Regardless, Sapa is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, and it’s given me a really good excuse to test my new wide-angle lens (pics up soon).

We’ve done a couple of treks, one was down to Lao Cai, where there are several villages where the tribal minorities live-the Black H’Mong and the Red D’Zai, easily distinguishable by their distinctive hats that they wear. This would all be really awesome if it actually felt real. It’s not just a case that these tribes women (you don’t encounter the men, they’re busy farming the mountain or working on carving the landscape giving Sapa it’s distinctive shape) just play up to their culture, but most of them don’t even live in the minority village. It felt like Disneyland. I’m sure that it’s not like this with everyone, just the women selling you their crap at extortionate prices. Further more, hiking in Converse 1 size too small for you is not advised. Sprained my ankle twice, and my little toe on both feet are blistered to hell.

Back to Hanoi tomorrow via a (non smelly) sleeper train, arriving at 4am. We’ll stay here one night and then hopefully grab flights from Hanoi to Bangkok. We’ve met some really awesome people here in Hanoi and Sapa; the best of the lot always happen to be canadian. I can’t wait to go to Vancouver in 3 months :)

It’ll be a shame to leave Vietnam, but I have to be honest, the last 3 weeks have been emotionally and mentally challenging, what with all the travelling we’ve done, covering 2000km + in 3 weeks. I think I’ve physically aged about a hundred years.

I will come back one day though.

After:

From there, we were driven to a pagoda on the outskirts of town, over looking the River Perfume. Pretty cool, but it was getting way more rainy and cold. Rain + cold = unhappy Susie. And we all know what she’s like when she’s cranky :) So tomorrow, yet another 14 hour sleeper bus up to Hanoi. Where I shall procure running shoes, a waterproof cover for my camera and bag, and a pedicure and manicure.

And possibly watch Battle: LA in one of true cinemas (help me out, I wanna see it, but if it’s turd, I’d rather not waste my money :D).

I’m in a tiny cubbyhole with my toes pressed up against the underneath of someone else’s bed. I can barely move, but at least I’m laying down. We’re on our way to Hoi An, which is about 300km north of Nha Trang (We made a 6 hour stop here on our way from Dalat). It’s a 13 hour journey overland by bus, hence the sleeper. It’s comfortable, but I feel like complaining because… Well, I just guess because I can. I’m a moany old bastard sometimes. The brakes died on the Dalat -> Nha Trang bus today too. Which was fun. There was an almighty loud bang, and a smell of burning. We got dumped at a food station for 30 minutes while the bus drove off (I’m assuming) to get some repairs (which was odd, because being on a mountain, you kind of assume that you’re isolated and there’s nothing around… ). Got some nice pictures here though. They’ll be up on FB when I either get a decent connection or I get out of Vietnam. X

I had visions of the markets being small, wooden huts (much like conventional land markets) on Jettys, floating on the river, separated by small canals wide enough to allow a longtail boat through. I was wrong; they were literally boats filled with an assortment of fruits and vegetables - piloted by women in Vietnamese “dome” hats, that lay stationary by the river banks - distinguishable by long bamboo sticks pointing upward into the sky, that hang the various produce being sold. Our driver - the legendary Huc - navigated these markets like a pro, picking pineapples and sour Vietnamese lychees, and offering them to us for our breakfast (we left the hotel at 5:30 am and got to the markets within an hour). The second we arrived at a Market, a middle-aged man accompanied by a kid holding soft drinks, sped over to us in an attempting to peddle his wares. You’re not safe, even on the river. Sigh.

After a couple of hours of fruit tasting and witty banter with Huc - Did I mention he was a legend? - we stopped due to low tide, and were told to walk about 2km as the boat would be too heavy with us inside. The walk gave us a taster of rural Mekong life, the road meandering along the rivers edge full of trees, bamboo, banana, pepper, jackfruit and lavender plants and humble houses and shacks containing excitable Vietnamese people who were more than willing to pose for photos (classic V hand gesture).

We arrived at a homestay and were fed very well, and for next to nothing ($8 dollars for 3 mains, 3 drinks, raw sweet potato and a bunch of fruit). Huc then took us back to the longboat, and back down the river to Can Tho, where I fell asleep in the sun for an hour. A truly amazing experience, augmented by a truly legendary guide. Huc, you are indeed, a legend. Back to Saigon now, Cu Chi tunnels and AK-47s await (added rocket launcher for good measure).

In Cambodia, Thailand and Sri Lanka, the price quoted at the guesthouses were the same as they were at the bus stations. We assumed that Vietnam would be the same… Maybe it is the same outside of the larger cities - and I wouldn’t like to generalise - but we’ve at least learned a lesson and we’ll go straight to the source from now on. Yeah I sound like a tightwad; but when you’re surviving on $30 a day, you really need to economise.

At least we get free water on this bus.

I know this isn’t my banks fault, but as I said, I just don’t have any faith in those money grabbing bastards. My advice; If you have a Natwest account, DUMP THE WANKERS. /End