Loas

LUANG PRABANG  

We arrived in Laos by the tiniest plane (propeller driven) we had been on or seen even, just 2 seats in width either side of the aisle with just 2 air stewardesses. Landing in Luang Prabang we knew a visa cost us $34 U.S. at immigration, but we only had Vietnamese Dong currency. So after questioning the customs officers, they pointed, through custom control, to go outside the airport where I would find an ATM. Unbelievably I wondered through the security gates without being questioned to find the ATM and then returned again with no injection from any official worker.

When checking in to our guesthouse for the next few nights the manager informed us that tomorrow was the annual Dragon Boat Race on the backwater river. Thus, the following day we went along to witness the mania that was Laos celebrations. The streets were lined with stalls selling useless but appealing toys and souvenirs where it seemed the population of Laos were spending their well earned cash. The dragon boat racing was incredible. Now I've been to watch dragon boat racing and I've even partaken in one, which, was as lower league/amateur as you can get in comparison to the men who power these long, thin boats through the backwaters of the Mekong. Whilst the races were ongoing throughout the day, there were other floats/boats passing crowds along the riverbank with music playing, including a boat teaching people about malaria. We came across a bar which overlooked the Mekong river in a quiet street where we ordered our first 'Beer Laos', we sat back and relaxed and pinched ourselves to check that this was still all real! 

We visited the Quang Si waterfall on the Sunday which was a bad idea as so did every family in the local area, with their picnics and cool boxes full of beer. However, we got there early and before the 'rush' so it was peaceful.  The waterfalls had tiers of turquoise pools at different stages until you reach the 25 metre fall.  Then some wooden, precarious steps to the left of this led the way to the top of the falls, so we started to climb the steps, that could do with a bit of refurbishment, as water cascaded over them and our feet. As it was the end of the rainy season, the flow and strength of the water was very high which made it more of a challenge but more satisfying and exciting as we ascended. 

At the waterfalls, a rescue bear sanctuary has been set up to raise awareness and gain donations from visitors to the park. Bears are widely used across Laos for their bile as a medicine. They are kept in tiny cages with only just enough space for them, they can't even turn around, for the next 10-20 years they are housed this way whilst regularly having bile extracted via large needles into their abdomens. The sanctuary was excellent with numerous activities for the Bears to keep them occupied and streams that ran through their enclosure which they could play and bathe in.

We visited a factory called Ock Pok Tok which translates as East meets West. A British lady had the idea to set this company up a few years ago to work with local villages to help the families gain some income whilst sharing their knowledge and skills. We were shown how the ladies used looms to weave their clothes and other fabric items such as mats, bags, cushions and so on. We both wanted to buy most items in the shop at the end but resisted due to budget and space in our backpacks but they do have a website, where they will ship abroad, so I think I know where Rosie's wages will be spent on our return.  

We had then planned to take a two day boat up the Mekong river to Huay Xai via Pakbeng where we would have to spend the night. This local boat which travels the journey on a daily schedule was packed full of locals and few westerners. 

The locals were very intrigued by my Sudoku book...

In case you ever wondered what a Mekong river service station looks like...

The views along the Mekong were spectacular..

The first leg, to Pakbeng was 9 hours where we had pre-booked our accommodation; a hotel which overlooked the Mekong from our balcony and the restaurant. In the morning we heard the noise of elephants 'tooting' their trunks and on inspection saw a few across the river having a wash with their mahouts. So we had breakfast as we watched them playing and splashing around in the water. 

Then back to the boat for the next 9 hour journey to our final destination; Huay Xai. 

Arriving in Huay Xai..

On our boat journey we met a South African couple, Nat and Guthrie. They had been living in the UK and travelling around to their final destination Australia, where they planned to live for the next few years. We got on with them well and we were happy to learn they had the next few days planned the same as ours. Across the Mekong is Thailand and that was our next destination, except for one final expedition in Laos, which we had been waiting to experience for the last couple of years; The Gibbon Experience! 

A place high up in the mountains of Bokeo National Park where a days trekking arrives you at your 40 metre high treehouse with its own bathroom and kitchen area, overlooking incredible jungle whilst listening to its noises. Nat, Guthrie, Rosie and I decided to share a 4 bed treehouse, and we were so glad we did! 

Slightly smaller than the other larger tree houses, it had incredible views across the canopy where we enjoyed our evenings of chatting, star gazing, and eating 'armpit rice' - named because it smelt like B.O (we wouldn't recommend the food at the gibbon experience)! 

Not a bad view from the shower..

The other draw to this experience (aside from the armpit rice) is the maze of zip wires to get you to and from the tree houses which span across the valley of the jungle floor above the trees. Mainly though, to try to see the notorious Gibbon monkey.  

Our first misty morning we were woken at 0615 hrs by the sound of Gibbons calling to one another, it was an amazing and incredible sound which we felt immensely privileged to hear in the wild. They were close and we could just make out silhouettes swinging from tree to tree; we were silent in disbelief that we were witnessing and experiencing this. 

We set off for another day of trekking through the jungle and zip wiring to other tree houses located around the forest. 

At another tree house, the guide ushered us across the zip wire quickly and quietly as he had seen movement in the trees ahead. On inspection, we were again mesmerised by a family of Gibbons that were playing in the trees only about 50 metres ahead of us. Two sons and their mother and very young sibling clinging on to her. Our guide informed us that is was a rare siting in the rainy season, and we couldn't take our eyes away, we stayed until they left the playhouse of that tree for another, where they disappeared; but what an experience and memory that will last with us forever! 

Guthrie, Nat,  Rosie and I feeling exhausted at the end of an amazing 3 days in the mountains of the Bokeo national park..

The night prior to us embarking on The Gibbon Experience we realised we had left our small metal box containing our memory card reader, 2 memory sticks and memory cards for our camera and GoPro at our stop off at Pakbeng.  We therefore emailed the manager to state that we would return to pick them up in a couple of days when we get back from the Gibbons. To cut a ridiculously long story short; they had all been stolen! The box was found 'outside our room' containing nothing inside. The French manager suspected a tuk tuk driver and even brought him to us for questioning and we tried bribery alongside keeping his job if he owned up or returned them; but to no avail. We had always planned to make a short video with GoPro clips to show people that were interested when we got home, instead of boring them with hundreds of thousands of photos but these are all lost in conjunction with our photos. We also paid for a DropBox account that didn't upload our photos and videos despite numerous emails to them. Luckily we had shared our best moments on FaceBook and our Blog so we will have to guarantee the next 5 and a half months we build up our photos and GoPro videos to achieve what we originally wanted; onwards and upwards to Thailand!!! 

Vietnam

HO CHI MINH CITY (HCMC)

Our arrival to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) was welcomed following our 10 hour bus and short boat journey.  The border crossing from Cambodia into Vietnam was interesting as we got dropped off in Cambodia, had to walk with our bags to a passport checking area, then walk a few hundred metres to the Vietnamese border, to find our awaiting bus; very surreal but exciting; perhaps because we are used to arriving into a country by plane or train where it is standard procedures and protocols for entry, but here, no bags were checked, nobody searched, a bit out of the ordinary for us. 

A mini market on the boat....

Ho Chi Minh was an attack of our relaxed Cambodian senses; the streets were alive when we arrived at our hostel at 2230. We checked in, then went for an explore for beer and food! We wondered down the famous Bui Vien street which was bustling with people, bars and street food stalls spilling onto the road; where you sit on small plastic chairs to enjoy whatever barbecue meat that is being served to you. We were excited to be staying here for the next few days.

The Ho Chi Minh market...

The population of HCMC is estimated to be around 8 million and unbelievably (or not when you are there) 2 million motorbikes/scooters on the road.  During the frequent traffic jams bikers use the pavements to cut through the traffic, narrowly missing pedestrians.

Ho Chi Minh is visited by tourists largely to sample and learn about the Vietnamese versus American war, 1965-1975. The North Vietnamese government and the Viet Cong were fighting to reunify Vietnam under communism rule. They viewed the conflict as a colonial war, fought initially against forces from France and then America, and later against South Vietnam. 

We visited the 'War Remnants Museum' which is a must visit whilst in HCMC. It was very informative and harrowing to learn how the Americans used chemical weapons which still to this day effect Vietnamese citizens! Alongside military aircraft and vehicles, the third floor had an amazing pictorial montage of the war.  No censored pictures, which I'm sure they would be if in the UK, which was important to teach and evidence the horrors of modern warfare. In conjunction with Napalm, the Americans used 'Agent Orange'. Originally known as herbicide orange, is one of the herbicides and defoliants used by the U.S military as part of its herbicidal warfare, this caused genetic defects and triggered cancers in many Vietnamese and US military. 

Bad timing meant that when we came to leave the museum a tropical storm begun, we had never experienced rain quite like it. Roads were flooded and we had to wade through ankle deep water to get home. We'd forgotten our waterproofs and so purchased 2 'carrier bag' ponchos (we have since upgraded these and they may just be the best thing we ever bought)! Here's a little before and after of a local park.

Before...

After...

Another 'attraction' (so called), is the Cu Chi Tunnels; a 250km network of underground tunnels, built and used by the Viet Cong during the war. Some sections of the underground world was several storeys deep; all dug by hand! The majority of the 250km tunnels were destroyed during the war but some still remain and some have been made larger, for the western tourist to be able to fit down. The first section we were shown was all original and was only 20 metres long. 

The guide volunteered me to experience this; to which I could not refuse. I lowered myself down through a hole in the ground approximately 60x40cm, with my head torch attached. 

My instructions were to take the first right, then left and left again, which 'should' bring me out in a different location where the group would meet me! At first I was able to walk, but crouched down, then as I turned right, it was even shorter so I had to crawl on my hands and knees. I looked down, which I probably shouldn't have, to find my hands buried in dead leaves where cockroaches and bugs were crawling with me. I looked ahead to see bats hanging at my head height; and when I approached them they decided to fly towards my face, I continued and followed the instructions and to my relief saw daylight at the end where I was met by Rosie and the group. At one point I thought I was on 'I'm a celebratory, get me out of here'!!!

Whilst here, we were given the opportunity to fire a variety of guns and we decided on the AK47 as I figured this could get expensive and we would easily get carried away. We bought 10 rounds (due to cost and we're travelling don't you know) and shared them between us, apparently Rosie wasn't entirely sure what the target was!

On the way back to HCMC we stopped at a factory where disabled or maimed people affected by Agent Orange in the war made incredible artwork using broken egg shells, we obviously loved it and had to buy one for our wall at home. 

DALAT

Next stop was Dalat, a town in the southwest highlands of Vietnam and because of this the temperature is a manageable 20'C on average all year round. It is known to the Vietnamese as 'Little Paris' as it has a communication mast in the shape of the Eiffel Tower and it has numerous French influences from when they ruled it, like horse drawn carriages and French-colonial villas. The other draw to Dalat is adventure sports for example mountain biking, trekking, climbing, forest hiking and canyoning; the latter, we decided to indulge in. 

Dalat market...

I now name Rosie: Lara Croft! She was not initially keen on trying this activity, and I quote "Why do I want to dangle backwards off a cliff??" but after some gentle persuasion she agreed! The itinerary was to abseil down 2 dry cliffs, 3 wet cliffs (ie, through a waterfall) and jump off a cliff of 7 and 11 metres into a lagoon.  We were with a great group of people and we all got on well.  It was a challenging day resulting in grazed knees and a broken finger for me, but it was still awesome. 

The next day we had a less energetic and extreme day by walking around the town. We had a ride in a ridiculous swan shaped peddle-o (on Rosie's bucket list).

We also visited a house named 'The Crazy House', so called due to the weird shaped buildings in the shape of trees?!?..the lady who owns it and is still building more structures, must simply be mental and crazy. 

NHA TRANG

A town on the east coast of Vietnam, known for its beautiful coast, however, also known for its touristy and western style beach. We decided to visit for just two nights to break up our journey to Hoi An. As a town, we didn't enjoy it, it was full of Russian tourists and ex-pats who seem to have taken over, it was as if we were in Russia; restaurants, tour operators and hotels all written and spoken in Russian! If you picture pale topless men with ankle socks and sandals strolling along the beach, then you're in Nha Trang. As we had stayed in some cheap and cheerful places, Rosie decided she wanted a bit of luxury so booked a 4* hotel which had only been open for 6 days, in the hope to be upgraded to a sea view room with a bath tub. Unbelievably luck was on her side and we were upgraded but not only to a deluxe room, oh no, a suite where the huge windows overlooked the beautiful beach and sea. Whilst in the bath in the evening, the window next to it, overlooked picturesque views of the sea lit up with boats and the island opposite, like candles in the distance. 

After a full day of doing nothing, we prepared to board the bus at 1900hrs for our eleven hour overnight trip to Hoi An. 

HOI AN

We arrived in Hoi An at 0630hrs to a beautiful and idyllic little town. Every street was as if it hadn't been altered or touched for the last few centuries; tiny alleyways and intricate gable ended roofs, similar to what we had seen in Japan and China.

We were hungry and wanted some breakfast so found a cafe and waited an hour outside for it to open. As it was so early in the morning, not many people were around but as we sat and waited, we watched the place come alive. At 0800hrs, on a daily basis, the air is filled with classical music; all the streets have speakers that play all day until late evening. We recognised quite a few tunes, for example, Christmas songs and Auld Lang Syne, which all sound a bit strange in a classical format in the searing heat.

Hoi An at night turns magical as the light from lanterns reflect off the river that runs through it, in conjunction with floating lanterns which locals light and tourists can buy, to make a wish and watch it float down the river, dozens float away and look so pleasant and enchanting.

We have decided to try to enrol on a cookery class in every country so the next day we joined one called 'My Grandmas Cooking'. This meant catching a boat, which I Captained, over to a tiny island where 300 people live.

Once docked, we made our way to 'Grandma's' house, walking through shrimp farms and dusty village streets where we met a lady selling fruit and veg from her bamboo board. She was 87..!!!!...She started her career when she was just 15 years old, an adorable lady who must be the fittest 87 year old I've come across. I should add that she had not just bitten the head off a rodent, but was chewing Betel Nut, Asias equivalent to chewing tobacco.

Rosie attempting to carry the shoulder board, which was very heavy!

The cooking class, as always, was excellent, we cooked the Vietnamese famous pork spring rolls alongside their fish clay pot and papaya salad.  A highlight was meeting Grandma and cooking the traditional way, grinding our rice into rice water and making them into pancakes over hot coals.

On our journey back to the mainland we passed some cleverly constructed fishing nets used by the locals...

Whilst walking around Hoi An we visited the Japanese bridge, beautifully constructed, it was built in the 1590's by the Japanese community in order to link with the Chinese community across the stream. 

Hoi An has a history of flooding, in 2009 locals saw some of the worst monsoons resulting in terrible floods. We saw many pictures from 2009 of people travelling on boats around the narrow streets resembling something similar to Venice. This picture shows how high the water level was...

Our next adventure sport we decided was to be snorkelling. We set off on a large boat out into the ocean to a group of islands called the Cham Islands. We were informed that at the first dive/snorkel site that there were jelly fish there but shouldn't cause anyone any problems. So I bravely jumped in to be greeted with, what felt like tiny electric shocks all over my body, I looked under the waters surface and could not see a thing so I invited Rosie to join me. She too felt the similar stings I was feeling so I decided there must be a shoal of jelly fish, therefore we should snorkel away to a different part of the coral. This didn't relieve the persistent pain and stings and when I looked back at our boat, I could see that everyone else from our group had left the water for the deck! We followed like true British sheep and got wet suits! After this, it was great, especially at the next site where there were no jelly fish and loads to see and explore and to top it off Rosie loved the whole thing. 

It was a truly beautiful day...

Over dinner we surveyed our hundreds of stings on our arms and legs to which the captain had suggested would be gone in a couple of hours. Happily mine were, but poor Rosie decided to have a reaction and we ended up in the local hospital the following day for intravenous drugs to relieve the itching and hives; only Rosie! 

PHONG NHA

We left Hoi An for Phong Nha; a national park known for its jungle and huge cave explorations. So as snorkelling was such a success, minus Rosie's hospital visit, my next extreme suggestion was to do a two day trek through jungle and caves, whilst staying in a hammock in the jungle for a night; Rosie was more than game so we booked and prepared ourselves. 

Cave exploration and tourism is very new to this region of Vietnam as a company named Oxalis is the only company permitted by the Vietnamese president to run organised tours in the area; making it very private and special. We opted to discover a group of caves named 'Tu Lan'; a network of caves only discovered in late 2000's and the worlds official biggest cave, Hang Son Doong', was only discovered here in 2013.  Hence the US$3000 price tag to visit it and again, only with Oxalis.  Our guide, Bamboo, is one of Oxalis' lead expedition guides and as such has visited Hang Son Doong and told us a dozen stories of ridiculously rich people he has taken to the cave, for example, the prince of Abu Dhabi and his mates. 

We were picked up by our expedition guides, Bamboo and Lynn and taken to the office an hours drive away for a briefing and to sort out clothes etcetera. We had to decipher our necessities which we wanted to carry and would need, to pretty much everything else that we could leave behind. So we loaded our 'dry bags' with what we wanted to carry and in another dry bag put clothes for when we arrive at our night camp for the porters to carry and meet us there. 

A gentle stroll across farmland where cows and water buffalo were grazing to our first river crossing...only knee deep, it was no issue, to where we started our climb up the limestone rock into a valley where we had lunch, already prepared by a couple of the porters, in the mouth of a small cave. 

We continued on our now quite challenging trek through dense jungle for the next couple of hours where we reached our camp site for the night; next to a beautiful waterfall with a turquoise colour pool for swimming and relaxing in. Our bed for the night was a hammock with built-in mosquito net and tarpaulin roof in case of rain. Our dinner was being cooked over a campfire which was welcomed after our 9km trek.

Before we relaxed for the evening, we ventured into our first 'wet cave', meaning a cave with a river running through it. We jumped into the water and started to swim upstream into the depths of the pitch black cave. When we could no longer see the light from the entrance of the outside world, we turned on our head torches to be amazed by a monumental cave where bats from the ceiling came down to say 'Xin chào' (hello in Vietnamese) or rather; swoop down in front of our faces to devour the flies/bugs that were attracted to our head torches. 

Whilst in the cave, we climbed up rock faces to explore and marvel at stalactites, stalagmites and where the two meet; columns. They were beautiful natural wonders that glistened in our torches where the calcium had solidified and formed; each stalactite or stalagmite takes 10 years to 'grow' just 1cm and some of these were 20-30 metres high! 

There were also some very large spiders in the caves...

We got back to our camp and sat in the 'pool' of the waterfall drinking beer and reflecting on our days experiences with the other 7 people in our group. The porters had prepared an amazing meal for us with more than we could eat and we retired to our hammocks at 2100 hours as we were drained from the day's activities and it was now pitch black. The next day entailed three wet cave and 2 dry cave explorations whilst trekking through the jungle, until we reached our starting point. We had hot showers, had a late lunch at a local house and headed home for some relaxation and another early night! 

The Oxalis team...

Our final day in Phong Nha we jumped on two bicycles and rode a couple of hours through dirt tracks in the middle of rice paddy fields and along rivers to a place called 'Wild Boar Eco Farm'.  

At the wild boar farm, the farmer has set up seating and hammocks overlooking the valley which you can enjoy whilst ordering some delicious barbecued pork! We sat here for a few hours just taking in the breathtaking views and supping the local beer until it was time to leave to get back before sunset. 

That night we caught the overnight bus, which was obviously 2.5hrs late, to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.

HANOI

We arrived in Hanoi to feel surprisingly refreshed after our bus journey as we both got a decent amount of sleep. 

Unbeknown to us, this day (2nd September 2015), Vietnam were celebrating 70 years of independence, so getting to our hotel from the bus stop was more than tricky. We checked in early and took advantage of their WiFi as we wanted to research, and book, a trip to Halong Bay from Hanoi as we had read it was the best way. Also, our other mission whilst in Hanoi was to visit the Sofitel Metropole Hotel. As Rosie's godparents had previously stayed there and wanted us to experience it, so kindly and generously gave us some money and told us to treat ourselves; which we did.  After dressing in our best clothes.. we found the hotel and decided to have the afternoon Chocolate Buffet. So after we made ourselves feel very nauseas, we popped to the famous Bamboo Bar to sink a cocktail. We spent nearly five hours there and all thanks to Jan and Lol and their generosity. 

After a few drinks, we left the hotel to walk back to ours and came across the Hoan Kiem Lake, a huge lake in the middle of the city, where thousands of Vietnamese had gathered as celebrations were unravelling due to the 70th year of independence. We walked a bit further to be accosted by a man holding a microphone who asked if we could be interviewed for the news about the celebrations. I quickly affirmed with him that we weren't aware of the memorable day until our arrival that morning. He said that wouldn't matter and he would only ask us questions about the atmosphere. We agreed and so his cameraman turned on his huge light for his camera and the interview started; dozens of Vietnamese gathered around us to watch our debut performance and to marvel at our professionalism; if only! For those of you that are wondering how to do a professional, or not, news interview after a few cocktails, here is the link.... http://youtu.be/j6DJO8sUkE4

We decided on a three day, two night cruise around Halong Bay and Lan Ha Bay. We had read, in conjunction with mixed reviews from other people's experiences, of Halong Bay and its tour companies. We heard that it's like the M25 but with boats and that it's so touristy it's horrible, even so, we decided we had to see it for ourselves and make our minds up as we wouldn't be coming again and it is a beautiful place to see.  

We had really kindly and generously been given some money as a gift from my uncle and aunt (John and Judy) and we decided to use this money to enable us to book a really nice cruise. We booked a small cruise ship, only twenty people on board; it was fantastic and we felt like royalty as the service and quality was second to none. It also took a different route to the majority of the other companies of Halong Bay and was the first ship to leave the dock so we had the sea and limestone peaks to ourselves. We were the only people kayaking and exploring the limestone islands and once anchored for the night, we had beautiful views of the setting sun with no other cruise ships around, we wondered what everyone else had been going on about or thought we were in a different place. Unfortunately we lost our Halong Bay photos, but we have one which Rosie took and I have artfully reconstructed what we did...

Then it was back to Hanoi for a night train to Sapa.

SAPA

We opted for our first overnight train journey since India, to get from Hanoi to Sapa. Except this time, the trains are luxury in comparison, with sheets, blankets and even a pillow! We both got a full nights sleep arriving at Lao Cai where our home stay owner had arranged a minibus for the short 30 minute drive to Sapa. We nearly got to Sapa when the driver ordered Rosie and I off the bus as we had arrived; we politely declined and said that this was not the home stay but he ushered us off and pointed to a road. We got our backpacks and by this time it was raining quite heavily, the house where the bus had dropped us off, unbeknown to us, was taking us the rest of the journey by motorbike. Him and his friend reversed two motorbikes out of their garage and put our backpacks at their feet and told us to jump on. Now it's important to highlight that we didn't get travel insurance to cover us to ride as driver or pillion passenger on a motorbike but what could we do??!! We had come to learn, on our travels to date, the huge number of tourists/backpackers that somehow crash or fall off their bikes resulting in awful grazes the length of their bodies.  Also, being fairly sensible about this sort of thing, I read the small print of our insurance policy and even if we had purchased insurance to cover us on bikes, you would only be covered if you had a licence in the said country you were riding; a fact that hardly anyone knows! However, the risk was worth it as it was an amazing 13km ride along windy and hilly roads, through tiny villages with rice paddy terraces climbing up the mountains either side of us as buffalo grazed and soaked up the rain. 

We arrived at our home stay and Dat the owner, offered pancakes and bananas for breakfast. He showed us to our room which resembled the inside of a shed, with just bed in the middle and we loved it. An impromptu 14km trek with Dats brother and a Danish couple was organised and we set out for the day. The rain had stopped and it was now very hot and humid. Sapa and the region is difficult to explain; it is like going back in time a few hundred years ago and is as beautiful and scenic as you may have seen on programmes on television. Picturesque mountains dressed with a mixture of jungle, rice terraces and corn fields dotted with hamlets or the odd house, complemented by a small river running through the valley.  Where children are friendly and excited to see strange western faces whilst waving frantically and wanting 'High 5's'. 

We made our way around and down the mountain to the river and waterfall at the bottom where we had a swim, lunch and were told to sleep by Dats brother, so we lay on a rock in the sun, eyes closed, listening to 'My heart will go on' by Celine Dion (we have come to learn they love 90's music in Asia). 

We then headed back to our home stay, negotiating buffalo on the way (me anyway, I got stuck in the middle of a herd) to the village where Dats brother took us to a Spa, yes a Spa in the middle of a tiny, rural village! I say Spa, it was a wooden bath tub filled with boiling hot water which had been infused with herbs and flowers that have been soaked for 16 weeks, which is meant to relieve your achy muscles and bones (apparently) for the next day's trekking. Initially we thought, it's not quite what we fancied as we were already sweltering from the days heat, but it was very welcomed once we were sat in them enjoying the aroma and experience. 

The beautiful Sapa rice terraces...

That night Dat cooked us dinner of Hot Pot, something we had come to love. A large pot of boiling broth and everyone adds meat and veg at the table, it was delicious.

We had learnt that Sapa was a very unique part of Vietnam, it is the home to a number of different tribes originating from China, named the White H'mong, Black H'mong and Red Dzao. We were interested in this so our next 3 days and 2 nights were shared with a guide called Su, a trekking guide from a company named; The Sapa Sisters. Su is part of the Black H'mong tribe, but was very knowlagable about the other tribes and their traditions. She had worked for the Sapa sisters for a number of years, a trekking company which employs woman of the tribes enabling them to support their families and community.

We decided we wanted a vision and insight into the 'real' North Vietnamese life, so we asked to eat our meals at a local tribes house and to sleep their also. Sapa is becoming a backpackers haven and it is predicted in the next 5 to 10 years it will be overrun and spoilt by tourists and western influences. Currently, local people offer to take you on a days trek for $10 USD, but this is generally shared with lots of other like minded tourists and locals. 

However, Su took us high up into the mountains where we saw no other foreigner and the local people we met last saw a westerner over a month ago, we were elated that we were experiencing true Vietnamese culture. 

The Sapa Sisters...

We eventually, after a very strenuous and slippy climb, reached our home for the night and the lady of the house; Di. She was adorable, extremely welcoming and treated us like we were her own children. We had stayed in 'primitive' accommodation before on our travels but nothing had come close to this; an old wooden house where the floor throughout was rough concrete, the kitchen was an open fire in a pit in the ground, the toilet was outside down a path next to the pigs and the bathroom was shared as a kitchen washing room.  

Unlike any house you can imagine, where walls are decorated with wallpaper, framed pictures and ornaments on shelves, Di showed us, proudly, a photocopied picture on the wall of her son and daughter-in-law's wedding day; it certainly made us think of our house back at home and how grateful Di was of this one picture in her house! We were very remote up in the mountains, to give you an idea, it took us 7 hours to trek from the town to get there... An entire day just to 'pop' to the shops. 

We helped, or probably hindered, to prepare and cook dinner where the whole family, made up of Di, her husband (who had returned from taking his buffalo out for the day), their son and daughter-in-law and their 3 children, Su, Rosie and I. 

We were ushered to drink some homemade rice wine, then some more, whilst chomping or in their case, slurping our dinner. We were in bed by 2030 hrs as there is nothing else to do, no shower available for us as there's no such luxury up in the mountains, and up early for breakfast and another day of trekking. It had rained throughout the night and Di was very concerned that the trek down the mountain would be slippery and dangerous, so she made us some bamboo poles to help us (thank goodness for those poles)! 

Before we set off, Di excidedly dressed Rosie in the traditional Black H'mong tribal clothes, these were all handmade by Di from the picking and weaving of the hemp, dying using leaves from the indigo plant to painstakingly hand stiching the intricate patterns. Di insisted on Rosie wearing her wedding necklace, our equivalent to a wedding ring. We will always remember our lovely stay with Di and her family.

The next day, we stayed at another home stay but our host, Chi, was not as friendly and her house wasn't as welcoming, but she did have a shower and an incredibly cute daughter! However, this would have to wait, as when we arrived at her house, Su took a gasp and stated 'We cannot enter'. We looked at one another and then back at Su, she explained that the two small branches that had been pushed into the ground outside the front door meant that the 'Shaman' was there conducting a ceremony and that we weren't allowed in until dark. The next few hours were strange as Rosie and I waited on the doorstep for the sun to disappear, but we had a bottle of beer each so it wasn't too bad!

Su was incredibly small, so tiny infact that we struggled to get her into this picture! She may have been miniature, but she was clearly in charge and we did everything she told us too! Her English was excellent and she found (with Rosie encouraging her) it very amusing to regularly mock me, and my lack of hair! 

We finished our next day with a trek to another village where we caught transport back to Sapa to enjoy a relaxing evening, as in the morning we were going back to Hanoi to catch a flight to Luang Prabang in Laos. We arrived at our hotel, very wet, smelly and dirty. The hotel owner rushed us into our room, instructed us to shower, and informed us that afterwards she would introduce us to the hotel, we got the hint! The shower that night was probably the best so far of our travelling tour. 

We bid Sapa and Vietnam farewell, it was sad to say goodbye, but we were excited about our next adventure in Loas!