WaffleJungle

We got off the train, met up with our guide and headed for the weekly Bac Ha Market a short distance from Lao Cai. Our guide, named Viet is really good. So should anyone intend to plan a trip up Sapa, you can get his contact from me. Bac Ha and Sapa are really beautiful places with breath taking scenery and vast padi fields. It was unfortunate that we are visiting Sapa during its raining season, however, intermittent rainfall aside, we still had loads of fun and would certainly like to go back!

Bac Ha is the home of the Flower H’mong people. The differentiating element for the Ethnic tribes lies in their dressing. Flower H’mong got their name from the brightly colored garb they don. Flower H’mongs live in Bac Ha, whereas the Black H’mong resides at Sapa.

Once a week, the Flower H’mong make their way to Bac Ha market, some walking up to 2 days. Along the ride up the hill, we came across little girls herding their cattle to Bac Ha and groups of Flower H’mong carrying their crops to the market. The market place is bustling with people. There are 5 main sections of the market – Eating Area, Wet Market, Dry goods market, Arts & Crafts and Livestock.

Eating Area – Selling Pho, Horse Meat Stew, Homemade Rice Wine (50 – 55% Alcohol!)

Flower H'mong having a hearty lunch

Wet Market – Fresh Fish and Meat.

Dry Goods Market – Dried goods, Vegetables and fruits, Herbs etc.

Home-made Incense - ingredients include corn, sticky rice etc

Arts & Crafts Market – Craft materials like yarn, ribbons and cloth, and intricate crafts made by the Flower H’mong

Flower H'mong style soft-toys

Livestock – Trading of small farm animals like ducks, chickens, piglets to larger livestock like cows and horses.

Trading Horses and Ox

We walked around Bac Ha after lunch, visiting the old colonial government building, a nearby Bac Ha village and their village school before heading to Lao Cai, Border Gate and off to Sapa.

I’ve not taken a train in ages, much less spend a night in one of the sleeper cabins with two complete strangers. Nervous.

We’ll be taking King’s Express and the train will leave Hanoi at 8:30pm and after 7hours or so, arrive at Lao Cai where we will head to Bad Ha Market before Sapa. We shared a cabin with a local Viet man and a pretty Japanese lady who is traveling alone. I took the bottom bunk while N took the top.

The train started pulling out of Hanoi station and its tracks seemed to cut dangerously close to some apartments nearby, roads and motorcyclists. Excited, I waved at some pedestrians and motorcyclists from my window and am amused to see their surprised faces.

That night, I stayed up to finish my book while the rest dozed. The cabin’s air conditioning is cold and it fogged up some parts of the window. At some point in the night, the train came to a stop and curious, I peered out of the window. The scene that unfolded in front of my eyes seemed so surreal that it left quite a lasting impression on me.

From where the train is, perhaps just barely 3-4m away is a small, longish rest-house, barely just a rest stop. The rest-house is lighted with a light bulb suspended from the middle of the ceiling. Its light just barely enough to illuminate the occupants of its two small tables, placed side by side. Save the tables and its occupants, the rest of the place is empty. At the head of the table is a lady chef, cooking what looked like noodles or Pho, her ingredients spread out in front of her. Seated, or rather, squatting around the two tables are some of her patrons, eating and talking with each other. One was waving his hands and chopsticks animatedly while he ate, his listeners nodding at apt intervals. One of the train attendants got off the train, bought a bowl of noodles from the lady and took it back to the train. Once he got on, the train started moving off again.

I finished reading my book and slept around 1am. 3 more hours to Lao Cai. I dozed intermittently, watching the shadows thrown onto the cabin door as the train rushed on to our destination.

We’re spending a short day trip today before catching a 8:30pm train to Lao Cai where we will begin our next leg of adventure in Sapa!

The morning is dedicated to visiting Ho Chi Minh mausoleum but we did not get to enter as the queue was superbly long. It snaked around the park grounds and the end of the line was no where in sight. By the time we got to queuing, its already near the mausoleum’s closing time (11am). We did however, tour the museum, the Single Pole temple and the house on stilts.

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

Further north, a short distance from Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the Presidential Palace is the Tran Quoc Pagoda. Which, is closed for lunch too. Alas! It did really look interesting.

Tran Quoc Pagoda

Path to Tran Quoc Pagoda

Hanoi Travel Tip:

Beware of the people selling Touristy wares like postcards or even those asking for a Donation with dubious IDs. If you want to purchase anything from the street vendors, be sure to bargain, be firm with them and don’t stand too close. Most of them prey on tourists!

We thought one of the lady selling postcards was friendly and so didn’t mind buying a packet of postcards from her (even though the postcards were really ugly). Once we agreed to buy, we were immediately approached by all other sellers pushing us to make purchases. She also kept peering into N’s wallet when he was searching for the correct note and snatched all our money with the excuse that she can break our notes for us. Generally, we were told by the hotel staff to beware the street sellers cheating us when they make us mistake a 5,000 dong note with a 50,000 dong one.

We were also approached by a lady who apparently went around targeting unknowing tourists with the story that she is selling small packet of toothpicks to raise funds for Vietnam’s needy children. Her ID was dubious and she showed us a book where many tourists were asked to record their donation. We gave her a token donation still but she kept bugging us for more. She also didn’t give us any toothpicks! haha.

Its spoilt our day in meeting such yucky people who prey on unsuspecting tourists. The two afternoon experiences was so disgusting I can’t wait to get out of Hanoi.