Ho Chi Minh City Adventures: Day 86: Sapa

Last night we managed to board the correct train to Sapa. I stayed in the same cabin with Cate, Tori, and Kaley, and after having a few snacks I passed out to the rocking of the train. I awoke this morning around 6am when our train had finally made it to Cao Lai province. We got off the train and found the bus that would take us to our hostel in Sapa, about a 30 minute drive from the train station. While we had requested the bus for the 10 of us that were travelling, some random Russian woman also got on our bus. We have no idea who she is or what she was doing, but she came along with us for the ride. I slept for the entire bus ride, but awoke at the hostel where there was a dense fog covering all of the sights. The only thing I could figure out is that we were on top of a mountain.

After taking a nap and waking back up around 10am, I decided that maybe I should see what exactly is in Sapa. Turns out the Russian woman tried to get into a few our rooms until we told her that we had made reservations for them and that if she wanted to stay in a hotel she should go find one. I guess she just had no idea what was going on! Otherwise, everything is going great. It's about 65 degrees here, and although I am pretty chilly, it's nothing that a walk around the city can't fix. The fog is still unbelievably bad and I can't see any of the gorgeous views Sapa is known for. No worries, though; Cate, Dan, Tori, and I booked a tour for tomorrow so hopefully we will get to see some rice terraces!

Cate and I ended up walking around the city for most of the day after she got breakfast at a restaraunt. Sapa has quite a few ethnic minority villages in the surrounding highlands, but because Sapa has become such a tourist destination the women now flock to the city to try and sell things. We came across some women from the Black Hmong ethnic group, and we took a picture with them and had the chance to talk with them. We said we would be back later to buy some things, and when we returned they spotted us. I ended up buying two small bags and two metal bracelets for way too much money, but I know that it was the right thing to do. I only wanted the bags, but there were three women selling things and only two of us. Cate bought from one, I bought from one, and the third woman said "What about me?" which is why I bought the bracelets. It also doesn't help that most of the articles I read state that the handicrafts these women sell are really made in China since we are so close to the border right now.

The three women Cate and I ended up buying goods from. They are apart of the Black Hmong ethnic group.

Cate and I walked through the market and went to a few shops before getting some food and looking for a place to warm up. It's very interesting walking around a city and not knowing what language people speak. Like I said before, each ethnic minority has its own language, so my Vietnamese isn't necessarily very useful here. English is, however, and most of the people I've seen so far are pretty fluent.

I spent the afternoon in the hostel trying to get warmed up and using the internet before going back out to meet up with Dan and Cate. We literally had no idea what to do because it was cold and so densely foggy that you couldn't see anything. We ended up meeting up with Tori and going to get supper at the same place where Cate had breakfast this morning. I had a set Vietnamese menu and got pumpkin soup, fried spring rolls, stir-fried chicken with corn and mushrooms, steamed rice, and yogurt and fruit. It also came with a free glass of hot spiced wine, which was good simply because it warmed me up. We spent two hours in the restaurant because we knew we would freeze once we stepped outside, but we eventually had to come back to the hostel. The said thing is that it really isn't that cold here compared to what it would be in the United States. As Tori said, though, when we get back we will probably be experiencing a 70 degree or more difference since it is about 90 degrees in Saigon and we can expect it to be 20 degrees or less in the States.

Although I am having a lot of fun seeing northern and central Vietnam, I honestly can't wait to return to HCMC. It's warm, there is street food everywhere, and I have friends there! I actually got a message this morning from one of them saying how everybody at English club missed me at their last meeting and they hope I return soon, so I am looking forward to my return!

And because I've been really bad at uploading pictures lately, here is a gallery of the past couple of days.