I am back in Hanoi today after a week in beautiful Sapa. My last few days of language classes went well, and I feel I have a good start to really learning Vietnamese, but it is really hard. One of my last days in Hanoi, a few of us went to Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. Ho Chi Minh wanted to be cremated upon his death, and have his ashes spread across Vietnam. To honor his wishes, the Vietnamese embalmed his body and built a massive mausoleum for public viewing. It was an interesting visit. When you first walk in, you have to leave your bags (but you can keep your camera). About 100 yards in, they take your camera. When you walk into the mausoleum, you cannot have sunglasses on, there is no talking, no hands in pockets (I was yelled at for this) and you must keep walking at all times. Ho Chi Minh (or Uncle Ho) looked like what you would expect a 40 year old embalmed body would look like. It was an interesting visit, but well worth it in my opinion.

On our last night, after the farewell dinner, Ai, Jackie, Pierce and I boarded the night train for Lao Cai (on the China border). We arrived in a rainstorm and took a minibus through the fog for the hour ride to Sapa. Sapa is the coldest place in Vietnam, and it was a very welcome change from the heat and humidity of Hanoi. As I soon realized, the weather can change very quickly. It can be sunny one minute, 5 minutes later be raining, 5 minutes later be completely fogged in and then in another 5 minutes be sunny again.

Our first day, Ai and I hiked above the city and saw our first real views of the valley. It is probably the most beautiful place I have ever been. Tall mountains (the tallest in Southeast Asia is Fanispan which I plan to climb sometime this year) flank each side of the valley, with terraced rice paddies on the mountain slopes that cascade down to the valley floor, where there are villages and rivers. I will post pictures soon, as I took over 600 photos. That night, we went out to have a drink and play some pool, and we met some of the Hmong tour guides. It took a little while to get used to seeing Hmong girls drinking and playing pool, but I soon realized there is not much a difference between them and 20 year old girls in the States. The Hmong girls are really fun and lively; they speak perfect English and most are great pool players. I described them as "fun," but Ai described them as "abrasive." Ha, I guess it depends on each person. I did make one mad at one point and she grabbed my arm, pulled me down and kicked me right in the butt (all in good fun of course)!

Our second day started out with rain again. We had met a 12 year old Hmong girl the day before named Sasa, and she wanted to take us to her family's house for lunch. We met her and bought a lot of food in the market, and then headed off…4 Americans and 4 Hmong. It was a beautiful walk of about 6km until we reached a trail headed up the mountains to her house. We climbed up and came to a small gathering of about 15 houses on the hillside. I have done a homestay in Thailand, as well as one later in Sapa, but this was nothing like those. Homestay's typically are maintained at closer to a Western standard (what the Government thinks Western tourists want to see). The homestay's are more like a hotel in the village then a real local house. This was nothing like that. It was a dirt/mud floor, no running water or toilet. Sasa's younger siblings were running around in the mud with only t-shirts on and many people from the village came over to see us. I was also amazed because Sasa pretty much cooked the whole meal (which was great) by herself. I couldn't imagine a 12 year old American girl taking 4 strangers home and then cooking a fantastic meal for them. We had a lot of food, so it fed her whole family, as well as us. We did feel slightly obligated to buy souvenirs from the women that walked with us and from Sasa's family, so we all bought a little bit. I realize that she brought us to her house mostly for the food and selling of souvenirs, but it was still really fun and much more authentic than any other homestay or trekking experience I have had. The whole family was very friendly, and I saw and talked with Sasa many more times in Sapa (including giving her printed copies of photo's I took).

The next day we decided to hop on some motorbikes for a while. Pierce decided to drive and Jackie rode with him, but Ai and I got drivers. We went to two waterfalls and also to the top of a mountain pass with some amazing views. Another very nice day in Sapa. That night though, Pierce, Jackie and Ai all went back to Hanoi because Jackie was having an allergic reaction to medicine she was taking. The plan was always for us to split up after a few days, so I stayed in Sapa.

Every day for the next few days I kept thinking I would leave Sapa and go to Dien Bien Phu, but in the end I couldn't leave. I had made friends with some of the Hmong trekking guides and some other tourists and I decided to stay in Sapa. I did one night at a homestay in a village, which was very nice and peaceful, but as I said above, it felt more like a hotel in the village than an actual homestay. We went swimming another day which was freezing, but still really nice, and I just relaxed quite a bit. It was a great time, and I don't regret staying in Sapa those extra days.

And now on to a downer (sorry). As I got to know the Hmong guides a little better, I learned about the girls that are "missing." Two different girls I met both had older sister's that are "missing," and one of the girls said she personally knows of 10 girls that are "missing" in her small village alone. "Missing," essentially means they were trafficked into China and sold as wives to Chinese men. Someone befriends the girls, and eventually drugs them or just takes them by force across the border to China. I know that trafficking is a huge issue around the world, but I have never before met anyone that has been personally affected by it. I asked the girls if they thought there is anything they could do or anyone they could go to for help, but they all said no. I searched google, and I could not find any anti-trafficking groups in the area. We have volunteers in Northern Thailand and Southern Vietnam working on trafficking, but we don't have anyone in Northern Vietnam. Anyway, not sure where I am going with this, but it definitely affected me. This is a big issue in many countries (including this US).

So now I am back in Hanoi for one more night until I fly Sunday to Ho Chi Minh City. I will stay there for about 4 days and then I get picked up and driven to Tra Vinh. I have my teaching schedule now, and I don't start until September 7th, so I have some time to get situated once I arrive. I will try to post more pictures soon and hopefully a video or two. Thanks for reading!