Vietnam- Hanoi and Sapa

In order to avoid a 30 hour trip by bus I decided to fly from Laos to Vietnam which was only 1 hour, much better in my opinion. In Hanoi I met back up with Reid and Jason and with no time to spare uppon my arrival hopped on an overnight train north to the town of Sapa. Sapa is similar to Luang Namtha where I was in Laos in the sense that it's the place to see local Vietnamese villages. It is also known for it's terraced rice fields dug into the mountain sides. It is a beautiful place but unfortunately known for its overcast weather making the views not their best but still better than nothing. Our first day in Sapa we went on a hike through one of the villages. We were never alone on our walk and were constantly joined by the local women and young girls in their traditional wear (which unfortunately I'm sure is only worn for tourist reasons). They conversed with us to practice their English and of course tried to sell us various crafts. We made good friends with one girl named Soa who we kept running into in town as well. She is 17 and speaks excellent English considering she only learned it from tourists.

The next day we ran into Soa again and she took us on another hike that was more scenic without as many villages. We had a great time visiting with her and she would show us various things along the way. For example the indigo plants that grew everywhere which they used to die their traditional clothes (see photos). It was a beautiful walk and filled with lots of smiles from exchanging different stories about our very different cultures.

Me and Soa

Beautiful scencery on our second day in Sapa

Once again we took the night train back to Hanoi where we arrived early in the morning. I was fortunate enough to tag along with Reid and Jason because one of their co-workers in Alaska is Vietnamese and her family lives in Hanoi so we got to stay with them. They spoke no English which made things not only difficult but fairly entertaining. We had a Vietnamese phrase book and they had an English one but our accents still made it impossible. So we mainly relied on drawing pictures or hand gestures. Anyway they were more than happy to take me in (Reid and Jason had stayed there while I was still in Laos). They cooked us meals and made sure all of our transportation was taken care of. It was quite a unique experience to be able to stay in a traditional Vietnamese home (amazing coffee included, oh it's so yummy!)

I only had one day in Hanoi before we left for Halong Bay the next day (that entry to come next). I went and ventured on my own since Reid and Jason had seen quite a bit already. I went to the temple of Literature, the oldest form of a university I think in all of Vietnam. After that I just walked around the old quarter for a few hours and then later that evening did the touristy thing and saw the water puppet show. Yes I know first Morgan is staying in tree houses and now she is going to see a puppet show, I swear I'm 24. It is a traditional performing art here in Vietnam, just imagine marionettes without strings performing on a water stage. The live music it went along to was really nice as well.

This was one of the strange things being carried on a motor bike that I was able to take a photo of. See the guy with the huge mirror sandwiched between him and the driver?

Women were selling fruit like this all over Hanoi

After the performance I took a motor bike taxi home sitting side saddle because of my dress and with a bouquet of roses for my host mother (I was quite a site). Then after a delicious home cooked Vietnamese dinner I passed out for my early morning bus ride to Halong Bay.