Sapa

I have been putting too many Ps in Sapa, oh well...

Anyway, I may not be able to spell it but it's my most favourite place ever. I went for a wander on Thursday after updating bloggingtons on le balcon and felt I had stumbled on SE Asia's answer to a chocolate box, picture perfect Alpine village.

The main street...

The market...

And Chu-chu. 

Chu-chu is a crazy lady tribes woman I met. She sold me 10 dollars worth of handicrafts I didn't want but I think I would have paid the dosh for our chat. Like everybody I meet who is SE Asian her biggest concern for me is that I'm 42, travelling alone and have no immediate prospects on the man front lol. She is 45 with 5 kiddlies and 6 grandkiddlies! She gave me her number so that next time I'm in Sapa I can stay with her, 10 dollars per night, home cooking and hot shower, bargain.

I thought this was Chu-chu's mate and ended up buying a bracelet from her for about 50p, turns out they were complete strangers. Different tribes y'see, apparently they don't mix.

The rest of Thursday was spent trying to take arty shots of the sunset from my balcony, fast WiFi means you have to see a selection.

Sunsets make me wistful these days.

Friday saw the start of my 2 day trek up Mt Fansipan. Below is a picture of my group before we set off. They are a group of Vietnamese doctors from Saigon, the guy in the middle wearing sky blue is our guide Chan who spoke fantastic English.

You're gonna get a lot of Adi lady photos this blog as I'm actually with people who can take them!

Just setting off...

This river could be in Derbyshire.

 
About half way to the base camp, day 1. My group has been ditched because they were sooo slow. Chan sent me ahead with the tribesmen who carry all the heavy gear up to the camp.

Here they are. I have no idea about their names as none of them had any English.

OMG they went quickly. I could just about keep up! I can't believe how fit they are, they practically run up wearing flip flops and carrying about 50kg!

This is me just before base camp, I've never been so pooped in all my days.

 
I was the first tourist to arrive, to say things were basic is an understatement. The sanitation arrangements were well below EU standards and as the painters had arrived that very morning and decided to throw the biggest paint party ever it was very tricky to negotiate. Thank the Lord for the wet wipe.

I had the worst night sleep. Snoringtons, buggingtons and I've never heard so much rain.

We left at 7am to take the final hike to the top and it took 2 hours.

This is a woman from my group, her name is Heh.

We got all the way back to the bus about 5pm and it was straight in the shower and an early night for me. Tomorrow I'm up early to go to the hill tribe market, then the night train back to Hanoi. Gonna hop straight on a bus/ferry to Cat Ba island so a lot of travelling ahead.

What made Adilady happy yesterday? I've just climbed the highest mountain in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and although I can feel it a bit in my legs it really wasn't that hard...

And look at those views! Adilady over and out xxxx

Hanoi Day 2

Today was spent pounding the streets of Hanoi for 5 hours being a tourist and avoiding the multitude of mentalist motorcyclists that terrorise the streets. Its amazing how much I have learnt in a day. I now know the unwritten rules for road crossing. Rule 1, avoid cars at all costs. Rule 2, don't sweat the small stuff, meaning bikes, they avoid you. And they do! I just go swanning into the middle of the road and the masses of motos part like the red sea, eat your heart out Moses.

So tourist stop number 1 was The Temple of Literature, dedicated to Confucius in 1070 by the emperor and later became a university. First thing to notice is the temple is also the home for a herd of tree ents. Look closely and you will see their gnarley, bark faces.

You are getting a gzillion photos this bloggingtons as I am blessed with the quickest WiFi in the east.

A funny thing happened to me on this very spot. A SE Asian woman came up to me pointing at my water. I thought she worked there and it was one of those places where you can't bring your own so I went to put it in my bag. She said,

'No! Water!'

Grabbed the bottle off me, glugged half of it down then fooked  off. I'm like WTF! Buy your own lady...

Anyway what you are looking at below is 1 of 82 stelae (?) honouring men who have received doctorates in something or other, the tradition dates back to 1482. They all stand on a stone tortoise.

I took a picture of my favourite for you.

Next stop was Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, the most revered place in the whole of the land. He actually requested to be cremated but instead has been embalmed, stuffed in a class sarcophagus and gawped at by millions, nice to get what you want. I must confess to not going in as there was a queue and I wasn't that arsed about seeing a bone fide corpse; all a bit spooky.

Funnily enough, I failed to notice the street was closed off only to be shooed away by men in uniform packing pistols. Sooo unlike me, I'm usually very observant, not! The place is thought provokingly quiet and red army music is subtly piped from camouflaged speakers hidden in the shrubbery.

Below is the Royal Palace...

And nice lady weeding by a sculpture of a giant poo caught my attention for some unknown reason lol.

This is the Long Bien Bridge, designed by the famous Mr Eiffel.

It took me 40, sweaty minutes to walk here.

Being constantly propositioned by countless motos who couldn't understand why the crazy lady wanted to walk in such heat.

Unlike folk in Phnom Penh, the Hanoians do not respond to my charming smile with warmth, they're like 'well fook you lady!' Moving quickly on to the next money making opportunity.

So Hanoi is as feisty and fearless as Phnom Penh is humble and laid back. The people here are fiercely proud and defiant and I am warming to them tremendously. It is no wonder they were too much for the yanks to handle, shame the US haven't learnt from history...

Last stop was Ngoc Son Temple, housed on the island in the lake. Not much to see apart from this embalmed giant turtle. There is a living 200kg turtle in the lake called Cu Rua, which means great grandfather. 

He is rarely seen but I managed to get this picture lol.

It's a tranquil location and old boys come here to play draughts.

Anyway, what made Adilady happy today? After a 10 hour, overnight train trip to Sappa, this is the view from my balcony...

Stunning mountains...

Close enough to touch...

They take my breath away.

Today I will spend chilling, admiring the view. Bloggingtons to write and maybe a spot of bookage. I am still reading 'Eat, Pray, Love' and consider these stories as my own bastardised version. I'd like to think I'm not as needy as Elizabeth Gilbert but guess every one of us is on a permanent voyage of discovery and self realisation, or should be in my humblest of opinions. I'm blessed to be able to do this trip, I'm thinking when I get home I should take up yoga again and join a local scrambling group. What says you?

Tomorrow is the start of my two day hike to the summit of Mt Fansipan, Vietnam's highest peak.

I can't wait!

Adilady over and out xxxx