The Hills Are Alive....

Greetings from Sapa, Vietnam!! There's Internet up here, after all!

Wow - did we enjoy our trekking. The rolling green hills and mountains are breathtaking with their terraced rice paddies and occasional fields of flowering indigo. We set off very early after an overnight train ride from Hanoi that jostled us around too much for a restful sleep. But once we hit the clean, cool, crisp morning air of Sapa, we were invigorated and ready to go.

The trek began with our guide, Quinn, explaining that the usual course follows the main road for a good bit, thereby making it less scenic & adventurous, so given our group was just us three fit gals (Amy, Laura & me), he'd take us on a less travelled path. Hmmmm... He then proceeded to RUN down some of the smallest, muddiest, slipperiest little pathways into the valley and hills of this gorgeous region. Wow... Keeping up with Quinn was no easy task, but we wanted to fit his bill for us, so we soldiered on, swallowing our fears of falling down as we skimmed ourselves across the slippery, wet terrain. Oddly, Quinn moved fastest when going up a hill - he'd run, never walk up. I think he embodies the concept of "delayed gratification" better than anyone I've met.

As we passed by or walked through the little villages of the various hill tribes in the area, we'd be accompanied by little girls aggressively trying to sell their wares. Buying a little bracelet each did nothing but encourage them to try to sell us more. While their company was cute and fun, their constant pitches for money grew tiresome.

After 13 kilometers up, down and through this gorgeous patch of earth, we arrived to our destination for the night -- a little village of the Xai hill tribe. We stayed the night in the home of a Xai family who prepared a delicious supper that was interrupted every few minutes by our "ma" (she was only 36 years old!) pouring yet another round of shots of her homemade rice whisky! The family didn't speak English, they didn't even speak Vietnamese, but they knew how to say "Cheers!" After 8 shots or so, Quinn disappeared. When we wondered aloud about where he'd gone, we heard a slurred "I drunk!" come from behind a curtain, and we went over to see Quinn had already put himself to bed...with a big, silly grin on his face. So much for our having an interpreter for the night! After a few more rounds of the rice whisky, we closed out the party around the fire with our "Ma," "Pa," and "Cousin Meng." Good times, good times.

The next morning, we trekked some more (hungover Quinn conveniently passed us off to another guide for the most gruelling vertical portion of the hike), and eventually found ourselves up on the main road, returning to Sapa for an incredible sunset over the mountains.

xoxo,
Mere