If you ever want to do something very special for yourself, then go to northern Vietnam for a couple of weeks.  I have no doubt that you not only have a memorable holiday, but you will also leave Vietnam a changed and a better person.  The people as well as the natural beauty of the land can’t help to leave an impression on you.  The summary below is for Halong Bay, Sapa, and Bac Ha only, but Hanoi and a flight down to Hue’ and/or Hoi An also deserve the time and a mention.  See my previous entries for deals.

 

Halong Bay is like nothing that I have ever seen before.  Get a mental picture of the shape of Dr. Evil’s island in Austin Powers.  Now multiply the good Dr’s Island by 3,000 and that is an idea of what Halong Bay looks like.  Alternatively, you can either look at some of my photos, or better yet run a Google Image search for Halong Bay.   

 

In addition to the beauty of the islands, the experience of staying overnight on the Vietnamese Junks is quite good.  You eat like a king/queen and you can’t help to be relaxed as you coast through the bay seeing one unique island after another.   

Sitting among the clouds Sapa's natural beauty can definitely hold it's own with other beautiful scenery in the world.  However it is the people of Sapa that have the biggest impact on you.  Sapa is home to many different minority peoples of Vietnam.  Some immigrated from Tibet, other parts of China, Thailand, etc. over the centuries, but each village has retained theri own identity language and dress over the years.   

The good and bad part about Sapa is that the minority people come to town to sell their goods.  At the age of six or seven, witty young girls are speaking English to you with all of the sarcasm and sassiness that you might expect from a native teenager back home.  The difference is that these girls are pure salespeople who not only fully support themselves (clothes, food, place to stay, etc.), but they also contribute to the family's income back in their village which is often a 2-3 hour one-way walk from Sapa itself.   

The girls remember your name, where you are from, how long you are staying, and whether you promised to buy something from them or not from the word go.  They never, ever forget, and they never, ever give up.  They leave an impression on everyone that they meet.  With that said, they are still salespeople.  Unlike most travelers who are in Sapa for 2-3 days tops, I was in Sapa for eight days.  This extra time allowed me to figure out their system.  While I will not reveal how they make a buck or two (a $2 day is a great day), I will let you know how they keep in touch with their past clients.   

Like everyone else these days, they try to get email addresses.  While this is not that big of a deal, the catch is that probably 9 out of 10 of these girls can not read or write.  You would never know it when you speak with them.  They simply pick up the language on the streets via interaction with the tourists.  They seldom if ever get to go to school for any extended period of time, so they never get to break out of the cycle (be cute, sell stuff, get married young, sell stuff, make stuff for others to sell). 

If I were a humanitarian instead of just a selfish tourist, then I would find a way to launch a school for these girls.  I am convinced that it would not take much money to make a real difference in their lives.  They are so smart and only a modest change in their income, occupation (hotel front desk person, tour guide, teacher, etc.) would make a huge impact for generations to come.

 

 

In order to keep in touch with past friends they rope in a sucker tourist (see me) to read them any emails that they receive as well as type out a full reply to the original sender.  As the recipient, if you only see your email from them then the email comes across as sweet, broken-English kind of way.  The catch is that almost every email that they dictate is almost always the same and that goes for every H’Mong girl.  I know because I would volunteer to help one or two of my favorites and before I knew it, I was reading and typing emails for 3-4 other girls.  By the end of the week, it was a real pain in the ass! 

I am tired of typing and if you are still reading then I know that you have to be tired of reading.  I will end by saying if you do make it to northern Vietnam, then go to the Bac Ha market on Sundays and get there as early as possible.  When the tourists are not there in droves, (after 10:00), it is the best market that I have ever been to (and I've been to more than one or two).  It's the real-deal; meaning for locals only; amazing stuff! 

Thanks for the emails and take care,

Jason