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We spent our last week in Vietnam visiting Halong Bay and Sapa. Halong Bay had a strangely mystical feel about it with it's green waters and limestone islands towering over us. There were 1969 islands altogether, some lived on and some so small that you could walk from end to end in a few short steps. The locals have names for all the islands depending on what they look like or something that has happened on them in the past. One island's called the fighting c*** . . . You had to stretch your imagination somewhat to see it but eventually it could be made out.
We travelled around the islands over night in a Chinese Junk boat. It made me feel like I was on the set of pirates of the Carribean. The boats were huge and looked like the classic pirate ships with three layers and gaping sails. Rachel, if you're reading this you would have fully appreciated the pirate moment :) We stopped at a couple of islands to look around the caves and Kayaked for an hour or so which gave a far better perception of the sheer extermity of the landscape. You feel so small with the green stretches of limestone looming above your head. It was so quiet and serene which was well recieved after the crazyness of Hanoi.
We spent the early evening jumping off the boat and swimming in the sea. Unfortunately there were quite a few jellyfish lurking about so we didn't stay in the water for too long but nevertheless it was great to cool down and refresh ourselves. We sat and watched the sunset on the top deck of the boat followed by the best night sleep I've had since travelling in the beautiful cabins below.
After two days cruising around Halong Bay we returned to Hanoi for the night before heading up to Sapa. We stupidly opted for a sleeper bus to travel up there which took roughly 12 hours. Our bus driver felt the need for us to embrace the Vietnamese culture by blaring out music the whole way. This was fine for the first couple of hours but my cultural side dissapeared rappidly as tiredness crept in. It was so uncomfortable that the first thing we did on arrival was swap our return journey to a sleeper train.
Sapa was completely out of this world. The first thing that comes to mind when I think about it now is how green it was. We were greeted on arrival by the friendly locals dressed in their traditional tribal atire. They are very small!!! I felt like a giant. We had signed up to a three day hike so after a quick breakfast we set out through the hills with our wonderful tour guide Li. We were really lucky with group of people who joined us so we spent the next few days exchanging travelling stories and laughing at each others mis haps.
The walk was pretty timid on the first day so we had the afternoon to chill out at our home stay. The locals cooked us a huge meal and the the Dad of the house insisted that we joined him for a shot of rice wine. That stuff is definately recipie for a nasty hangover. The evening was spent chatting and laughing outside until tiredness finally set in and we passed out to the chorus of insects. We walked through the mountains the next day which was amazing. It became quite hard work as it started raining which made the ground incredibly slippery. The local ladies were at hand to help you up and down some of the tougher bits. These ladies are tough!!! They carry huge weights on their backs whilst skipping up and down these mountains like they're a walk in the park. Not only that they have someone like me grabbing on to them every 5 seconds as I'm about to go tumbling down the mountain looking about as graceful as an elephant. My bum was black by the end of the walk and i felt I owed by bones still being in tact to my new 4ft 7 friend who saved me.
The village of Sapa is really beautiful with lots of locally made hand crafts. Everythings bright and cheerful and reminds me of one of those European skiing resorts where everything looks like it should be in one of those glass bubbles that you shake to make the snow fall. I loved people watching and seeing the dynamics between the families. Our tour guide Li explained in detail how people live up there which was facinating. People usually marry at about 18 and the female leaves her family to join her husbands. They then take on full responsibility for his family. The tribes only consist of a few hundred people and are dotted around the Mountains. They have a very basic existence but are generally very happy as they don't have much exposure to western ways and much of their time is spent working on the rice paddies to provide food for their families.. Their life expectency is into their ninties so they must be doing something right. Li had a beatiful 5 month onld baby that her husband brought over to visit her several times throughout the trip. When the three of them were together they seemed completely oblivious to the world around them. It was quite beautiful really.
We left Sapa feeling much more relaxed with a kind of inner glow and headed back to Hanoi to fly out to Thailand. Vietnam had been such an eye opening experience in so many ways. The country and the people have made the whole experience extremely attractive and as cheesy as it sounds it kind of makes you feel as though you grow as a person. There is a real rusticness mixed with the excitement of a country that's leaving it's third world status. It has managed to keep many of it's local traditions which I just hope they hold on too.
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Michael skilton brilliant charlie Girl! i thought i wasn't bad at descriptive expression but that entry was superb and very illustrative. I dont need to imagine any detail! So glad you are finding the whole adventure exhilarating and life enhancing! love you loads OMX