Eloise and Jerry's Travels: Vietnam: Part 3

Prepared April 11, 2012, the Arabian (Persian) Gulf in Port, Fujairah, UAE and April 14, 2012, Khasab, Oman

March 22 2012, Sapa, Vietnam: Weekly Market and Lao Cai

Another early start; we were up at 7:00am and after breakfast on the road toward Lao Cai by 7:30am. The major project of the day was to visit an ethnic minority weekly market about 75 miles (120km) from Sapa near the Chinese border at a small village called Lung Khau Nhin. Here, we would be able to see a number of ethnic groups and the kinds of activities that take place at the market. But, first we had to get there.

At 5,250ft (1,600m), Sapa was shrouded in fog and mist, and you could not see more than a few feet beyond the hood of the SUV. Down the two-lane mountain road we went, toward Lao Cai. By the time we were about half-way down the mountain at 2,500ft (750m), the fog had lifted and visibility had greatly improved. Lao Cai is 22mi (35km) down the mountain in the Red River (Song Hong) Valley and is on the border with China's Yunnan Province. We crossed the Red River bridge at Lao Cai and turned north on National Route 40, which parallels the Vietnamese side of the border in a tributary of the Red River. (Our guide pointed out Chinese border guards on a ridge line along the opposite side of the stream.) At Muong Khuong, we left Route 40 just before it ended at the Chinese border and turned east on a provincial road. This road climbed into the mountains and along the ridge line for approximately 20mi (32km) until we reached the village of Lung Khau Nhin.

Red River Bridge at Lao Cai

The weekly market at Lung Khau Nhin takes place along both sides of the only road as it passes through the village. Although there is an open-sided, roofed market building, it is mainly given over to commercially-made soft goods (clothes, blankets, etc.) from China. The real market is on the street, where every type of item is sold. A number of the local ethnic groups were represented, both as vendors and buyers, including the Black H'mong, Flower H'mong, Lung, and Man. (Ethnic groups in Vietnam are identified by the predominant color of the women's costumes -- leave it to the French!)

The Weekly Market at Lung Khau Nhin

One interesting aspect of the market was the trading of pack ponies and water buffalo; also, the electric utility bills were paid on market day, and the payment queue, or lack thereof, gave one the impression that the price was subject to negotiation, or at least a great deal of loud complaint. (Sadly, automatic payment by computer does not give one the opportunity to call an employee of the utility company a dumb SOB, while surrounded by many of your friends and neighbors. J thinks it would be a very stress-relieving activity.) There are also strange delicacies being prepared for sale and food stalls for both men and women, who, it seems, do not eat together in public. The market was a beehive of activity. We spent about an hour and a half wandering around and looking at everything; we did not buy anything, therefore keeping the local economy free of international economic contamination.

Paying the Electric Bill

This is the Famous Circular Queue

Women's Food Stall

Men's Food Stall

Pony/Buffalo Market in Background

The Local Fabric Shop

The Super Market

Last Chance for Watermelon

The Other Super Market

Watermelon -- No Problem!

Hats, Many Hats

Pots and Pans in Metal or Plastic

Back in the SUV, we proceeded down the mountain and returned to the district town of Muong Khuong, where we stopped for lunch at a newly-opened tourist restaurant (Build it and they will come!). While we ate our delicious box lunches prepared by the hotel, our guide and driver enjoyed fresh local dishes. We think that they may have had the best deal. Finishing lunch, we were back in the SUV for the drive to Lao Cai. The agricultural area between Muong Khuong and Lao Cai supports commercial plantations of both tea and pineapple. On the hillsides along the road toward Lao Cai, large acreages are given over to both crops.

Pineapple Plantations Near Lao Cai

Eat you heart out Mr. Dole!

Picking Tea

Lao Cai is the provincial capital of Lao Cai Province, and the largest city in northwest Vietnam. Its location on the Yunnan, China border and its railway links to Kunming, China make it a major trading center -- foodstuffs from Vietnam for manufactured goods from China. The physical boundary is the bridge that crosses a tributary of the Red River between Lao Cai and the Chinese city of Hai Chau. Locals from both sides seem to be able to cross without a great deal of hassle. According to our guide, they only need to have a valid national ID card. At both ends of the bridge, both countries have erected monumental gates, but on the Vietnamese side, there is a small traveler's temple, which is very attractive. Viewing the bridge-crossing from the park along the Vietnamese side, we were impressed with the amount of traffic moving both ways across the border. (Another indication that nothing improves international relations like greed!)

Welcome to China

Welcome to Vietnam

Traveler's Temple, Lao Cai, Vietnam

Having completed our all-too-brief visit to Lao Cai, we drove back up the mountain to Sapa, and the Victoria Sapa Resort, where we spent the late afternoon relaxing and looking at the rabbits in the children's play area. The resort had four rabbits which E was very fond of watching. We had tea and returned to our suite to read and rest for our next adventure in Sapa.

E's Favorite Rabbits

Victoria Sapa Resort and Spa

March 23, 2012, Sapa, Vietnam: The 250 Steps

Having enjoyed a late wakeup (8:00am) and large buffet breakfast, our guide and driver took us to a dropoff point above the mountain village of Cat Cat for a "trek" down the mountain, through the village, and then up the mountain to rejoin our driver -- the 250 steps. The Cat Cat Tourism Area includes the Hmong village of Cat Cat and the surrounding area where the Dzay minority lives. Walking through the area is on improved stone steps. There is almost no level ground.

Cat Cat is a government tourist destination, and an admission price is paid to enter the area. Our guide, Thuan, went to the ticket booth to get the tickets, and we noticed when he returned that he was quite agitated. When we asked why, he told us that he had been coming here for ten years and paying admission fees which were intended to help the Hmong and Dzay; however, in the ten years that he has been bringing visitors, he has not seen any evidence of improvements for local people (new schools, clinics, etc.). So, he told off the person in the ticket booth, pointing out the lack of facilities and accusing him and his "higher-ups" of taking the money to buy cars and other personal things (which he himself had witnessed). In general, they were behaving like criminals, he said. We were somewhat taken aback by his candor and accusations about the official corruption that seems to be fairly widespread in Vietnam. Even more so, because Thuan seemed to us a fairly-orthodox, Vietnamese follower of the Government's policies. But, he was definitely up-in-arms over the corruption and diversion of Government funds for personal use.

We carried on. The upper part of the path down the mountain was filled with tourist handicraft/curio shops of all kinds. Those shops were in front of the local people's homes. Some of the homes contained fabric-dying vats and others were a blacksmith shop as well as an art gallery and curio shop. Most of the tourists were Vietnamese from the Red River Valley, so there was a great deal of curio buying.

The Stone Path to Curioville

Terraced Rice, Water Buffalo - View from the Stone Path

Water Control at the Blacksmith Shop

Tourists. What Tourists? Oh, Bore!

The path itself was a series of non-AIA approved steps of various pitches and widths, so it kept you awake or got you injured, and it was steep. When you were not surrounded by shops and houses, there were views of the farm life and paddy fields, as well as the mist-filled valley. All in all, it was a very iconic presentation of life in an ethnic, mountain village. At the bottom of the valley was a stream with a waterfall. Nearby, there was an old, French-built hydroelectric station which had been converted into a theater for ethnic music and dance. (A new hydroelectric station now provides power to Sapa and the valley.) We attended a traditional dance performance at the theater, which was a good way to rest and prepare ourselves for the walk out of the valley and up the mountain.

The walk up the mountain was, as you would expect, more of a trial than the walk down. With a very deliberate pace and two rest stops, we made it to the ridge line. We were offered pillion rides on 50cc motorbikes for the last one-third of the way up, but after considering which would most likely cause bodily harm, we stuck with walking. At the ridge line road, our smiling driver was waiting. (He was smiling because he didn't have to make the trek.) Also, that number of 250 steps is misleading. The more likely number is ~500 -- 250 steps down and 250 steps up!

The Waterfall at Bottom of the Path

The Bridge and the Stream

It is all up-hill from here!

After a brief rest, it was into the SUV and back up the road to Sapa, about fifteen minutes. Along the road were a number of old French mansions, which seemed to be in various states of disrepair. Sapa had originally been a French hill station, were the colonials came to escape the summer heat and humidity of the Red River Valley, where Hanoi is located. Thuan said that most of the French mansions had been "torn down" by the Chinese when they occupied Sapa during the Chinese/Vietnamese incident of 1979. As a consequence, the "destruction" added to the ill will between the Chinese and Vietnamese.

Back in Sapa, we had lunch at a local restaurant, with Thuan doing the ordering. The food was excellent, most of the dishes being vegetarian. We then walked for about an hour through Sapa, spending most of our time in the town's large, covered market. J, of course, had to buy the obligatory map t-shirt. Then, it was back to the Victoria Resort, a hot shower, nice long nap, and tea. This was in preparation for our return to Hanoi on the Victoria Express -- the night-train to Hanoi.