Best of Bac Ha and Sapa

Here are some more photos of the Flower Hmong in the Bac Ha Market and Black Hmong in Sapa

Bac Ha Market

 Sapa

Kindergarten Opening Dance- I Smile When I Watch This!

Day 12 - Tam Coc, Ninh Binh

I had a few more days left in Vietnam; so I decided to take a day trip to Tam Coc in Ninh Binh. This area is known as "Halong Bay on Land" and came recommended by several travellers and tour guides I had met.  Despite an overcast day, it did not disappoint! The landscape had a mystical "other worldly" feel to it, like you were on a different planet.  The tour started with a visit to two temples, as this area was the capital of Vietnam for many years until the capital was moved to Hanoi. After visiting the temples, we took a sampan trip on the river. The sampan's are rowed mostly by women and largely by using their feet! It was a lovely trip and more spectacular then Guilin in China. Following the boat ride, we hopped on some bicycles and rode around the town and rice paddies. It was a great way to see the area.

Tomorrow is my last day in Hanoi. I don't have anything planned except some more shopping so this is likely my last post of the trip. It's been a wonderful trip and I look forward to going home.

Entrance to two temples dedicated to ancient kings of Vietnam and location of ancient capital

Selfie on sampan. You can see the driver rowing with her feet and lovely limestone peaks in the background

Another view of Tam Coc

Video of boat ride on the river

Getting ready to cycle around the town and rice fields

Day 11- Hanoi Hilton (Hoa Lo Prison)

After returning from Sapa on the night train, I was a bit tired so I did a bit of shopping in the morning and then headed to the Hanoi Hilton in the afternoon. This prison was built by the French to incarcerate Vietnamese revolutionaries (many of whom became future communist leaders) and was called the Maison Centrale. This name suggested a nice place, which couldn't be further from the truth. The museum documents how the French drove out a local Vietnamese villagers to situate the prison here and discusses the brutal treatment and torture of the prisoners, including women. There are also two rooms dedicated to American POWs, including a photo of John McCain.

A brutal depiction of prison life

Corridor leading to jail cells 

Photo of John McCain

Days 9 and 10 - Bac Ha Market and Sapa

On Saturday night, I took the night train north to Lao Cai. From there we took a bus to the Bac Ha market.  What a feast for the eyes!  It was definitely the most colourful market I had ever seen, with fruits, vegetables, meat, handicrafts, chickens, dogs, and buffalo for sale.  The most interesting part was watching the local ethnic people. Most were Flower Hmong, and they dress in beautiful multicoloured tunics with colourful scarves on their heads. My photos here are from my cellphone and don't do the market justice! 

 After the market, we headed to Sapa, a hill station in the mountains, which reminded me a little of Switzerland. The next day I went trekking  through the valley, visiting local villages and observing the rice fields, how they husk rice, and local artisans.  We were accompanied by Black Hmong women, also very colourfully dressed, who were trying to sell their handicrafts.  Unfortunately, all my best photos are on my Nikon and I will have to post them later. All in all, Sapa was well worth the visit to see the colourful local people and the beautiful rice fields.

Flower Hmong woman selling vegetables

Beautiful assortment of fresh fruit for sale

Black Hmong women in Sapa, snacking on sugar cane

View of rice fields in valley below Sapa

Weaving loom and intricately designed fabrics, dyed using local indigo plant

Many Black Hmong women carried young babies on their backs while trekking many kilometers

Days 7 and 8 Bac Giang and Hanoi

I spent the night in Bac Giang at a very fancy 4 star hotel. I had a beautiful room with a spa like bathroom and they served a full dinner buffet for breakfast, which was included in the room price of $37 USD! 

Before heading back to Hanoi, I was provided with more gifts... A big bag of dried lychee fruit and a crate of noodles! Upon returning to Hanoi, I had to give most of it away because I simply couldn't carry it all! I did try the dried lychee.  They looked quite unappetizing but turned out to be delicious, with a flavour and texture similar to a prune or raisin.

Today I started my day with the usual lovely breakfast at the hotel. I love the passion fruit here. I then  visited a nearby pagoda known for all its Buddhas on my way to do a little shopping. I bought an au dai for Maya and some lovely birthday cards for my sister and nephew.  I then hailed a cyclo (bicycle rickshaw) for a ride around the lake before having lunch at a Pho restaurant that Tung had recommended. This time the pho was much more flavourful and there were lots of condiments to add.    

After lunch, I took a taxi across town to the Museum of Ethnology. This was an impressive museum complex that discussed the 54 different ethnic groups in Vietnam and included several replicas of ethnic houses and a water puppet theatre outside. I thought it would provide a good primer on the ethnic groups I may see tomorrow in Sapa.

Tonight, I taking a night train to Sapa.  I will post about my trip when I return on Tuesday.

Delicious full course dinner for breakfast at 4 star hotel in Bac Giang

Beautiful room with spa like bathroom in Bac Giang. Only $37 USD per night!

Dried lychee fruit and noodles

Inside the dried lychee

Nearby pagoda with interesting collection of Buddhas

Taking a cyclo ride around the lake

Pho 10, the restaurant Tung recommended

Learning about the different ethnic groups in Vietnam at the Ethnology Museum

Day 6 - Bac Giang and Kindergarten Opening

Today was the day I was waiting for....The opening of the new kindergarten in a small hamlet outside of Bac Giang!

 I was met at the hotel by Mr Quyen, the Country Director of  East Meets West. Then Tung arrived. He is the EMW Director of Education, who I had been corresponding with via the Vietnam Education Society.  Finally Mr Quang, Education Director with the Bac Giang district arrived. I was surprised when Mr. Quang presented me with a very large bouquet of flowers.

We then headed by car to Bac Giang about a 1.5 hour drive from Hanoi. As they only had seat belts in the front, I opted to sit there.  On the way, Tung informed me that I would be giving a speech. What?! No one told me about this so I went to work writing my speech on my smartphone as we drove. 

Once in Bac Giang, our first stop was to buy gifts. On my behalf, Tung had asked the kindergarten  staff what they could use and had a long list. I had told him my budget for gifts was about $200. When we arrived at the store, a very large pickup truck with Mr. Quang's staff was waiting for us. They had planned ahead. $200 buys a lot of stuff in Vietnam! Tung said the kindergarten staff wanted scooters and toys. It didn't sound terribly educational to me but i agreed. We bought 8 scooters, 2 rocking horses, 4 Lego like sets, 4 Teddy bears and 4 dolls. We filled the trunk of the pickup truck right up! After buying the toys,  Tung said the kids would very much like to have some candy and I wondered if that was good for their teeth. But Tung said they really love it so we went to the store and bought some chips and some lollipops and somehow squeezed two  massive packages of chips into the truck. 

After shopping,  we went to a special restaurant only for government officials where  they had a big lunch waiting. There were more government officials there and there were lots of toasts with Vietnamese wine and rice whiskey. 

After lunch, we drove another hour through the countryside to the hamlet of  Thanh Chung. At the front of the school was a large banner thanking all the organizations that helped to fund the new two room kindergarten.  Our large stash of gifts was then displayed at the front. Some of the kids jumped up and down and tried to get on the scooters  but the teachers said they had to wait! Many of the children were dressed up ready to give a dance performance and the local media was present. 

The presentation started off with the children dancing to some modern Vietnamese music. Then the MC introduced me and I gave my speech, while Tung translated.  Then I was presented with more flowers, and then the gifts were presented to the children.  They were dying to sit on the scooters! Following the presentation of the gifts and more speeches, they brought out a very long ribbon with many pairs of scissors and all the partners cut the ribbon at the same time to open the kindergarten!

Then we entered the kindergarten rooms  to see them.  They were really well-built lovely spacious rooms and brightly decorated. All the children were there and each child then got their lollipop and chips and we did more photos in each of the rooms. All the staff were so appreciative! It was really nice to have such a grand celebration!

I could have spent a lot longer at the school but the school day ended and parents came to pick up the kids. We then visited a pagoda and a statue of a famous Vietnamese leader before meeting the local officials and the teachers for a big dinner.  Tung said it would be "fun". Turns out fun meant a lot of drinking!

There were probably about 50 people at this dinner. Each table was packed with delicious Vietnamese dishes, lovely onion and coconut flavoured sticky rice, vegetables, sweet potato fries, soup, stir fried pork, gigantic shrimp and so forth. There were several  water bottles filled with a purple fluid on each table... I thought it was Vietnamese wine but it turned out to be an herb infused rice whiskey! 

Then the toasting started and basically went on continually for about 1.5 hours! I was personally toasted and thanked about fifteen times. Each time you are supposed to toast, swig the shooter of whiskey and then shake hands.   I had to take very tiny sips so not to get drunk. I even had one teacher thank me in her best English and then she sang traditional Vietnamese songs and the theme song from the movie Titanic while holding my hand! So heart warming!

 By the end of the dinner Tung was belting out Beatle songs and other pop songs along with the teacher!

By 6:30, it was time to go. The principal of the Kindergarten sent me packing with a doggie bag of coconut sticky rice.

It had been an incredible day and one I will remember for many years to come!