Sapa, Vietnam #2

Sapa is indeed very beautiful. It's not hard to take a good picture there because every angle of the place is a perfect water colour painting.

Our tour guide, Ky pointed to a dot on the map "this is where you will be spending the night." Ooooo... It didn't seem very far from Sapa town, like only 15cm away ;p If only it was that easy & straight forward.....

We made friends with a few friendly Black H'mong ladies dressed in their traditional costume outside our hotel. They offered to walk with us to their village. Cool! In contrast to the people in Hanoi, they speak very good English. Impressive considering that they don't go to schools. Hmmm... the fresh fragrant rice does make a difference huh? ;p

Me and my Black H'mong friend, Chi
I'm a giant in 'Smurf's Village'!

(Take note of her jungle trekking footwear - cheap rubber shoes)

The 10cm distance means 7 hours of walking under the hot burning sun on muddy brown road, thru the jungle, up the mountains, over the valley, gliding down the steep slopes, across the gushing stream, along the narrow path of rice terraces. Certain places were dangerously steep. We held on to our dear lives by grabbing whatever we saw. Balancing is very important here because the lightest breeze could cause one to fall and die! Yup, it was that scary :) From time to time, Chi, my little Black H'mong friend lent me a hand. If it wasn't for her, I might have already ended up somewhere down there ;p

Green is good for the eyes

Winding road and river
This is the route Lao Chai Village

So hot! Luckily we were well-equipped

One wrong step, then it's goodbye....

See how the Black H'mong gals expertly glided down without much effort?

Believe it or not, the Black H'mong girls travelled like this to and from Sapa town every single day, with a pair of cheap rubber slippers! Mannn... now i wonder why we bother to spend hundreds of dollars on a pair of branded sports shoes haha... :)




The scenery along the way was magnificent. The further we trekked and the deeper we went into the jungle, the more beautiful the place became and the stronger was the smell of nature (& buffalo dung ;p). Standing on top of the mountain, I felt a sense of freedom. So, this is how it feels to be on top of the world? Even the air was different here! My exhaustion faded when I saw how beautiful the place was - mountains covered by clouds, angry river below, greenish paddies with little houses dotted here and there... hmm.. They all went so well together like butter and bread! Somebody once said, not all beautiful scenery is created by Mother Nature herself. Sometimes she needs a little bit of help from human beings. So true in this case. The place is heavenly! I felt as if I was IN an oil painting! The vast of greens made me feel so insignificant. The world is indeed huge!




After 3 or 4 hours of trekking, we finally reached Lao Chai Village. Yayeee... because that's where we replenished our energy - lunch! I was starving! Lunch was simple but it tasted so good. It did! Really! And the view from where we sat was awesome too :)

Our cafe is the one with blue shade

Chi's village

Greeted by Black H'mong people. Friendly people.
They all hoped we buy handicrafts from them
Sorry gals. I'm a tourist with limited resources

Simple Life, Simple lunch

After resting for about half an hour, we continued our journey. The village isn't very big - men, women and buffaloes working hard in the paddy fields, kids with (& without) pants running around. We spotted two men washing something in the stream... a closer look and explanation from Ky - they just killed a dog for dinner later. *goosebumps*

Men cleaning dog in the stream

A gathering for the kids only

Full moons Exposed!

Two little girls followed me all the way from the cafe to a resting place, all the while chanting "why you buy from her and don't buy from meeeee?" "buy from me, i sell you cheeeeeaap....". They recited the same phrases over and over again like a broken recorder for 30 mins! So patient, so persistant of them... and me ;p I gave in and bought a pouch from one of them. The other gal was hurt. I'm serious. She ran to stand in front of me, repeat her phrase with tears pouring out like waterfall! Oh dear.... only another purchase would stop that and it did! Thank goodness!

"I sell you cheaaap"

Gals waiting outside rest house

After another 4 hours of climb, we finally arrived at our home. It was a little cottage on top of the hill in Ta Van Village. We home-stayed with a small family of three - parents and a shy kid.

Our cottage

Colourful kiddy pants

Me in Ta Van

Our Homestay 'Dad', making dinner for us

Our beds were on the attic. hmmm.. the bed looked comfy. We even had mosquito nettings to prevent bugs from reaching us at night. OOoo... I loved the place! The blanket seemed a bit too thick though. After being in the hot sun and sweating profusely for 7 hours, I wondered if it was really necessarily to have a blanket meant for winter use. I wished I had aircond instead! haha...

Our bedroom up there

I thought we would be pooping in a hole full of worms but noooo, we had good bathroom facilities here! I know I'd said this many times but THE SCENERY WAS AWESOME here! The sun set pretty early over here too. We got to enjoy our delicious homemade dinner outdoor. What a great feeling that was!

Sunset in Sapa

Homemade yogurt with fresh mango
Tasty and good way to cool our over-heated bodies

After dinner, we helped to clean up. We shared the cottage with another group of tourists from Australia and Belgium. They were fun to hang out with :) Before we went to bed, I sneaked outside to feel the air. Breezy and dark. I tried to count the number of stars in the sky but I lost track halfway. The place was filled with music from the nature - crickets and frogs. So, this is how it felt to be living in the oil painting....

I was thankful to have a thick blanket. It was actually quite cold at night. So lucky of the locals to have free air cond to enjoy everynight! With the cool air and music all provided free by Mother Nature, I went to dreamland trouble-free.....


It was worth every effort to come here...

New Friends

While I was having dinner on Friday night, I heard some noise in the backyard. hmmm.. Mum must be doing gardening, I thought to myself and continued chewing my food.

After a few moments, I heard "Bob Bob Bob"... Hmmm... that sounds like chicken talk?!

Curious, I put my spoon down, walked to the window, looked out and saw

CHICKS!

Chickens lah ahahaha...

Not this okay?

Well... ummm... they will eventually end up there i guess.... ;p

Emmm... I don't eat home-fed chickens. It's just not right (& weird) to eat my own friends! Urrgghh...

Jane, they are especially for you.. muahahaha... They are garden chickens and most importantly, mum puts in a lot of effort and love to raise them, FOR YOU. So make sure you eat them all and none goes to waste! hiak hiak hiak...... Can you foresee what dishes you will be enjoying this weekend? ahahaha...

BTW, Jane is coming back this weekend for the weekend! Yayeeeeeeeee.......

Sapa, Vietnam #1

There are two ways to get to the untouched world, Sapa - (i) a 12 car ride on poor winding road which guarantees great views or (ii) an overnight train from Hanoi to Lao Cai (pronounce: Lao Gai) and by road to Sapa. We chose the latter because it's definitely less tiring ^^

Looking for our cart in the rain
The one on the right is the Choo Choo train that's taking us to Sapa

Our 5-star room on the train - soft bed & air conditioned
My cozy little corner in the room, 'the bed up there' and switches controller

Initially, I thought the noise from the choo choo train would keep me awake as I'm a light sleeper. Amazingly, I went to dreamland the moment my head hit the pillow!

After an 8 hour overnight train, we finally landed in Lai Cai. As soon as I stepped out from our train, instantly I felt alive and relaxed - the fresh smell of the countryside, lazy morning sun, gentle wind sweeping past and the hassle-free feeling of a small town. Peaceeee... (^V^)y

530am - Still a sleepy head

I made sure I stayed awake throughout the bus ride to Sapa so I could store every single beautiful view in my limited-spaced hard disk (i.e. my brain). I didn't wanna miss anything! I am glad I didn't fall asleep as the scenery grew more and more breathtaking for each kilometer we travelled! The bus went uphill and then downhill and then up up up into the clouds. In the distance, I saw clouds covering parts of the mountain and beneath the clouds, I saw farmers and buffaloes working hard in the rice terraces and paddy fields. That was a perfect oil painting!!

Then, on the narrow winding road where our bus travelled on, I saw minority people dressed in their traditional constumes walking. Some carrying babies on their backs, some carrying farm tools and some directing their buffaloes and ducks to one side of the road to avoid our bus. Life seems pretty simple and calm over here. I let my mind drifted away....... Is there anything else that they expect in life? Do they ever want more? Do they ever stare into their beautiful heavenly scenery and wonder what the purpose of life is and if there should be more? Are they ever lost? Not in the jungle but in life...? So many thoughts but none with answers.....




After an hour of deep thoughts, we finally landed in heavenly Sapa. It's a little French town surrounded by mountains, fogs, rice terraces and paddy fields. It is serene.




Our bus stopped in a narrow lane with French looking buildings on both sides.



What excited me the most was the bakery & restaurant nearby. It is so French looking! It reminds me of the bakery in one of my favourite 宫崎骏's cartoons called 小魔女宅急便. Did the famous Japanese cartoonist get his inspiration from Sapa I wonder?




I almost rushed down from the bus into this place so I could have a taste of the freshly made breads, buns and cakes! Probably that's how they taste like in the cartoon too.... That will be my 1st mission after returning from jungle trekking!! I promised myself that!

The hotel where we would be staying the next day is situated on a hillside overlooking the mountain and rice paddy fields and terraces. We could have our breakfast and admire the incredible scenery at the same time. This is what I called LIFE! And one of the best things about this hotel is the buffet breakfast. After such a long night, my tummy was already growling with hunger! Everything was so fresh here! Even the bacon! And the locally grown rice is big, round, fat and juicy that I couldn't help gobbled down a few plates! *Burp*

Yummm.....

After breakfast, we met up with our jungle trekking guide, Ky who would be our eye opener for the next 3 days in Sapa. We would take off to Lao Chai Village on foot where the Black H'mong tribe lives in a few minutes time.

Excuse me for a second, Jenn wants to sit at the balcony to enjoy the heavenly scenery of Sapa now....

To be continue.........

Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island

I'm overwhelmed by the beauty of Halong Bay and Sapa. So overwhelmed that I cannot find appropriate words to describe my feelings. To me, Heaven does exist. Simply because I was there...............

Probably a few pictures here won't tell thousands words. You really have to be there personally to feel it. So i suggest you pack your bags and head to Halong Bay and Sapa this instant! But if you can't, follow me, your virtual tourist guide for a trip to Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island. Pack your swimming suits/ trunks, make sure your camera batteries are fully charged and most importantly, open your eyes so you don't miss any of the magnificent views :)

The only way to admire the beauty of Halong Bay and to get to Cat Ba Island is to hop on to a junk boat. There are probably other alternatives but this sure is the best!

Cruising in Junk Boat

It was cloudy and drizzling that day. Fortunately, the wet weather didn't spoil the scenery. The open sea remained calm, the water remained crystal clear and green, the limestones still stood tall in the water. The mist and clouds somehow made the whole place looked heavenly. I felt as if I had been transported to another world. This is Heaven on earth.

Heavenly Jenn

Standing at the deck to feel the fresh wind against your body while enjoying the views was a wonderful. I instantly felt 'lighter'. Not lighter in my body but my mind and soul. The salty wind seemed to have blown away all my problems and burdens. Here, there is no need for soothing songs and essential oil to relax one's mind. The quietness of the open sea, the fresh but slightly salty air, the sparkling cool water, the wonders of thousands of limestones all provided free by Mother Nature are enough to calm yourself....




You could opt to spend the night on the Junk. We chose to spend the night in Cat Ba Island which is 1 hour of bus ride from the harbour of Cat Ba. Too bad we didn't have a lot of time in Vietnam. Otherwise, we would definitely do both! The thought of lying on the deck in the pitch dark to watch the twinkling stars above us is just sOOooo soooOOOo romantic! ^^

The famous 'fighting cocks' of Halong Bay

Cat Ba Island is a fish village. It's by the ocean and backed by lots and lots of rocky mountains. It's a town with very good feng shui! The locals are very lucky to be able to enjoy this incredible view everyday. But if you have access to this beautiful view everyday, will you bother to admire it everyday? Will you start to take it for granted?

Their locally produced fish sauce is amazingly fresh and fragrant. I think it's better than the Thai fish sauce we have at home! Vietnam should seriously think about exporting this wonderful stuff.

See the white building furthest to the right? that's our hotel, facing the ocean

View from our hotel room - Cat Ba Island

See how wide the roads are??? There are hardly any cars on the road. Just bicycles, motorbikes and pedestrians. We could even walked in the middle of the road without having to worry being knocked! There are a lot of seafood restaurants in town. Some of the seafood served are pretty weird. Who eats star fish anyway? Oh yeah, how can I forget that ppl in Beijing do.

Live sea cucumbers anyone?

After dinner in our holiday hotel, we rented bikes to explore the town. There are no rules on the road. We cycled from the left side of the road to the right side and then left again and.... No cars, no police, no worries!

Our bicycles

Jenn in control ;p

It was fun riding around in that bicycle. We rode with all our strength up the hill but gave up half way because it was just too hard. The 'burden' (us) is just too heavy! haha... So we zoomed down from the hilltop. Awesome! Once, we almost collided with a bunch of teenage cyclists. They screamed, we screamed. It was hilarious!

We spotted a nice cozy cafe serving Vietnamese coffee by the ocean. Immediately, we stopped to have a try. How can one come to Vietnam without tasting one? It's like going to Beijing and not climb the Great Wall of China!

As the menu was in Vietnamese and the waitresses didn't speak or understand English, we decided to be adventurous and ordered whatever that sounds nice. It was a good move because we got really pure milk blended fresh avocado, milk blended fresh sour sop and ta-da.... Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk that came in little cup filter on top!

sorry, pic is a bit unclear...
the photographer's hands were shaking. I know J couldn't wait to drink all

I'm not a coffee drinker. Usually, one small sip is enough to make me drowsy, sleepless and heart racing fast. On that night, I took more than one sip of Vietnamese coffee. Hmm... sweet and buttery. It is addictive i tell you. I took one sip after another! And the great thing was, I still managed to sleep like a piggie that night! haha...

We then stopped on our way back to hotel for a little homemade beer by the roadside. The young lady owner is pretty cute... ;p

Isn't she pretty?

We had a good day. Beautiful scenery, beautiful food. Everything was good so far...

Jenn is sleepy. Time to end our journey to Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island now. I will leave you with some food to enjoy......

Our lunch on the Junk after 4 hour of bus ride from Hanoi to the harbour of Halong Bay.

Lunch In Hanoi

After a night of traveling, I felt as though my bones were breaking apart.

Our night was spent on a 1.5 hour of flight from Kch-KL followed by 6 hours of waiting sleeplessly for time to pass in McD. When the check-in counter finally opened at 5am, we were among the LAST to check in. Can u imagine that they only opened one counter for a flight that was almost full? They called that good management. By the time we finally got our boarding passes, we had to run like refugees so the plane wouldn’t miss us *puff*

Luckily we are still young and energetic. We made it way before other people did. Couldn't believe that I acted like one of the 'kiasu' (afraid to lose) people! :( Well, I don't usually do that. I was forced to act that way ;p

I continued to stay awake throughout the 3.5 hours of flight from KL-Hanoi. I know I should be sound asleep like a baby. After all, I hadn’t slept for the past 10 hours! But somehow, my brain refused to co-operate with my eyes. I wasn't sure what kept me from falling asleep - the crazy actions that just took place or the excitement of not knowing what to expect in Hanoi?

Only after my shower in the hotel did I realise how hungry I was. After all the dramas that went on that morning, the McBreakkie which I had at 4am had completely vanished. It was time to treat our tummies and recover our energy. I wanna eat Vietnamese noodles and spring rolls! Our friendly hotel receptionist recommended a place nearby. If it is liked by the locals, then it must be good. So, ta da…. this was where we headed for breakfast.

Don't be fooled by the shop's old and dirty look. The food is very delicious and CHEAP too!

Our authentic Vietnamese lunch

Vermicelli, fresh veggies & herbs, BBQ pork & Vietnamese spring rolls, papaya soup.

Put all these in the sour papaya soup and you get "Pho" (Vietnamese noodles topped with meat, fresh herbs, onions, squeezed with lime)

These BBQ minced pork were full of flavours!
Maaannnn... I love Hanoi! They have porkie everywhere!

These spring rolls were DDdddd-licious! Crunchy on the outside, soft and juicy on the inside! I'm licking my monitor right now *ewwwww*

"Chao" - Viet Spring rolls

How are chunky porkie BBQ to perfection?
Grilled them the traditional way of course. With a little bit of modification - the use of electric fan

Bon Appetit!

Face was still 'puffy' after 13 hours of 'actions'

Adventure in Hanoi

Time flies when you are having fun. Our adventure ends in a blink of an eye.... I may be physically back but my soul is still in Sapa. U will find out why next time ;)

I came back penniless. Correction - I came back with a BIG FAT debt, owing 90,000 in total! Fortunately, that's equivalent to only RM18 *phew* Had to borrow from friends to make some last minute purchases ;p ....

I was actually quite worried about the tour I booked online. I wasn't sure if the tour agent really existed! U know lah, even something touchable like a fake LV bag looks so real nowadays. Anyway, I was glad that I worried for nothing because the tour agent is real and its manager did send someone to fetch us from the airport. Luxurious, leather seated car some more! Cool huh? We were all impressed! I had a feeling that this trip was gonna be fun fun fun! :)

The moment I arrived in Old Quarter where our hotel is, I felt as if I had stepped back into time. Had I boarded a time machine instead of a plane? The name says it all (old). It is a mixture of the modern and the old. People carrying baskets selling fruits, veggie, fresh pork etc; people pushing carts and bicycles selling groceries, food, plants, flowers etc. It was like moving markets in the streets of Hanoi!





It's easy to get yourself lost here because Old Quarter is like a maze. A good sense of direction is highly desired in this part of the city. And Vietnamese people generally don't speak English which makes body language very important ;)




One good thing about this place is that you can get whatever you want or need like.... your very own tomb with your design.

Where to get this done? In Tomb Street obviously

Each street is named after what it sells - Silk Street, Shoes Street, Coffee Street, Paper Street etc....

Before I visited Hanoi, I thought SuZhou's traffic was bad and noisy. Not anymore. It was a few times worse and noisier in Hanoi. People honk every seconds and very often for no reasons at all. We could even hear honking sound in our hotel room! Luckily I was too tired to be bothered by the noise ;p We pedestrians have to share the narrow road with cars, motorbikes, bicycles and cyclos and get honked by them for blocking their ways. What to do? The pathways are all occupied by hawker stalls, motorbikes and piles of RUBBISH.

Crossing the streets in Hanoi takes a lot of courage. The number of motorbikes on the road is scary. They just keep coming & rushing towards us! Traffic rules? Nah... don't think they exist in Hanoi ;p Crossing the road in Hanoi is pretty simple if you know how. You either walk with your eyes closed or not move at all & just get stuck on the same spot. I did the first ;p The Vietnamese bikes and cars must have had very good brakes because I returned unhurt and in one piece ^^

Don't worry, just cross the road. The riders will expertly avoid colliding with you

Famous Hoan Kiem Lake. Just 5 mins away from our hotel

I almost got pick-pocketed in this beautiful park. I was admiring its beauty when suddenly I felt someone opening my backpack. When I turned around, there stood a man so close to me that I could see the pores on his face! He walked away hurriedly and when I checked my bag, it was wide opened! I frantically checked my bag and prayed to God that my passport and money were not taken. I arrived in Hanoi just 2 hours ago! Lucky star must have been with me because I didn't lose anything *phew* Probably because my bag was too messy and he couldn't find what he wanted. Lucky escape for me but not so lucky for J who lost a digital camera at the weekend night market :(

Oh, I didn't forget about the French ice cream I said I'd try. No rain, no storm like what the forecast said. In fact, it was hot and bright and I thought it still made sense to cool myself with something icy and delicious. Say "Ice Cream!"

10 different flavoured ice cream balls served with caramel, honey and dark choc sauces The one on the white china furthest from me is a mint choc ice cream cake






To be continued...............

Back from Vietnam

Jenn's back!

Miss me a lot I bet ;p

My Vietnam trip is indeed very adventurous and interesting. Not the kind of luxurious, wake-up-eat-see-sleep trip many people prefer. I walked a lot, climbed a lot, sweat a lot, spent a lot, see a lot, experienced a lot, and ate a lot in this trip. The only thing that is not enough is time. There were so much to do but just not enough time! And because of that, we slept not a lot @.@ *Panda Jenn* We rose early everyday so we had a longer day ahead of us. Yeah, it does sound tiring but I really loved and enjoyed every bit of it :)

It's kinda nice not being able to be contacted for the past 9 days hehe.. It's like I'd disappeared from earth for a while and then come back... I thought I couldn't live without internet and mobile phones but in fact...... I can! :) Wonderful feeling!

I was glad that the weather forecast wasn't accurate. My little red ridding hood rain coat is still neatly folded in its pouch hehe... We were lucky that I didn't rain when we trekked in Sapa. The ground is slippery enough without a drop of rain! Sapa... it's a really nice little town. Wish I could spend a little bit longer there. I think I could live more than 100 with its fresh air, cool weather, beauty, quietness & peacefulness, its fragrant, big, round, fat rice, organic veggies & fresh fruits planted by the locals and the 'garden' pigs & chickens! But I didn't stay because I don't want to live longer than my loved ones. You know what I mean.... ;p

Will post my holiday pictures as soon as I can ^^ Am tired. Had very little sleep today. Me want to go meet Sleep Fairies now and dream about my simple life back in Vietnam..........

Nite Nite.......

The result of walking too much -
My precious shoes now have 'Crocodile's mouth'