Copyright 2005 -- Rachel Saunders

Sapa: Through the Rice Fields



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May 2, 2005:
We returned to Hanoi for a few hours on the 30th before we took the night train to Sapa in the mountains. The night train was a joke. We were supposed to be on this luxe... or at least sort of luxe train... akin to the orient express. Instead we were in an old sleeper car that was built to prevent pirates I think. There were bars on the windows and the ventilation system wafted first through the disgusting bathroom before treating us to the scented cool air. We struggled between the idea of HEAT and a lot of noise from the outside, or cool smelly air. We decided that our noses would more quickly adjust than any of our other senses and so left the AC on. Oddly, despite all of that, I slept just fine.
Nov 11th, 2004:
Yesterday, I drove with my personal chauffeur to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal. It was about a 4 hour drive and on the way I stopped by the tomb of Akbar the great. He was this mughal ruler who built several forts and was said to be very wise. He was also the grandfather of the
Journal Continued:
We arrived in Sapa around 11:30 in the morning and were thrilled to find a respite from the heat in the cool mountain air and fresh breezes. We settled into our hotel, and organized the first of three hikes to neighboring villages, Cat Cat. We had a guide, a young girl from the black Hmong people. She spoke English, Vietnamese, and of course her tribal language. There is an interesting mix of cultures going on. The majority of her people still live much as they did for hundreds of generations, they all still wear the typical black hmong dress, and yet these girls are the heart of the tourist guide system, they are completely facile with languages, modern western culture and they even run into the internet cafes and chat online with their friends. At the end of the day, they still carry grass home to the water buffalo in basket backpacks, and tie their hair on top of their head.

Journal Continued:
In an interesting aside, the girls are the only ones allowed to go out and make money for the family. The boys are not considered trustworthy... "they will go out and buy sodas and candy, if they make money. Girls bring the money home." Consequently, the boys ... none of them... can speak English. They go to school or do fields work with the fathers. the mothers and daughters sell textiles, and engage with the tourists. For many of these girls, their english is better than their Vietnamese.

 

 
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds. :
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds. :
Right: A closeup of a baby monkey who resides full time on the verdant grounds of Akbar's tomb. Not a bad place to grow up...
Right: A closeup of a baby monkey who resides full time on the verdant grounds of Akbar's tomb. Not a bad place to grow up...
ce to grow up...
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds.
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds. :
Journal Continued:
Cat Cat was about a 4Km walk from our hotel through rice paddies along a mountainside. We walked through the village of Cat Cat, and saw all the village animals... dogs, pigs, donkey, buffalo... and lots of cute kids. For the most part, these villages seem very healthy! Many of them did have peculiar marks on their foreheads or necks... this was because they think that heating a buffalo horn and putting it on the throat for a sore throat or the forehead for a headache will bring relief. Oddly, the process hurts a great deal. I asked one of our guides whether the cure was better than the ailment. she said that if she can, she just accepts the pain... because the cure hurts alot more.
Left: A Buffalo herder keeping his eye on the his herd with the beautiful Cat Cat village in the distance. :
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds. :  
Right: LeeLee, leading the way through the village of Cat Cat.

Below: A young black hmong girl crawls over a fence on her way to the village pond. :
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds. :
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds. :
Right: A closeup of a baby monkey who resides full time on the verdant grounds of Akbar's tomb. Not a bad place to grow up...
Right: A closeup of a baby monkey who resides full time on the verdant grounds of Akbar's tomb. Not a bad place to grow up...


:  
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds.
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds. :
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds. :
Right: A closeup of a baby monkey who resides full time on the verdant grounds of Akbar's tomb. Not a bad place to grow up...
:  
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds.
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds. :
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds. :
Right: A closeup of a baby monkey who resides full time on the verdant grounds of Akbar's tomb. Not a bad place to grow up...

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