of the other food. I love pork, and especially in Sa Pa where the pigs roam free to forage and don’t get injected with hormones. The pork for breakfast was like uncured bacon, but cut into thick chunks. So good. The people in this village eat steamed rice at every meal. They don’t typically eat noodles or soup like many other places in Vietnam. We learned that the people of that village typically live into their 80s and 90s. I am not surprised considering their wholesome diets, even without sophisticated healthcare.
It was raining steadily by the time we were ready to set out. Unfortunately, that meant we couldn’t visit the bamboo forest because the trails are very steep and would be too slippery due to the mud. That was good news for the blisters on my feet from my brand new shoes. After a bit more hiking we had big bowls of pho for lunch. It was the perfect food for cold, rainy weather, kind of like chicken noodle soup. We took a car back to Sa Pa where we had a hot shower and put on dry clothes before heading back to catch the overnight train to Hanoi. From Hanoi we flew to Nha Trang where we were looking forward to 10 sunny days at the beach. I am writing this from Nha Trang where I am sitting inside because of… rain :(
Jesslyn following the guide.
Jesslyn and me.
- Jake