Vietnam Day 4: Sapa (Part 2)

27/06/07

We went to a market and Ed and i bought a tee each for S$2.50.

Along one of the markets

Some local spices/herbs perhaps

A place which requires admission fee but doesn't explain in English what is inside

We continued exploring the small town on our town and took several photos along the way.

A monument in near a road junction

The traffic in Sapa is insignificant compared to Hanoi and we crossed the roads like nobodies' business. Walking, walking and walking, we reached a really picturesque lake.

Such a beautiful lake, garden and background

Calm waters with nice houses on the other side

Swan water bicycles

We stopped at the lake to admire the scenery and proceeded back to the hotel as we need to have lunch before the trek which starts at 2 pm.

Another view of the square

Back at our hotel

A view of the room that we are staying in

The lunch menu in our hotel is extensive and there are a total of 23 set lunches that we can choose from. The food is quite nice as well.

After our lunch, we were introduced to our tour/trek guide Sunny and proceeded to trek the surrounding mountainous regions.

At the start of our journey, Edwin was approached by the ethnic minority girls. They were friendly to him and Edwin reciprocated their friendliness. Staying out of trouble, Terence, Gs and I stayed ahead with our tour guide while Edwin chatted with the girls.

Edwin with the ethnic minority girls

The girls started to ask Edwin to buy some of the embroidery or local handmade products but he declined. The girls didn't give up and decided to follow him all the way to the outskirts of the town.

The 3 of us were slightly amused by the predicament and we didn't offer any assistance to mend the situation. Finally, after about 1 to 2 km of walk, the girls decided to give up and not follow us anymore. We were all teasing Edwin after the incident.

I shall talk a bit of the behavioral and vocal tricks of the children. Firstly, the children only target tourists and their first sentence would be "How are you?" After the friendly tourist replied "I'm fine" or other replies, the children will then ask "Where are you from?" Next will be "What is your name?" and several other questions. When the unaware tourist has answered all the questions, the children will proceed with asking the tourist to buy their stuff. They will tag along and continue bugging the person until they have complied to their requests.

I'm not saying that we all shouldn't buy anything from them but just to inform of their motives and agendas beforehand.

Ok back to the trek. It was downhill all the way in the first half of the trek and i kept taking photos. Nice views all round and we were chatting with the tour guide while she explained some of the history of the town and the plantations there.

Hoang Lien Forest Protection Station

So many mountains

A funny looking water buffalo

To be continued...

End of Part 2 (12 noon to 2.30 pm)