once we got off train (9 hours later) we had to take a mini bus to our resort for another hour up the mountain. once again roel and i slept very well as the pill hadn't quite worn off. thankfully so because it was very slow and winding barely wide enough for vehicles to pass each other.
when we got out of the vehicle roel was shivering violently. it had dropped down to single digits that night. we could see our breath in the hotel lobby. haha we requested a heater for our room when we realized they weren't automatically provided. we had just enough time to settle in and shower before our tour guide was there to take us on our first trek! she was a local girl who spoke very good english. there were three couples. almost as soon as we left we each had a sapa lady following us. they were very committed and stayed with us for the entire hike (maybe 5 hours or so). they each had a basket on their back full of various handmade sapa fabrics. they were also wearing the traditional mung clothing. actually, almost all the mung people still wear it.
roel fell in love with the clothing and fabrics. once again, almost all hand made with hemp and also hand dyed. many of the locals had permanently indigo coloured hands.
back to our hike...beautiful views of rice terraces, farm animals including pigs, water buffalo, chickens, etc. running around us through the rice paddies. it is the beggining of the dry season so they weren't flooded at the time. but some parts were definitely muddy still. they will plant their rice crop (only one a year in this area) in April/May when it becomes flooded enough. in the mean time the woman either make clothing or are tourguides. once it is time for field work they drop everything as each family survives off their yield until the next year.
when we got back from our hike we toured the markets in town. roel was bombarded because he showed interest in trying everything on. i just found a nice spot to sit and watched the frenzy from a distance. they were quite upset when he didn't end up buying enything from them.
luckily the food included on our tour at the hotel was amazing. we had an early night since we had a long day and another trek the next day. we were very thankful for our electric blanket. it was a COLD night again. we slept fully clothed and then some.
the next morning we woke up to a pretty chilly room but not nearly as bad as the morning prior. we grabbed a quick breakfast and went back up to the room to make sure we had everything together and packed because we had to check out as soon as we got back from this day's hike. roel had the hotel send up a divine piece of cake with a candle in it because it was my 30th birthday. where better to be and who better to be with? life is good.
our hike was a lot of fun and more challening than the day before. a lot of the same type of scenerey but it still had the awe inspiring impact. we went down and up a mountain side encountering little villages along the way. shot of village kids racing down the stairs. main set of stairs is their main street.
we got back to our hotel in time to have a shower and have a vietnamese coffee in town. it has a really neat feeling. almost banff-ish but smaller with more character. we caught the night train back to hanoi and shared our car with two young local business men who were extremely quiet and ekpt to themselves. perfect roomies.
Great update -- that first photo is wonderful.
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