Oh for a porcelain WC

I spent about 2 hours updating this section a few days ago only to loose it all by a silly mistake in a key stroke. Aaaaaarrrrrrrggggh. I just couldn’t face it again for a few days so am now trying again. So I have edited these posts again.

After the Hanoi arrival and our encounter with the taxi driver, I have noticed that there is a different attitude to tourists here than the other places I have been. Some just seem to detest us and are actually quite mean. Whilst you expect the price to be even 3-4 times the Vietnamese price, most often the locals will rip you off but smile and still treat you respectfully. However, here some of them rip you off and laugh practically in your face. Of course this doesn’t bring out the nicest side of the westerners personality and then you get in to a vicious cycle. Most of the expats I spoke to, who have lived here a few months, agreed and were surprised at how friendly people were when they went to other towns for the weekend etc. No one had a theory as to why but it seems to be peculiar to Hanoi. Saying that, I have met some nice local people here too.

Jun 6th. We went walkabout around Hanoi. Oh god but it’s hot. You just drip even whilst sitting. The humidity is soooo high. We went to the Kangaroo Café to book our Sapa and Halong tours. I had a few issues as my visa expires on the 6th but we managed to negotiate that I bring a photo copy of my passport to Sapa and hand the original into a hotel to get my visa extension.
6th took the night train to Sapa. It was a lovely train ride and we were in cabins with only 4 berths. I ended up sharing with 2 Aussie girls Ange and Liz and a NZ girl called Anna. Robbie, Alex, Kelly and Darren were together. I’m glad that I got to do that as then it meant that I got to know Ange, Liz and Anna a little more. When we arrived in Lao Cai, we were taken up to Sapa by mini bus. The views were amazing with Steppes of luscious green rice paddies, all the way up to Sapa. Our hotel rooms were up 134 steps up from reception. That nearly killed me, as I had my large rucksack but the views from the balcony and restaurant were worth it. We had some free time to just sleep, wash and eat before our first trek at1pm.

Yim and Ku were our guides, the 2 girls being in their late teens. Yim spoke excellent English. They were from the local Hmong tribe. We went through some rice fields but mostly along the road to the waterfall which had a hydro electric power station built there in 1934 by the French. It was prettier than it sounds and was refreshing to look at the surging water. The temperature in Sapa is lower than Hanoi and not as humid and was just so nice. We got back to the hotel to be greeted by the collection of about 6 or so young Hmong girls that seem to live outside our hotel. They are a cute, witty collection and try to sell us bracelets. Robbie has already been nabbed.

We sat on the balcony the 8 of us. Robbie and I shared a bottle of some local Sapa wine as the others were drinking beer, as we watched the sun go down over the rice paddies and woods. I thought the Sapa wine was a little better than the Dalat, although Robbie disagreed. But the general consensus, after everyone had imbibed, was that neither were any good. We then went to dinner in a local restaurant and by approx 10pm were all in bed asleep. That seems to be the way it is this whole trip. We get up around 5.30-7am and are usually in bed by 10 or so.
The next day we set off with Yim and Ku and an assortment of young Hmong girls beside us to the Hmong village. A young 11 year old girl called ‘Man’ earmarked me and befriended me for much of the trip to the village and got me to promise to buy from her. At one stage we stopped by a river and were there about 30 min but set off, as it seemed to be the resting point for every other tour group as well I think we realized our tour was really not any different from any of the others despite the fact we paid a bit more and it was run by an Aussie expat. We had lunch in the Hmong village communal area or it could have been someone’s house. The Hmong wear clothes died mostly in Indigo. The traditional dress goes to the knees then they wear sort of legwarmers in black velvet tied around their legs.
Lunch was great but all the female villagers were watching and waiting for us to finish so they could sell us things. It ruined it to a certain extent for me. I just felt a like some privileged dignitary etc. or a voyeur who at a whim could make these people just that little bit more comfortable. It was not something I, nor many of the others were comfortable with.
My new found friend, Man found me and sold me a cushion cover that I didn’t need and would have chosen differently, if the poor child had anything else to choose from but I got unlucky and I had promised and it was nice enough sort of…. I got surrounded by a bunch of kids, so I said who will give me something for the 7000 dong in coins I had left. One little girl held out a small bracelet. In thinking about it, I think it was Man. The others gave her a withering look and she looked so sheepish. She had obviously undersold. I know the starting price for some of the larger bracelets was 50,000. So I think I got a good deal. Bless. Later, Man followed me and gave me a little woven bracelet, which they usually give when you buy something. I said she didn’t have to but she insisted. It was soooo sweet of her. I am now the owner of 2 bracelets and they are still with me.

Some of the other girls on tour, had about 3-4 bracelets, as they had bought a lot. Robbie bought a few things and seemed to be surrounded by children or women on a several occasions and I have the few photos to prove it. She seemed to have a knack for it. However, the standing joke was, she never got a bracelet. We couldn’t figure that one out but we did make fun of it.
We carried on to another village (a Red Dai village). The red Dai get their name from the red headdress they wear. Also they shave the front of their heads. The reason, according to Yim was because the men didn’t want the rice to get hair in it so forced their womenfolk to shave their heads. That’s men for ya 
On the way a snake whizzed past practically crossing over my trainers. I left out a scream which startled both the snake and everyone else and the snake went away just that bit faster.

I started talking to Yim and she told me that whilst snakes go into the paddy fields, they leave the farmers alone. Also, if someone gets bitten by a snake, then it’s like the snake has claimed that person for themselves and is the “boss” of them and so no other snake will then bite that person. I don’t know how true that is but I’m not one to test this particular theory.

We got a jeep back to the hotel and then the mini bus collected us to go back to Lau Cai. At the restaurant, a trip to the border with china was on the menu. So we thought cool. Another table overhearing our conversation joined us and so we all hopped on to a mini bus for the 5min trip to the Viet Nam/China border and took a few photo’s as you do. One of the American girls from the other table seemed to think this was such a wild thing to do and was going on about it. The rest of us were thinking she doesn’t get out much… I was thinking hmm she obviously hasn’t been out with me and my friends for a night out or on some of my holidays... Eh girls…;-).
During dinner, I started to feel ill whilst eating my noodle soup. On the train, whilst talking to Darren, Kelly, Ange and Liz, I had to make a quick dash to the loo. Oh yeah. I got down and dirty with the toilet. It hadn’t time to affect my nether regions at that stage.
At 2.30 am, I had another date with le WC. Thank god I found a nice clean one on the train, with water. I was thankful for these small mercies; let me tell you as I violently puked my guts up so much I wet myself. It was that kind of night.
I guess I had survived 5 weeks of eating salads, having ice in my drinks etc all the things you are not supposed to do without issue. The funny thing is I got ill from a local dish. Bummer eh. No pun intended.

At 5.30am, we arrived in Hanoi. Poor Alex was not feeling great either but had not been ill (he had soup too) and then had to rush off to get to the airport for his 8am flight so we had no time to say goodbye. Probably just as well, as goodbyes are difficult anyway.

Robbie and I got a taxi to the hotel, we had booked. He was a nice one. He went the short route, on the meter and took us to the hotel we asked for, all for 23000. His colleague had tried to charge 55000 off meter. Git. At the hotel, I then realized the poison had moved downwards, after that, I went to bed for a few hrs. Around 4pm I figured 20hrs was enough, so I went to seek comfort food and got chips. Not a great move to be honest. I met the others at the Indian vegetarian restaurant; we had been to a few days earlier but just consoled myself with a few mango lassis and nothing else