Tonnes of sweat

11th August

Today we woke up to the sound of the hills. The muscles were still aching from the trek the day before, but we were ready for another day of hill climbing and fresh air. We washed our faces, and gathered our bags in anticipation. For breakfast we were given freshly made pancakes and some tea, and a banana thrown in for good measure, and we were on our way. Again, before we set off on the trek, we were escorted by another group of females from the tribes there.

David in Bamboo Forest

Getting his crocs dirty in the mud, there was no way to avoid dirt that day.

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Sapa woman

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The terrain was much more difficult than yesterday with hills and wet mud slides to come. On route we climbed a mountain, went cautiously down a mud slide, crossed via the bamboo forest, over a shaky bridge, and finall on an asphalt road for the last four kilometers. In total roughly 12 km, give or take a few. On route we got to experience the anger of a tribes lady, her exact words were " why you not buy from me, I walk you, I help you.....wh you not buy from me?". She also tried the polite approach aswell, but the problem being that we actually had no money left on us from the day before, when we did buy many things from them. Ah well, tomorrow is another day for her and another tourist shall feel her wrath. As for us we were home and dry.

The bridge over the river

Needs a lot of fixing

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The view was stunning everywhere we went
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As the walk was coming to an end, we were passing one girl that was sitting by herself at the side of the road. We gave her a chocolate biscuit, and as soon as she saw it her face lit up with a smile. Then she openend her mouth and started screaming to her fellow brothers and sisters. We didn't understand the language, but whe we saw about 7 girls and boys run out from the house all wanting a sweet then we knew what she was shouting about. We could not please everyone as we only had a few left, but I hope they can share.

The sapa girl...
...that went crazy when we gave her a cookie and alarmed to her brothers and sisters
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After lunch, we were brought to the hotel for a shower and to catch our train back to Hanoi that night. We had a fantastic time in Sapa, and glad we had the chance to go there. Truly enjoyed it and got some exercise aswell, which is a bonus.
On the train back we were sharing our room with two Vietnamese ladies, who were sick as hell. So hopefully not the swine flu........Also they were very loud on the phone as all of them seem to be over here, it seems that the further away the person they are ringing, the louder they shout. Ah well, thats the joys of it all. Anyway, we arrived safe and sound to Hanoi train station at 5 am to start another day.

Angela & David