bac ha, vietnam

We depart from Sapa at 0700 and as our mini bus wheels down the mountain, the temperature becomes warmer. It takes about two hours and a half to reach the Bac Ha market.

Bac Ha market is the meeting place of the people on Sunday. Where people are selling, there are people buying. On the upper part of the market where you have to climb a case of upright stairs on the right, people are selling animals like chicken, pig and cow.

Bac Ha market is a display of colours. Everywhere you turn, the array of hues delighted your eyes.

The feast of colours comes from the ethnic clothings worn by the ethnic people strolling the market, purchasing daily things like fruits, vegetables and daily needs like brooms, pails, nails, etc.

One thing that taints the lovely market though, would be some local spitting on the ground directly even in front of people eating. Thus, must be careful when treading the ground.

Along the walk way there will be ethnic women persuading travellers to buy their merchandise. If you don’t want, they will just walk away and leave you alone.

Here’s a lovely lady selling fresh chillies with options of dried chillies, chilli sauce and chilli powder.

The market sells a range of decorative items, from colourful bags, clothings, hats, scarves, little souvenirs to fruits, vegetables, rice, daily needs and animals.

There are also some delicacies that you might be tempted to try. We try some fried ‘rice cake’ and buy some persimmons, oranges and peanuts with the help of our guide.

The ethnic people at the market don’t mind you taking their photographs as they are used to it.

Young or old, the women are dressed in their colourful ethnic costumes. It is definitely the heaven for enthusiastic photographers.

The persimmon tree seen here is planted in a house yard.

Above is one of the spectacular postcard scenery taken at a village.

We even come across some ‘cherry blossom’ trees. Too bad, they are not in full bloom. We only spot some tiny, white flowers.

Perhaps this is the local ‘raspberry’?

The condition in a house with an earthen floor at the village where one can see dried corns stored at the upper part of the house. Chicken and little chicks live in the house too.

We end our day with a boat cruise along the river. We have to walk for quite a length of road before reaching the river as the mini bus cannot travel through the bad, uneven road.

Along the way, we pass a paddy field and some houses. There will be some interesting things to discover if the walk is not rushing.

sapa, vietnam

The night train to Sapa leaves on time at 2110. Our berth has four beds, two lower and two upper beds with little soft pillow and blanket. The bed is soft too. It is also cold in the train.

One small mineral water is provided for every one. There is nothing to do but SLEEP till you hear the knock on your door and the announcement of the soon to arrive at Lao Cai train station.

It is still dark after five in the morning. It is about a nine-hour train journey. Lucyriver am bobbing up and down for the rest of the day.

Someone pick us up and soon we are stuffed into a mini bus again with the rest of the travellers. From Lao Cai, we journey to Sapa town. We are circling up the mountains. Every one is quiet until we arrive at Sapa Global Hotel. We are given buffet breakfast and a store to keep our things during our trekking.

Sapa is cold. White puffy air comes out from our mouth when we speak.

At 0930, we started our trekking with our ethnic guide. There are twelve of us in the trekking group. We need to trek for four hours before lunch. It is a down-going mountain trekking. Still, it ain’t no easy as one has to walk along the muddy edge of the mountain paths, climbing the boulders and crossing the water.

Good walking shoes is vital, believe lucyriver. Trekking is warm and sweating too.

Thank god for not sending the rain the whole time we are in Sapa. The scenery is beautiful. It would be more beautiful if we were at the right time as it has already past harvest time. No more terraced fields of green paddy for us to see. The best time would be around May or September to see the swaying greens and harvest time.

All the way we were accompanied by several ethnic women, the H’mong. They are mostly ‘aunty’. They would ask our names, make horse and heart-shaped wand from the weeds and then say, FOR YOU. They would also hold your hand to go down slopes and cross the water. When you stop to take photos, they would also stop and wait for you.

What they ask in return when we arrive at the bridge is for us to buy their hand made stuff. It might be more expensive but when you come to think of it, it is a worthy exchange. It is also a remembrance. They would be happy enough even if you just purchase a small thing.

Every morning they would wait at the hotel and then follow the trekking group. Each of them would mark a person as their ‘angel’. Their English is fabulous. Some even have an accent.

Lucyriver meet lucyriver ‘guardian angel’ again on the morning when we are leaving for Bac Ha market. We smile and wave at each other.

The guide would stop several times for us to take our breath. It is a relief when seeing our rest pit for lunch. Lunch is rice with beef, fried beancurd with tomatoes, etc.

Our home stay house is equipt with hot water. The family sleeps and cooks in the kitchen. The lady of the family can speak mandarin. There are many beds with mosquito nets which can accommodate many people as there are more beds at the garret. The modern bathroom and toilet is outside.

We have our meals at the front of the house. The meals are cooked by the family. You can help if you want. There is not much entertainment at night. Travellers from other home stay would come over and chat. There is TV but nobody cares to watch. There is also a pool table for killing the time.

Our morning call is the quacking of the ducks. The day is bright when we wake up. The ducks are peeking and quacking at the door when lucyriver is brushing teeth at the bathroom.

It is cold in the morning that we are breathing out white puff of air. We have our bath the night before so we skip the morning. Too cold. Others just spray perfume.

We take the opportunity to venture to the nearby slope to take photos. The light is breaking through the clouds but it is misty. Still, it is beautiful, standing there, surrounded by the misty mountains.

We continue our trekking after saying goodbye to the family. The condition is the same like the day before, trekking up and down the slopes, passing the bamboos.

We have our lunch, noodle soup with vegetables, before resuming, more and more trekking to see a village and school, and lastly arriving at a stop to catch our mini bus back to the hotel.

It is a scary journey going back as the vehicle rounds the slopes and cross a break of water at the edge of the mountain. Just a slip would send us to hell.

Lucyriver’s first thought when starting the trekking, what the hell am lucyriver getting lucyriver into? It really requires stamina. But, don’t worry. If a fitness idiot like Lucyriver can make it, of course you would have no problem. If not, just pay to have someone to give you a bike ride.

Finally, the trekking is over. The pain of lucyriver toes is unbearable now.

At night, we venture around the Sapa town to buy some souvenirs.

Standing at the balcony of the hotel, watching people going up and down the stairs and breathing the cold, cold air, it is indeed a totally different feeling.

Once in Sapa is not enough if not seeing the green staircase of paddy.

halong bay, vietnam

For Halong Bay overnight trip, one can choose to stay on boat or the island(Cat Ba). Lucyriver friend who also go there around the same time says that if overnight on boat, better prepare some entertainment like cards or what or it will be real dead boring.

Our day trip starts when a mini bus and a tour guide, Bay, come to pick us up around 0830. There is already a tourist in the bus. Later, we go around the streets to pick up others. After it’s full, we begin our journey to Halong Bay.

Vendors selling French bread along the road to Halong Bay.

The morning is foggy, so is it when we arrive at Halong Bay. Not good for photo taking as it is not clear. Bet at night won’t be seeing twinkling stars as well. Heard that the good time is in September.

The jetty is almost conquered by the reds, oranges, yellows, browns. We are led to one of the junk boats docked at the jetty. The inside seats are like dining tables. One lunch is provided except drinks. We bring our own water.

Our boat cruises towards the open sea. We spend the time taking photographs. Some go to the upper deck to enjoy the scenery.

The picturesque Ha Long Bay in the late afternoon.

There are vendors on boat selling fruits and drinks. They would go near the boat and while the father keep their boat attached to the tourist boat, the mother or child would go up the boat to do the selling.

The upper deck scenery.

The boat takes us to a floating mini market, the fishing village, (before lunch) where they sell souvenirs and SEAFOOD. One can buy the fish, prawns or crabs for the boat to cook to enjoy during lunch time.

Our lunch is shared by six persons, we, the three Charlie Angels, one Thai lady and two French men. Lastly, it is scooped clean by the angels.

After lunch, some are taken on a small boat to visit cave (not included in the package) or kayaking. We, the sparing ones, stay on boats.

Before we return to the harbour, we are taken to visit a cave, Sung Sat. The tour guide is busy explaining to us what does each of the formation look like. Tiger, elephant, jellyfish and even human breast.

The descending of the dragons, once is enough.