It is holidaying time again..
terraced rice fields
Went on a short trip to Vietnam last week, (never have thought I would be stamping my foot on Vietnam soil..ever). Anyway, when a friend asked me if I am interested, I thought we are going to the all time famous Halong Bay, but when I heard " Sapa"..I was like.. "what"???.."where"?? (my ignorance - never really studied the world map). So, the next second had me browsing through the world wide web and found out that this place is in the mountains located at Lao Cai province, which is in the northwest of Vietnam, where several highland minority groups - Hmong, Yao, Tay & Giao live. Next, thought, "ok, at least, it is a cool place, even in June and we can ecsape the Hanoi heat" (we are to get on a sleeper train from Hanoi to Sapa and back). Another piece of info - Sapa is famous for its terraced rice fields..very scenic, very touristy and of course, a good place for photography.
the train
BUT, the train ride is what I dreaded - 8 hours??!!..Well, we travelled on Livitrans Express. The train comprises of 7 wooden carriages with 4 berths and toilets. There are mineral water and cookies - all compliments from Livitrans! Luckily for me, there are power points for charging my camera battery.
my new found friend and her name is Mong
While in Sapa...
Got to the hotel to dump our luggages and right when we stepped out, a group of the Black H'mong women and kids came rushing to us, trying to get us to buy souvenirs, but there is this particular lady (guess she is the mom of one of the kid), had a better trick, she actually gave me a homemade handband - free..and added "I give you this, you buy from me from my village"..I innocently blurted "ok" - (I didn't know that our next stop would be their village!!..blaming this on our guide) and boy, can they walk and they walked real fast!! When our bus stopped at a small hut, I saw them!!! there they are, standing right in front of me..smiling, looked rather cheerful (guess they were thinking - we got here before you do)..LOL. And this is where our adventure begins..We got down from the bus at a spot which is several metres down from the hut and started our fields trekking and had my new found "friend" following me right from point A till point B (where we had our lunch) and that took us another few kilometres. My good "friend" is considerate too, other than the usual "buy from me", she occasionally alerted me on slippery rocky tracks..and I figured out, she is only 7 or 8 years! Finally, after much bugging and some negotiations, I bought from her two little casing costing VND50.000, which is approximately RM4 each.
Got to the hotel to dump our luggages and right when we stepped out, a group of the Black H'mong women and kids came rushing to us, trying to get us to buy souvenirs, but there is this particular lady (guess she is the mom of one of the kid), had a better trick, she actually gave me a homemade handband - free..and added "I give you this, you buy from me from my village"..I innocently blurted "ok" - (I didn't know that our next stop would be their village!!..blaming this on our guide) and boy, can they walk and they walked real fast!! When our bus stopped at a small hut, I saw them!!! there they are, standing right in front of me..smiling, looked rather cheerful (guess they were thinking - we got here before you do)..LOL. And this is where our adventure begins..We got down from the bus at a spot which is several metres down from the hut and started our fields trekking and had my new found "friend" following me right from point A till point B (where we had our lunch) and that took us another few kilometres. My good "friend" is considerate too, other than the usual "buy from me", she occasionally alerted me on slippery rocky tracks..and I figured out, she is only 7 or 8 years! Finally, after much bugging and some negotiations, I bought from her two little casing costing VND50.000, which is approximately RM4 each.
steps leading up to HamRong mountain
Hiked up to Ham Rong Mountain on day two. Good thing is, the mountain is just a short distance from our hotel - so we walked. The not so good part was we had to scramble up those tiring steps and there is not much for us to do or see ..with the exception of some little orchards, figurines of the chinese zodiac animals and flowers like orchids, hydrangeas, daisies, Lily of the Nile are grown along the paths.
Cat Cat Village is our next stopover. When we got in, all we can see is shops selling all kinds of souvenirs, there is also a waterfall right at the bottom of the valley. But of course, we must conquer all those steps first. From the waterfall, there is another set of steps connecting to another part of the village. There are motobikes awaiting for tourist to hop on for USD 1, but we chose to walk all the way.
ps : no more babbling just checkout travelling shots for more photos