5. THE HA LONG BAY PACKAGE - TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT

OFF AGAIN; Having recuperated from our Sapa (including a bout of unidentified food poisoning for Alexandra), and following a very enjoyable French music evening in hanoi, yes French, we were off again, this time to the picture postcard tourist destination of Ha Long Bay. 4 hours east of Hanoi by minibus.

THEIR ALL WHITE NOW; As a boy i was fascinated by a scale model chinese junk that we had in the lounge room. It was hand made of unfinished timber and had 3 working green canvas sails. Today, there are about 500 tourist junks plying Ha Long Bay. Though they are all motorized, some have "working sails"... Working in that the crew hoist the sails in the morning and lower them at the end of the day. It's pretty evident by their proportions to the lumbering vessels that they are just for looks. They provide a good sentimental photo opportunity.

Alexandra's postcard photo

Speaking of sentimental, it seems the authorities are not. If you look at all the photos of these junks pre-2012 they have always been dark brow. All of a sudden, all 500 junks have turned white. Why on earth? Our guide explained that it was for "advertising reasons". Mmm, not much of an explanation??? According to that infallible information source, the internet, the People’s Committee of Quang Ninh Province ordered that the boats be painted white in order to "renew their image" following the bay’s designation as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. Seems an unusual decision when your selling a "sentimental journey" to tourists, but that is that...

Anyway, our little junk was quite comfortable. Granted, it needed a little TLC here an there... Don't lean on the guard railing if you know what's good for you, type of thing, but it was just fine for us.

Outside

Inside

Our cabin... "Where have I seen those towel arrangements before?"

Having minibussed from Ha Noi to Ha Long, we were glad to be on board and setting off on another adventure. Only question was, what sort of people were we going to spend the 2 days and 1 night with???

PLEASANTLY SURPRISED; It's the "off-season" so our junk was only about half full. We're a little afraid that we might be surrounded by a hoard of drunken Aussie yobos, but thankfully it was not to be. The young English couple said to us, "we were afraid we might be on a party boat" so they were also relieved. There was also 1 Canadian and 2 American teachers (just completed a year of teaching English in South Korea) with us who were also very pleasant company. "So glad you are normal clean people without horrible tatoos" one said. Everyone enjoyed a drink or 2 but that was that. Again, there were opportunities to discuss our world view with the "foreigners". Being full-time volunteer workers for 23 years is always a good way to get people curious. And imagine being part of an organization that translates literature into 600 languages without charge... Plenty to talk about, but only if they want to ask.

The gang and plenty of good food

Our guide Tsun and a crew member, Quit.  In fact there were more crew than customers.

THE BIRTHDAY PARTY; Sunday September 23 marked the 44th year of Alexandra's life. She celebrated by saying "oh, I'm 44 today as you do when you are a JW. By coincidence, it also happened to be the 26th birthday of our Canadian travelling companion. So we are sitting at the dinner table when the lights go out and the Vietnamese crew enter singing happy birthday holding a hollowed out pineapple with a candle inside and a dozen or so deep fried spring rolls sticking out of it on tooth picks. Fortunately, we had already discussed our feelings about birthdays and the girls were very gracious...

THE "ACTIVITIES"; Our only previous experience with "package tours" was 2 weeks in Myanmar in 2009 following the "60th SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY" of JWs. So we understood the format. Guide leads visitors through prep-prepared itinerary until all is done... Ok, let's go...

Surprising Island and Surprising Cave.  It doesn't matter how large the cave is, it's not Alexandra's type of "activity"

And it was a surprisingly large cave

Another island for a look out and a swim

And, perhaps the best activity of all, the kayak expedition

NATURAL BEAUTY; The best activity of all is of course, watching the unique landscape all around. Hundreds of stunning limestone karats protruding out of the water, islands and islets covered in tropical vegetation. Sea eagles an birds flying all around. And the water, so flat all day, it's difficult to believe its connected to the South China Sea. Has anyone seen that 1982 Werner Herzog film, Fitzcarraldo? Couldn't help feeling like I was in it.

Again, thats it for now

Love-you-bye

Lloydnalex

 

"Let the reader use discernment"

4. SAPA TREKKING, SLIP SLIDING AWAY

NIGHT TRAIN TO SAPA; With the aid of Max the Australian raconteur and Kangaroo Cafe owner and tour organizer, we found our way onto the train. Whilst it's no Orient Express, the 4 berth cabin is a much better way to travel than bus (I'm sure our friends in the Philippines understand what I mean). Tucked up in your little bunk it's not too difficult to get to sleep. Of course you wake up a few times through the night but on the whole, a good rest. Before I knew it, Alexandra was waking me from a deep sleep to tell me that the conductor had been knocking on the door... We have arrived... well almost, wait around for an hour and catch a minibus to Sapa, some 30 kilometers south of the China border... How exotic.

Hanoi train station

The sleeper...

IS IT WRONG TO COMPARE?; Not too long ago we had the privelege of visiting the spectacular rice terraces in Banaue and Batad with some good friends in the Philippines. The weather was perfect. So naturally, we are inclined to compare one place with another... Well the weather was also perfect in Sapa, perfect for growing rice that is. You need a lot of water to grow rice...

The expedition sets out

Even hill tribes need hydro power to charge their phones

Docile but deadly 

4 month old bridge, not quite up to Occupational Health and Safety standards...

There's one! Quick, snap it...

So, is it fair to compare? Of course not. Due to the inclement weather we spent much of the time in a misty cloud with occasional hazy glimpses of what just might be rice terraces and villages. We heard the boy sweetly singing to his water buffalo, but didnt actually see him through the mist. We walked through rain, whipping out the cameras to snatch a shot when it appeared. Our feet were coated in thick orange clay and wet the whole time.

The path 

On the edge

Much effort was expended in just trying to stay upright on the steep slippery trail and along the edge of the rice terraces. Fortunately we were accompanied by sure footed H'mong ladies including one who is due to give birth in 2 weeks, always ready to extend a helping hand. We walked through valleys and over hills, through lush bamboo forests infested with leeches, luckily our guide saved Alex from one. On the second day the weather lifted a little and we did get to see more of the terraces. And like the Philippines, they too were spectacular!!!

Into the bamboo they marched

Our little 2 day walk took us from the tourist town of Sapa through the villages of Linh Ho, Lao Chai, Ta Van and Giang Ta. Along the way we encountered several different tribes including various H'mong (pronounced "mong"), Dzay, Dzao and others. What we didn't see in terms of views were made up for by the time spent with the hill tribe people, especially our guide.

H'MONG LADIES STAND TALL; Our guide, Su Tan, stands about 4 foot tall in her turquoise gumboots. She is 29, has been married since age 16, has 4 children aged from 11 to 4, works in the rice fields, helped her husband build their house, cares for chickens, ducks and goats, makes and dyes the indigo hemp fabric to make her own clothing, financially helps her sick relatives, oh, and has an on-call job guiding tourists through the districts beautiful rice terraces. Don't think she has a whole lot more to do than that...

Government school

These kids don't even look up as we intrude on their day

Su is a humble lady with a warm smiling face that lights up the mountain. She never had the opportunity to go to school and says she cannot read. Happily the government does now provide free primary age schooling which her children attend.

Inside Sue's aunts home... Rustic is an overstatement. We are so spoiled to live where we do.

We stopped by her humble house on the trek where she sat us down and showed us a prize possession, a somewhat moist H'mong language book of great value. Turns out she can read a little and we were able to point out some items of particular significance that she had not heard before.

Ex6

Another savy H'mong woman, So, enlists the help of an English speaking friend in order to respond to emails from friends around the world.

THE HARD SELL, or "you buy one from me, you buy one from me, you buy one from me, you buy one from me, you buy one from me, you buy one from me, you buy one from me..."; Little did we know that the delightful gaggle of H'mong hill tribes women and girls in their brightly coloured hand made and embroidered traditional dress that joined us at the start of our trek were not officially part of the tour. Each one with her large round cane basket strapped to her back (some with infants strapped to their backs) was a travelling souvenir shop.

Mother and child

It seems that the unwritten law is they don't say anything about their goods until you stop for lunch. Having walked several hours together, you are engulfed by a dozen selling ladies and you feel obliged to purchase some of their wares. "I walk with you, I walk with you". After lunch a new group attaches itself to us as we head off and sure enough, before we wake the next morning we can hear the cheerful chatter of a new group of friends, squatting at the side of the road under umbrellas industriously embroidering there little hands off in readiness to start over. But we simply cannot buy from everyone. As annoying as it can be, who can blame them from trying to get a few dollars from the wealthy bethelites with the Nikon camera.

You buy one from me?... And me... And me?

"ok... One from you and you and you... But no more!

You reap what you sew...

THE HOME STAY; Not exactly what we expected but a good experience just the same. Having visited the humble homes of our guide and her aunt, we began to wonder what our "home stay" would be like. But these hill people are no hillbillies. They know what foreigners need. Our home stay turned out to be in a custom built local style 2 storey timber building with concrete ground floor and timber upper level and asbestos roofing. More of a tavern than a family home. Two young men live in one room where they cook, eat, sleep and watch TV... and surf the net... Yep, who knew, free WiFi? Best of all, they are excellent cooks.

Rustic but comfortable

Room for a few more 

The kitchen.  You would not believe the French fries and pancakes these guys produced without a single Electrolux appliance.

Hemp, strictly for making clothing.  Not sure if the backpackers understand that.

WHERE ARE YOU FROM, WHAT DO YOU DO?; Wherever we go we meet new and interesting people from all over the world and we have had some 'very' enjoyable conversations. It's so easy to strike up a conversation with fellow travellers. And we love to talk... There was Max, the two Australian girls from Darwin named B and D, the Australian families from Hornsby Heights in Sydney on the trek, an Israelie man and his Swedish girlfriend and the German couple at our home-stay, another German couple at the cafe and a French couple in our train cabin. Literally Hours of good conversation. It's a real highlight of the trip.

Our home-stay friends from Germany and Israel 

Now we are back in Hanoi, recuperating from the 23 kilometer trek and chilly A/C night on the train... Tomorrow we hit road again ... Off to the coast to Ha Long bay.

Love-you-bye

Lloydnalex

 

 

"Let the reader use discernment"