Our next destination was Sapa, which is northern Vietnam. The most popular way to get there is by overnight train. I was really excited because I had never really taken a train before, let alone an overnight one. We left Hanoi around 10 p.m. at night and settled into our bunks on the train. It was a pretty small space but being with my mom and my best friend was pretty nice. We had one stranger in with us who was a Chinese man. He was pretty nice and would break out into American songs from time to time to try to communicate with us. We arrived pretty early in the morning around 6:30 a.m. and quickly realized that our hotel was actually a 45 minute drive from the train station. 45 minutes in a cramped van on a windy road later, we finally reached our destination and checked into our hotel. We lucked out with our room! It was on the third floor and had a balcony that overlooked the town. Unfortunately, it was the foggy season and the visibility was pretty terrible. The first afternoon there we bundled up and took a stroll down the hill into town to look around. A couple of women started walking alongside us. They were dressed in traditional vietnamese clothing with colorful skirts and head ware. They started talking to us and asking lots of questions about where we were from and so forth. Though they were friendly I was caught of guard and a bit unsure of their motives. They walked with us all the way into town to the market center. It turns out, they were selling handmade goods and wanted us to buy them. It turned out to be okay because we were planning on buying some souvenirs anyways, and were able to bargain, and they were pretty nice ladies, but personally I don't really like being heckled much and this felt a bit intrusive. After looking around the center for a bit, we made our way to the outdoor food market. Though it was small, there were some crazy things I had never seen before. The most incredible thing was probably seeing huge fish still flopping around after being cut in half. I know it sounds gruesome, it was pretty off-putting, but at the same time it was really interesting to see part of the culture. The next day was another early morning because we had a day of trekking planned! Trekking is very popular in Sapa because there is amazing backcountry as well as incredible views of hills filled with rice paddies. Many people travel up to Northern Vietnam just for this and I was really excited to get out and do some exploring. It started out very cold and I had put on a lot of layers in anticipation of the same rainy weather we had experienced the day before. We met our guide, Bitsy, and started off on a road out of town. Right away we saw a (very pregnant) sow digging for roots and tubers. We continued up a (longish) hill before coming to a ridge that looked out over the valley of tiered rice fields. Luckily the visibility had cleared up, but it was incredibly muddy and the next hour was spend meandering down the mountain, trying not to slip and fall into the muck. It was a long day of trekking but we saw so many amazing things that it was all worth it. I definitely credit our guide with making the experience so wonderful as she was kind, knowledgeable, and held our hands down every slippery muddy spot. We arrived back at our hotel around 5 p.m. and took a dip in the pool before getting ready for the night. It was New Years Eve and the hotel was putting on a banquet for all the guests. It was lovely to get dressed up (by our own backpacking standards that is) and meet people from different parts of the world. We met a German couple that night that we ended up running into on the streets of Hanoi a few days later, small world! The dinner itself was incredible and had just about everything you could imagine. From potato salad (my personal fav) to a pasta bar and roast duck, I was a happy camper. There was also a traditional dance performance that was so beautiful. The women twirled around with parasols and their performances told stories through their dancing. It was a very special evening and I was happy to share it with some of my favorite people. After that, I was in bed well before midnight struck. I know, not a very crazy new years, but I wouldn´t have wanted it to go any other way. If anyone wants a postcard from me over the next few months, drop your name and address in the contact section and I'll be sure to send one!
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Amani P.Last fall I took off for a year abroad. Now I'm back in the states, trying to figure out this crazy thing we call life! Archives
February 2017
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