Sapa and Hanoi
Vietnam 2004

Sapa was smashing. A bustling, colorful town set in the midst of lush,
green mountains. The overnight trainride was nice and I awoke to us chugging
alongside a river dotted with the occasional dugout carrying a fisherman or
two. I had a corner room in a hotel that overlooked the valley and the mountain
view from my window changed constantly as the clouds rolled in and out. I slept
with the windows open and it was actually chilly! I loved it. I spent 2 days
trekking. The first day was with a tiny 15-year old Hmong girl guide named Ce
("sea"). She was feisty and fun and we had a blast walking mountain paths and
across suspension bridges and fields of rice paddies en route to a Hmong
village. She spoke excellent english, in addition to Hmong and Viet., and some
french and japanese-and shes never been to school! She picked some lavender
flowers and stuck one in my hair, then pinched my cheek and said "youre cute."
IM the cute one?! It started pouring halfway through and we just laughed and
she linked her arm through mine. I got a great picture of us with teh mountains
and valley and terraced rice paddies behind us. Afterwards we went to the room
in Sapa she shares with 3 other girls (her village is a 3-day walk away), and
she showed me pictures and they had me read them the letters written in english
they had received from past tourists. Then she and another laced their fingers
through mine and walked me around town. I was glowing inside.

The next day I trekked for 10 hours with a 16-year old Hmong girl named Cu
("koo"). She was more reserved than Ce and her english wasnt nearly as good. In
fact, I can honestly say that her english was as good as my vietnamese, and so
we obviously spent much ofthe day in silence and and confusion when we did
speak. She taught me the viet. words for corn, bamboo,and maybe. But we covered
some ground! We went to 2 villages-a Hmong and then Dzay and had lunch at the
former-greens with noodles. We went up and down over hills and walked on narrow
footpaths in between rice paddies, past men working water buffaloes in teh
fields, and women picking and planting. The area surrounding Sapa has the most
spectacular terraced rice paddy agriculture-up and upthe mountain side the
layers of rice cultivation go, in varying hues of green depending on the stage.
There was also corn and hemp and incense and roses and indigo, which the hmong
use to dye their clothes. I bought some beautful handmade blankets. The final
part of the day was spent coming up the mountain road. Teh sun was out and it
was bloody hot-I havent been this burned since high school spring breaks in
destin! after 2 hours, I asked Cu if she would like to take up one of the
offers from the motorbike men to hitch a ride, and she threw the question back
at me. But by that time her colored, homemade stockings had come off, as had my
jacket and our sleeves and my pants were rolled up-we were out of water and
well, I felt like a pansy, but I flagged down the next motorbike dude. We went
flying up that mountain-our seats leaving the seat on every bump as he near
laid that thing down around corners-as least it felt like it. I was gripping
his ribs and about swallowing his ear in an effort to stay on- I thought for
sure that one of us was coming off. I had a big goofy grin on my face teh whole
ride up to sapa-the grin I get when Im doing something thats slightly
terrifying but totally exhilirating and memorable-the same stupid face I had
all during the marathon. we must have been quite a sight to behold-my big
whiteness squeezed between these two tiny Hmong people. The trainride back was
less posh-with a squat toilet instead of a regular. Needless to say, its quite
hard to be accurate when you have nothing to hold on to as the train jolts
along. sorry if thats too much info for some...

Back in hanoi. this morning was especially nice as I got to watch hanoi wake
up. the train had us in at 430am, and so I wandered around hoan kien lake, as
my hotel never opens until about 7. I never feel unsafe here. People were
already out walking and jogging, and within an hour the lake was teeming with
people doing yoga, group exercises, men walking with radios in hand listening
to the news (I think), people playing badminton and soccer in the streets--so
many old people are active here, and they do the funniest looking exercises-
lots of stretching and kicking and waving the arms-must be good for
circulation. My favorite scene of the morning was a group of maybe 15 old
women, standing in a circle, beating each other's backs in unison. music and
loudspeakers lead groups of elderly through their yoga routines-I would love to
join in, but worry what people would think. its funny too because its
definitely one of the least modest times of day-people are barely dressed,
especially the men, and many are in their pj's. Pj's are the dress of choice
for many here-especially the elderly-reminds me of the seinfeld where jerry
tells george that by wearing sweatpants he's telling the world that he has
given up, and yet the people here pull it off so well. It looks
distinguished. probably because their pj's are fine silk! I love the active
mornings. women and men walking together, women and women, men and men, old and
young, groups of old, families, its great. Young people of the same sex hold
hands here too-theyre not afraid of contact at all, its sweet. I dont think we
would ever do that walking down the streets of nashville or boulder with our
friends. unless we were drunk.

It poured this afternoon. and continues. Ive never seen rain like that in hanoi-
-it was a lot of fun actually, as I walked home to the hotel like a wet rat.
the streets had inches of water on them, and I was surely making a few people
laugh. its funny how some things become so familiar and so nice: the ice cream
man's music on his bicycle, the trash collector's bell, the cyclo driver's
bell, woman picking lice out of other's hair, people cutting the grass with
scissors. some things arent so nice: walking through the markets and seeing the
pigs feet, slabs of meat, containers of live crabs, frogs,and chickens in
crates...I hold my breath as I walk past those stalls, but usually get stuck
behind some slow walker so I have to take in a half-breath of flesh-air. but I
like seeing the different veggies and the tofu and the fruits and the flowers
and all the crazy knick-knacks that no one would ever need. eating lots of good
food. breakfast was noodles with cabbage, greens, sprouts, cauliflower, mini-
corn and pineapple juice. lunch was spring rolls and fried spinach with garlic.
more fresh pineapple juice-its my favorite thing:)

tonight ill visit lan at his shop and then have dinner with Yen. Im going to
Cuc Phuong National Park day after tomorrow to visit friends and the primates
there. A grey-shanked douc langur has been born since I was there last summer-
the first ever in captivity, a major success for the species. The survey has
been pushed back until May 24, which means that we'll only have 3 weeks in the
rainforest, which is a bummer. But shifting plans is typical, and Im just
thrilled to be going at all. I cant wait to see so many species in the wild
there. Ive only had one nonhuman primate spotting so far this trip, and that
was a caged macaque in Sapa. Its fun being here in hanoi too-it feels like a
real vacation, and I know this city better than any otehr in the world, except
for nashville (gosh are those disparate cities to know!). still, I cant help
but feel that I am not doing what I came to do, and that makes me feel
unproductive and a bit stir-crazy...

happy days to all. love and a smile, catherine