Life lately

So... this blog has kind of taken a back seat lately. It's been quite hard to keep motivated as we try to be positive in this space and recently, we haven't really been feeling all that positive. We arrived back from an amazing time in Cambodia and Thailand to two taxis being taken (by people pushing in front of us), the place we wanted to get food from was closed and when we got home, we had no electricity! Someone decided to turn it off while we were away, so we were welcomed home by a fridge and freezer full of rotten food (goodbye 1kg of biltong).

We also haven't been up to too much, since we're trying to save as much money as we can for our trip to New Zealand. But anyway... here are some pics from what we've been up to lately and Cambodia and Thailand posts are coming soon.

Vietnam loves to celebrate and make displays for any occasion that they can. For International Women's Day, Crescent Mall made a Vietnamese hat out of Vietnamese hats!

We absolutely loved the food in Thailand, so we're on a mission to find a pad thai that matches up to the ones that we ate there. We've tried one and so far and, disappointingly, it's no where near as good :( The hunt continues.

Rugby season is in full swing and we try to watch games when the time difference allows it. We were running some errands in District 1 and Craig messaged to see if we wanted to go and watch a game, so to Phatty's we went! Mel had the most amazing chocolate milkshake! Seriously, don't order a beer at the sports bar, order a milkshake.

After loosing so much biltong, we were distraught! Luckily, Aunty Jacqui sent over a biltong maker for Christmas and we decided to finally put it to use (we were waiting until we finished the biltong in our freezer). Unfortunately, the plug was a three prong plug and Vietnam uses two prongs! To make things worst, the lightbulb fitting was a bayonet and Vietnam only uses screw-in! Ross did some 'Magiver-ing' and changed the plug and light fitting and set about making biltong. After a successful, and delicious batch of biltong, we decided to try our hand at some dried mango, which also worked out so well. There will definitely be lots more biltong  and dried fruit in our future. 

Hanoi - Home

We made it back to Hanoi earlier than expected... 4.30am!! Tired and bleary eyed, we got off the train and thought we'd get a taxi into the Old Quarter to try and find a hotel or coffee shop to wait in. The taxi drivers refused to use their meters, and they wanted to charge us a ridiculous price to go a very short distance, so we decided to walk instead. Hanoi is very different to Ho Chi Minh in that it has a curfew. At midnight everything closes up and the streets are empty. There were no hotels or cafés open at 5am. We decided to deposit the family and the bags at The Cathedral, as this is a central place with a nice sidewalk and it's relatively clean. We then walked around to see if there was anything open for to grab a coffee and wait in until a more decent hour. There wasn't anything, except for a very unhelpful backpackers who wouldn't let us come in and order coffee from their restaurant (it was only open for guests).  We also had a horrible experience, Mel was on her phone 'googling' to see if there was anywhere we could go. Two guys drove past and tried to grab her phone but luckily she's a bit street smart, and was holding the phone close to her body and with two hands, so they didn't manage to grab it. Sufficiently rattled, we made our way back to the waiting family and sat down to wait until 7am when things would start to open. 

Eventually, the sun started to rise and things started to open! We were able to deposit our bags and change at the hotel where the rest of the family was staying that night. We then went to get some breakfast! Hanoi is a beautiful city but we found that there isn't too much touristy stuff to do, it's more of a central hub to do things from. Since we'd done a lot of the site-seeing things when we arrived in Hanoi, we took everyone to The Women's Museum. It's an extremely interesting museum that is well worth a visit if you are up north. It's great to see a side of Vietnam that is not focussed solely on the war. Instead, it tells you about their history but it is centred around the women's roles in history.

After the trip to the museum, it was time for us to leave the family and head back to Ho Chi Minh. We collected our bags and then we went and had some Banh Mi's for lunch. Jo wasn't feeling well, but she had to eat, so she ordered a rather tiny little one!

It was horrible to say goodbye to everyone, as we had such a great time with them all. We would much rather have headed to Halong Bay with them instead of going back to work.

Sapa Continued

The next morning, we were greeted by the sun and a gorgeous view! Our hotel looked out over the Sapa valley and the clouds pulled in slowly but we managed to see a cloud-free view for a few brief moments. We ate breakfast, packed our bags and then we were met by our tour guide. He had had a rather large New Year's Eve party, so he was a little bit late and he was wearing it! We made our way down the (very) steep road, back into the Sapa valley to see a waterfall.

The beautiful view

The terrace in front of our rooms

Washing each leaf individually... as you do!

Jo bought a walking stick to help her with her wonky knee

When we got into the valley, we were greeted by the waterfall and we were very unimpressed. Our guide quickly told us that the man-made weir was not what we had hiked to see, but that we needed to cross the river and then look left. That's where the waterfall was. We still weren't that impressed, considering the amazing waterfalls that we are blessed with back home. We haven't seen a waterfall that even comes close to Howick Falls, but everyone here seems to be very impressed by what they have to offer. We were however, intrigued by the snacks on offer - braaied quails and water buffalo biltong. We didn't sample any, but we did have a cup of hot coffee at one of the stalls.

The man-made weir that had people tricked into thinking it was the waterfall.

The actual waterfall

Quail anyone? (water buffalo jerky to the right)

Marijuana grows everywhere in this part of the world. Our guide was very vocal about it and he picked some for Jo to help her with her knee. It is medicine after all.

Jo and her present from our guide ;)

"Do or Drink"... what's that supposed to mean?

We exited the valley along a different path, which eventually met up with the main road. We were meant to catch a bus from half way up, but everyone was feeling fine so we walked back up to our hotel.

Switzerland or Vietnam?

Since our guide was suffering from a bit of a hangover, he left us to wonder around for the afternoon while he went home to take a nap. Since we passed on the quail snack, we were rather hungry and decided that something to eat would be next on the agenda. Our guide had recommended a little pastry shop, and they had a deal for delicious tarts and tea or coffee! Mel had a feeling that lunch for that day was included in our tour so she checked the e-mail from the tour company to make sure. It was included, but our guide had forgotten to tell us where to go. The company felt really bad so they offered to include dinner for us as well, which was a very welcome treat. We made our way to the hotel where lunch was served and we tucked in to a delicious meal.

We were catching the train back to Hanoi that evening. This meant that we had to take a van to Loa Cai first and catch the train from there. Our guide went ahead on his motorbike, as he had to get something fixed on it, and told us he'd meet us at the station. On our way down the windy road from Sapa, we got stuck in a traffic jam! There were cars for kilometers on the mountainous road, all just waiting. When the road eventually cleared, our driver raced like a mad thing to get us to the train station. It was a terrible trip and we were all scared for our lives. There were many close calls, but we made it to Lao Cai.

Unfortunately, we weren't in time and the train had already left! Our driver then had to take us to the next station, which was an hour away! We drove along the new highway that has just been built between Hanoi and Lao Cai. It was marvelous - smooth and quick! However, when we took the exit into the town were the train would be stopping, the road suddenly came to an end. They were busy with construction, so the grader literally built a quick thoroughfare for us so that we could get to the station. We clearly weren't the only ones to have missed the train, as the small station was packed with fellow travelers.

The packed station!

Sapa

After a long day of walking around and site-seeing, we were quite excited about the prospect of sleep, however, we weren't sure what to expect from the sleeper train. Thank goodness a man from the tour company we had booked through accompanied us to the station, as we would never have found the train in the maze of platforms otherwise. The train was very nice. Each compartment has four bunks and they come with individual lights, water, and a pillow and blanket for each person. The ride was a bit rocky, but we all managed to get some sleep before we arrived at Lao Cai station. From here, we were picked by the tour company and we were driven in a minivan for an hour to get to Sapa. The drive was rather scary, as the roads are extremely windy and our driver was driving extremely fast! But, we made it there in one piece. 

It was so freezing cold when we arrived, that we were all very grateful for warm showers, followed by a nice hot breakfast. There was pumpkin soup at the breakfast buffet, which isn't something we've ever had for breakfast, but it was so welcome since it was sooooo cold!

The Hanoi train station

The Goldstones' compartment

We FINALLY got to wear our crocheted beans from Jo!

After breakfast, we were met by our guide - Tu. He told us to get ready for a day's trekking, and we followed him out the door and down the road. We were a big group, so our tour was just family, no randoms, which was really nice. Every tour group is accompanied by a varying number of local ladies who help along the way, with the expectation that the tourists buy trinkets from them at the end of the day. The people native to this particular area are from the Black H'Mong Tribe - the name partly originated from the clothes which they wear (predominantly black), not the colour of their skin.

We walked down the steep streets, through Sapa Town, and kept winding our way out towards the farmlands. There was a belt of low-lying clouds just below the town, so our view was obscured. This just added to the mystery and excitement of what we expected to see on our trek. It also meant that there wasn't much (or any) sun to warm us up, and that there was quite a bit of moisture around. Before long, we turned off the road, onto some dirt tracks.

The path meandered down the steep slopes, passing by homes of the farmers, venturing into the pockets of trees/bamboo plants and teetering along the edge of the muddy, terraced rice paddies. It became quickly apparent that all the moisture around was going to compromise our sure-footing in some places, and the local ladies became useful assistants from early on.

Balancing on the edge of a muddy, terraced rice paddy

The Vietnamese signal for "Take a picture!"

Easy does it!

We continued down the hill, and, once we dropped below the clouds, the view opened up before us. We stopped for a little while to admire our first view of the famous Sapa hills, and to take some photos. The mist showed up on the pictures way more than in person, but you get the idea.

Our first view of the hills of Sapa

The day continued much the same - with us slip-sliding up and down the slopes of Sapa, walking past little homesteads, balancing along the edges of the terraces and admiring the real beauty all around us. When you stop to think about the time and hard, manual labour that must have gone into creating the terraces (each level following a unique contour line), you can really appreciate the wonder and awe of the area.

We didn't just go down

Crossing one of the rickety bridges

When we got to the bottom of the one valley, we stopped for a break next to the river. There was a young water buffalo looking for its mom. It was so cute!

Stained hands of one of the ladies accompanying us

While we walked, we couldn't help but notice a similarity between Sapa and the Transkei back home. Well, in terms of the way that the people live, at least. There are loads of farm animals milling around (some of them with a dot of spray paint on them to help identify who they belong to), properly free-range! The children all seemed happy, running around in rags, some of them bare-foot, some with gumboots, all smiling and laughing while they played in the mud.

This cute little guy was happily running along when he wiped-out into one of the big puddles of water, much to Mel's amusement!

The 'serious' trekking ended at a 'restaurant', where we stopped for lunch. It was at this point that the ladies that were accompanying us brought out their wares. We were a bit irritated by the experience, as we were all happy to pay a tip that the ladies could (evenly) share among themselves. Instead, we had to buy products from them, which meant that some people made more money than others.

Outside the restaurant, there were a few groups of cute kiddies playing. Mel and one of them were amusing themselves by pulling faces at each other. We couldn't resist taking some photos of them.

After lunch, we carried on walking to the van that was going to pick us up. It was a rather steep hill and poor Jo's knee was hurting from all of the downhills throughout the day. Luckily we could go at our own pace and she took it slowly and made it! At the bottom of the hill, we were greeted by loads of little children splashing in some water during their school break. The teacher called them in, but some of them were adamant that they were staying out for longer! The chilly temperature and the water alerted us to why all of the children had runny noses.

Posing on the edge of a rice paddy... Mel almost fell in!

This little guy, splashing in the water, in his grey suit and pink Crocs was actually just too much!

At the bottom of the valley, we stopped off at a clothing 'factory' - a wooden house where a few people make the traditional Sapa clothing. We were shown the processes to get the clothes to look the way they do, from extracting the treads from hemp plants, to dying the material using indigo plants, hand-stitching patterns, creating patterns using bee wax before the dying process and shining the material using a pair of logs and a lady 'surfing' on the top log to create the shine.

Sewing the hand-stitched patterns onto the clothing fabric

A loom to weave the hemp into fabric

'Surfing' aka. shining the material

It was then a drive back to Sapa Town up some very steep and windy roads. Here we picked up our bags and were then dropped off at our beautiful hotel. They had a fire in the reception area, which was marvelous!

After thawing out a bit, we all headed up to our rooms for a nice, hot shower and to get ready to go find some dinner. It was New Year's Eve, but none of us managed to get a decent night's sleep on the train the night before. So after an early dinner (as in we ate at 5.30!), we headed back to our hotel. Just down the road, we saw a bar that Mike said he was keen to check out solely based on its name - Color Bar. So Mike, Kelly, Mel and Ross went for a drink.

It was a cool little bar. Dark and dingy, but they had a blazing fire and cold beers. They also brought a metal stand with hot coals and put it between us for warmth. The only other patrons were a young couple from America, who had been working in HCMC. We chatted for a while, before turning in at around 21:30 - wild New Year's Eve of note!!