Trekking through the minoroty villages of several hill tribes in north west Vietnam was quite some experience!!It all started last Friday night when Dave and I caught an overnight train from Hanoi for 10 hours to Lao Cai, a small village and transport hub for many tourists who are making the 1 hour drive south to Sapa. We boarded the train, Deluxe rooms in the King Express and made ourselves comfortable. Dave enjoyed the free vegetable crackers. We arrived in lao Cai at 4:30am and looked out for someone holding a "Mr David Sidaway" sign - in fact of the hundreds it was the only colour one. We waited for a bit in the carpark as i wondered yet again how 10 little street stalls, all offereing exactly the same drinks, can all make a living side by side. This thought is not uncommon. Our drive to Sapa saw Dave again manging to fall asleep as i looked out my window to a view of hills and rice paddies.
We arrived in Sapa, a rather big town with many hotels and restaurants woven between the hills - quite a spectacle really. We got dropped off at the biggest and probably flashest hotel where we were to meet the guide. Now Dave, as some of you know, was a bit unwell and so made the decision to not go on the trek but still travel to Sapa. A decision that i thought was wise 50 hours later when i arrived back to the town.
So it was the guide and I who set off down the slopes towards Cat Cat Village a couple of km away. As i waved good bye to Dave i comtemplated what the next three days would be like. It had been raining the day before and it was incredibly slippery and within 15 minutes my shoes were muddy as and i had managed the art of slipping over as if it was the latest Olympic Sport to be introduced by the IOC and i wanted a part of the action. We were accompanied by two H'mong laddies - probably the biggest minority people that also occupy much of Northern Thailand. They are famous for there blue dress which they die from an indigo plant and the colourful embroidery which is plastered all over the front. They are also famous for what i would soon to come to label as harrassing any foreigner into buying something that they don't need. They are incredibly persistent!! I brought a couple of things off the two ladies to show my appreciation of them helping us trek down to the village.
We stayed the night at a homestay in a village. it was the guide and me, as well as the Vietnamese family. It was good fun to live as they would but you still get waited on - a felling that i am not use to. Its weird having people look at you, and these people are less fortunate that yourself so its a tad uncomfortable. I resigned to the fact that i was not the only foreigner to visit and that they would be use to the sight of one. After some time i was brought out a plate of deep fried potato chips.....do they always do that i asked myself? I got exactly the same on the second night further up the valley. Maybe they think we need a comfort food.
I was worried about the food before hand and what i would possibly be set up to eat but in reality the food was amazing. I had a beautiful cabbage and instant noodle soup, omellettes, baguettes, freshly made spring rolls, boiled bamboo, water spinach, mushroom/carrot/chicken, lots of rice, beef and all sorts of tasty food. Not a worry!
That night we watched a bit of TV (yes it is even in the most remote parts of the world) and i just watched how the family lived. The children, it being holidays, just wonder off on the land somewhere and do their own thing, no matter how young, without a worry or concern in the world. I saw 5year olds hearding water buffalo and doing other sorts of chores around the home as well as carry baskets of food along the trails.
the next morning we set off early further down the valley crossing farm land, rice paddies and through bamboo forests until we reached a waterfall...quite massive and powerful we rested with a lovely view for a while until we descended down, somewhat shakingly, a cliff face and acroos the river and up onto the road from where we continued our trek. I was glad that we were now on a road as i was becoming a bit sick of slipping over, and my clothes were incredbly dirty. We passed more clusters of houses with people working busy on the land. It was hot and the sun was beaming down on us but we pushed through. In total we walked 35km and the guide said he did this maybe twice a week. Wow what a job! We descended far down towards Ban Ho overlooking a beautiful valley - witht he exception of concrete trucks and diggers as they are building dams and power stations in the region. This put a dampner on the place and the serenity and peacefulness...and as i learnt in 146.102 Endangered Cultures...minortity tribes are being slowly wiped out by such projects - and tourism!! 
The village was peaceful and a lovely place to stay. I went for a walk around to visit the school - they have so many in the region - and see the houses to which they live in. In whole they seem to live comfortably and most houses (inc the two homestays) are two storey inside, open planned, with a tv and sitting area inside and outside and larde kitchen areas with an inside BBQ/open flame as you can see byt he picture. I went to the river with the homestay father who is learning english. He carried in his mouth a packet of shampoo whilst driving us by motorbike, stripped off down to his undies and jumped in, washed himself, then we left. Quick and simple. I had anotother great meal. Both nights it is custom for the men in the family to drink shot galsses of rice whiskey home brew style. If one of the group raises their glass to drink all must, and so it continues until the bottle runs out. It was relatively strong and yuck but not quite as bad as the Laos edition that we had tried earlier. Luckily the bottle had run out after about 7 shots each. The homestay father, my guide and I had a conversation witht 
he guide being a translator for both parties about his dilema. His 23 year old son has still not found someone within the village to marry and he asked if i had and what the expectations were around it in NZ. He isn't sure what to do about it but i couldn't really offer any advice...unusual for me! The next morning we walked for 45mins up the hill to a very remote village of the Red Dzao, not as friendly as other tribes, we weren't there for long. We visited the school (which is closed for holidays). It was basic but what i had expected.
The village was peaceful and a lovely place to stay. I went for a walk around to visit the school - they have so many in the region - and see the houses to which they live in. In whole they seem to live comfortably and most houses (inc the two homestays) are two storey inside, open planned, with a tv and sitting area inside and outside and larde kitchen areas with an inside BBQ/open flame as you can see byt he picture. I went to the river with the homestay father who is learning english. He carried in his mouth a packet of shampoo whilst driving us by motorbike, stripped off down to his undies and jumped in, washed himself, then we left. Quick and simple. I had anotother great meal. Both nights it is custom for the men in the family to drink shot galsses of rice whiskey home brew style. If one of the group raises their glass to drink all must, and so it continues until the bottle runs out. It was relatively strong and yuck but not quite as bad as the Laos edition that we had tried earlier. Luckily the bottle had run out after about 7 shots each. The homestay father, my guide and I had a conversation witht 
he guide being a translator for both parties about his dilema. His 23 year old son has still not found someone within the village to marry and he asked if i had and what the expectations were around it in NZ. He isn't sure what to do about it but i couldn't really offer any advice...unusual for me! The next morning we walked for 45mins up the hill to a very remote village of the Red Dzao, not as friendly as other tribes, we weren't there for long. We visited the school (which is closed for holidays). It was basic but what i had expected. 
We swam in the river on the way back which was lovely and just what the doctor ordered. I washed some clothes (just as the locals do) and shortly after lunch we returned back to Sapa by mini van where i greeted Dave and sighed with relief that the walking was finished with. But boy what an experience and i thoroghly recommend it to all!!
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