I did this entry earlier but it has disappeared.
You are surprised to see me here? I'm supposed to be in Lai Chau. There was a mix up at the bus station. I was asking for Lai Chau and they were hearing Lao Cai. One is "ly cow" the other is "low ky". One is the town before Sapa, the one I wanted the other is the town after Sapa, the one they were trying to give me. I got a ticket and headed round the back to the busses and some guy was trying to get me to go to Lai Cai in the biggest heap of **** you have ever seen. I realised the mistake and went back to the window to get the proper ticket. After all the mix ups I decided to just go to Sapa instead, it was easier and there was a mini bus going and they are more comfortable. The system here is you buy a ticket and the touts fight over you so I got the tout for the mini bus to come with me to get the ticket.
I got a great seat but then a Swiss couple came along and the kid asked me to get in the back seat. I thought the middle of the back seat would be pretty good so I moved. WRONG. I got the s***tiest seat in the bus. It was high so my head hit the roof and I was up in the roof lining so I couldnt see anything. After 6 hours of this I was raging and ready to take someones head off. I paid $7.50 for this bus ride so I could see the sights. We stopped at Lai Chau for lunch and by the look of the place I am glad I went straight to Sapa. The fat bloke in the passenger seat got a cab to somewhere so that left the seat for me. I grabbed it and it was PERFECT. I got to see everything and get a couple of photo's (see previous post). I was much happier when we got to Sapa.
Sapa is a hill station, the same as Darjeeling in India. The french started the place when they colonised the place cos it was too hot in Hanoi in summer. Now it is a tourist town. That is an understatment!!! The main street is full of North Face ripoffs and high end restaurants. They are sooooo expensive. Tonight I paid 140,000 dong for dinner and 1 beer, Im used to paying about 30,000 or 40,000 for dinner. They quote all prices in dollars cos it sounds less. Shoes are start at $55, that is over 1mil dong. They start at $40 in Saigon. Everything sounds cheap till you convert it to dong and realise you have been paying half that for the last month.
It was a thick pea soup fog this morning after the rain yesterday so Im not sure what Im doing tomorrow. It has been raining all afternoon here so some say it has set in and some say it will clear. If it is still wet tomorrow I can walk to Cat Cat and Sin Chai or if it is dry I might hire a bike and go further down the valley. I will let you know tomorrow what I did.
It rained heavy all night. It was very dark this morning and I wasnt sure whether to hire a bike or not. The guy trying to hire me one said it would not rain again till next week. That was good enough for me so I hired it for the day.
I went down to Cat Cat and Sin Chai but they charge entry. I paid and went to Cat Cat where they said the bike could not go any further.. I turned around and went back and was mighty glad I had the bike cos it was so steep I probably wouldnt have made it. Heaps of tourists were walking down and the H'mong women were following them and putting the ************ them to "buy from me". It is very high pressure selling down that way and mostly set up for tourists now and not the "real ethnic villages" everyone comes to see.
I headed back to town and in another direction, toward Nam Sai. At Ben No I should have turned right but I missed the turn and kept straight on. I ended up on a rough dirt track and nearly came a croper on the soft mud. Further along I came round a bend and hit a big steaming buffalo **** and nearly came a gutzer again. That was a wake up to watch the road and not the scenery. At least it was warm down in the valley cos it is freezing in Sapa. I think we will get to the low 20s today and I have been in t shirt and thongs for the last month.
I still had heaps of time so I decided to go another way looking for the Silver Falls. When I got to Tam Ton pass(the highest in Vietnam at nearly 2000mtr) I knew I had missed the falls. By this time it was freezing cold and raining so I headed back and didnt spend to much time looking on the way back.
The D'zao and H'mong villages in the area are very touristy and they all charge for admission.. They are set up for tourists and it is all a show for the package tours to see the "real Vietnam". The D'zao and H'mong women follow you all around town asking "where you from, what your name, you buy from me later?" They hastle people and if anyone looks interested they all come running and crowd around to make a sale. They all play on their ethnicity, and say "from the village". The main street is nealy like a pedestrian mall with so many people walking around. The cars just beep all the time and the people open up a space for them. The place is full of high end restaurants that serve italian, french, steak, pasta, pizza and some even do vietnamese. It is soo expensive here.
Tomorrow I get a bus to Lai Cai to get the overnight train to Hanoi.
Last night I ate at the Pumpkin Hotel. It was the best meal I have had in Vietnam and I sat and talked with the owner for a while, he was really nice. I am leaving here today thankfully cos it is freezing ( I think about 10deg this morn)