Sapa Valley

We were so pleased with ourselves when we bought such cheap train tickets - who needs travel agents! We just marched to the train station and got them ourselves! - until we arrived at the overnight train and realized we'd booked upright seats instead of sleeper berths. We thought there surely must be some mistake, but were assured by the conductor that those were in fact our seats. So we spent the next 8 hours in the presence of loud Vietnamese children and bright lights while trying to sleep in our chairs - not the best start.

However, when we arrived in Sapa (via an hour and a half bus ride after departing the train), all was forgotten, as the sun was just rising over one of the most beautiful mountain towns I've ever seen.

We checked into our hostel, had some pho, slept, and then wandered through the steeply pitched streets among H'mong and Dzou tribal women trying to sell us bags, blankets, skewers of meat, and sticky rice in banana leaves. The most aggressive hawkers were the kids, but they were too pretty to be annoying.

After a while of taking in the views, we sat down for dinner and noticed all the groups of Vietnamese diners gathered round communal hot pots. They piled tons of uncooked meats, vegetables, and noodles into bubbling broth filled with mushrooms and spices, and the whole thing looked amazing and delicious. We tried not to stare as we lamented not having any friends in Sapa, as two people was clearly not enough to justify ordering a huge hot pot. After cheering ourselves up with a couple of bia hoi, we headed home.

The next day we hopped out of bed to start a mountain trek, the main activity for visitors to Sapa. It began as a steep downhill paved sidewalk to the village of Cat Cat where more tribal people tried to sell us their wares and we saw demonstrations of looms and water powered rice mills. The views were absolutely spectacular, with the brilliant green rice paddies carved into vertical mountainsides and several small waterfalls and streams , so we decided to continue the trek. The next village, Sin Chai, was an easy walk away, and with the tourist hordes completely thinned out, we decided to press on. Of course, the next thing we knew, we were hopelessly lost. After our jungle hike in Thailand, we'd promised ourselves we wouldn't do it again, but here we were, in the pouring rain, peering into another dense jungle with no sign of a trail in any direction.

We trudged for hours through chokingly thick underbrush and steep riverbeds, regularly stepping into 8-inch thick mud holes and encountering a total of 3 houses. The H'mong villagers we met didn't try to sell us anything and instead stared and giggled when we tried to ask for directions to a road (any road!) - both sure signs that we were well off the beaten path. As difficult as the going was, we saw some gorgeous waterfall and forest views that most travelers don't get to see, as well as dozens of piglets, puppies, chicks, and water buffalo, all of which in retrospect made for a rewarding experience, but at the time we were just both afraid we'd have to sleep in the woods!

Finally, after clinging to rocks and crossing a couple steep waterfalls, we saw a clearing overhead and scrambled up the wet rocks - literally climbing up and out of a waterfall - to a road! Construction workers about 20 yards away witnessed the whole thing, drop-jawed - I doubt they'd ever seen a couple of white people emerge soaking wet from the rain forest in that location before. We smiled and started the long walk home, when after about 15 minutes, we came across a minibus full of tourists that had pulled over for a photo op. After a few minutes of pleading with the driver, we had a free ride home! We were wet, freezing, and very dirty, but so happy to see civilization again.

Once we'd cleaned up and gotten warm, we rewarded ourselves with a nice dinner, seated by the window so we could watch the world go by, and again gazed with envy at the locals enjoying their hot pots. Next things we knew, there was a knock at the window, and we looked up to see our German friends from the Halong Bay boat! They were meeting up with the English couple from the boat (who also happened to be in Sapa) for drinks, and invited us to join. What a great surprise! We joined them after dinner at a pub filled with H'mong girls, in their traditional clothes, playing pool and checking their email - quite a sight - and had a lovely evening. Even better, we made plans to meet up the next night for a big hot pot dinner. Score!

Apparently deciding our jungle hike wasn't enough adventure, we opted for a motorbike the next day and hit the open road to see a bit more countryside. Ben proved to be a quick study on the scooter and before long we were zooming along the Tram Ton Pass and taking in even more stunning views than we'd seen before! I'm pleased to have no particularly stressful events to report from the ride - it was a gorgeous sunny day and the ride was absolutely perfect! We went out 40 km to the town of Lai Chao, had a bowl of pho, and went straight back, reluctant to press our luck.

By this point we'd gotten in touch with our other Halong Bay friend, the Berkeley PhD student, by some fluke also in Sapa, and entire group successfully reassembled, set about on our hot pot dinner. It was all we'd hoped, chicken, beef, fish, tofu, greens, noodles, and other goodies all dumped in by us at intervals and then fished out into steaming bowls of soup - absolutely amazing and just a really fun way to have dinner. The rice wine and bia hoi were a perfect complement to a great evening.

Our last day in Sapa we felt the need to take in even more views, so we climbed a landscaped paved mountain trail lined with gardens and exhibits - much more civilized than our previous rainforest expedition. Again, the scenery was stunning, and we had a lot of fun taking in the sights, which included an ostrich pen! Unfortunately, this hike was rather short, as we had to catch our bus to the train station which would return us to Hanoi.

This time at the train station, we were relieved to discover that our tickets were for a sleeper, so at least half our ticket-buying efforts had been successful! We got settled in and washed up for the overnight ride, when our two companions joined us in our 4-bed cabin. One was a waitress we recognized from the H'mong pub in Sapa, who was happy to see us, and the other was a Vietnamese artist and photographer who had a cowboy obsession. When he learned I was from Texas, he got so excited and in his very minimal English, expounded the virtues of Clint Eastwood and country music. We cracked up when his cell phone rang with the Lonesome Dove tune, backdrop to every B-western shootout scene, as his ringtone. He was a devoted fan! When the porter came by our cabin with drinks, he insisted on buying us tea, and then for a couple hours he entertained us with a mix of country music and Louis Armstrong, played on his phone. It was such a bizarre and uniquely Vietnamese experience, us with our traveling companions, neither of whom spoke much English, but who were unfailingly generous and open, thrilled to share their lives and interests with us. We can't get over the friendliness of the place.

Back in Hanoi, we had an extremely food-filled final 48 hours in Vietnam. Reluctant to miss out on anything, we had lunch at the well-known Highway 4 restaurant, home of the famous catfish spring rolls which we will definitely attempt to recreate at home, and then headed straight to Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. Unfortunately, we hadn't realized the tomb is only open for 3 hours in the morning, so we missed our chance to see Uncle Ho, and opted instead for the nearby Ho Chi Minh Museum. It is definitely the strangest museum in the world. We saw the usual and expected collection of photos and letters, but then there are the symbolic exhibits that attempt to convey grand themes of humanity with representative objects, such as giant fruit and a life-size model Ford Edsel crashing through a wall. Few captions were in English, so we were left to interpret for ourselves the meaning of a brick-and-streamer volcano and a documentary with the Carpenters' "I Know I Need to Be in Love" as background music.

That evening we treated ourselves to what has become a monthly fancy dinner, this time at the Green Tangerine, situated in a beautiful 1929 French colonial home and home to absolutely amazing French Vietnamese fusion deliciousness. We had an incredible meal, and I arranged to have candles and singing accompany our dessert in celebration of Ben's birthday the next day! The waiters went all out, turning off the lights and the fan so as not to blow out the candles, but Ben thought they were closing down and was about to complain to one of them when I had to remind him that someone had a special day coming up and should just wait to see what was coming. He was convincingly surprised and pleased with the birthday cheesecake.

Our final day in Vietnam contained one of the biggest highlights for me - we had a cooking class! I've been looking forward to a cooking class for the entire trip, so we finally made it happen at Old Hanoi restaurant, and it was absolutely perfect. We had signed up for a group lesson, but it turned out no one else had, so we received a private lesson with alovely 20-year-old chef named Phu, who is the tiniest person I have ever seen. She took us to the market and explained which kinds of rice paper were for different kinds of spring rolls, showed us new herbs and spices, and then walked us back to the restaurant. The whole class was in the restaurant courtyard at an outdoor table, away from the heat of the kitchen, which gave the class a very relaxed atmosphere and really enhanced our experience. We chopped our own herbs and stirred our own sautees on the hot plate, and eventually produced our own spring rolls, royal rice, marinated grilled white fish, and ginger and sweet potato pudding. I really feel like I learned some new techniques and ideas, while having so much fun, for which I am so grateful to our incredible teacher!

We had to leave Hanoi that evening, and have since been in Bangkok, preparing to leave Southeast Asia and the first half of our trip. Our experience in Vietnam was absolutely stunning, eye-opening, and overwhelmingly positive. I would have to say it's been my favorite country so far, and the one to which I can't wait to return. I'm so grateful that someone of my generation can feel so warmly toward a country that was an enemy not long ago, and it has made me think about how the world will change for the next generation. I can only hope the changes continue to be so dramatic and positive.