After talking to many, many travellers in Hanoi and Halong Bay, it seemed like with the time I had left in Vietnam and with my funds, the natural thing for me to do (rather than sit around Hanoi for a week - as much as I love the city I think I would be bored stiff) would be to take a bus up to the rural town of Sapa to explore a little more of Northern Vietnam. A lot of tourists do this route by organized tours which allow you to stay with a local family there, however after talking to a lottt of people I learnt that the money you pay to do these homestays rarely ends up in the pockets of the poor families that you stay with. So, to put my hard earned cash to better use I decided to go it alone, as I was told many times that the locals will approach you when you arrive with offers of places to stay and they will then get to keep every penny you offer them.
So... getting off my 12 hour overnight bus to Sapa, I was a little nervous not knowing where I would be staying and being completely alone (and I know my mother will be panicking just reading this).... but luckily what I had been told was true I had nothing to worry about as I got off the bus, about 20 different ladies approached me, telling me about their homes and families in perfect English and offering me cheaper prices of places to stay. I ended up talking with a lovely lady called Tu who lived in the next village over as she had offered to walk me round the local villages and take me trekking round the beautiful scenery of Sapa. So off I trotted with all my belongings on my back to my home for the next few days.
My amazing guide and host Tu
We walked for about 2 hours in the scorching sun before getting to Tu's village, 'Lao Chai', so I was dying for a shower and a little lie down before we went out exploring in the afternoon. I'm not saying I was expecting the Hilton, but I have to admit I was a little bit shocked when I got to Tu's home. She lead me up a dirt hill and over a muddy field before getting to her "front garden" which was a patch of dirt filled with pigs and chickens. Inside was pitch black as there was no electricity for light, and the ground was dirt just like outside. She had a few plastic chairs, a fire and a few wooden beds for her massive family all to share. Despite there clearly not being enough beds however, she quickly made one up for me in the corner of the one room, with a thick blanket and a mosquito net. As I lay on my bed listening to the pigs outside my mind quickly wondered to the image of the nice hotels we passed on the walk to the village....
Up the garden path...
The "front garden"/bathroom
My room/the kitchen
The rest of the room
After my "shower" with a hosepipe next to the animals, Tu told me to have a rest while she prepared a meal for me. When I woke up to "Rachelss! Breakfastt!" (every single meal she called breakfast) I saw that the table was filled with so many different bowls filled with delicious looking food. I sat and waited for everyone else to join the table until Tu told me to start and I realized I was eating alone and all this food was for me! I ate quite a bit, and every time I stopped Tu would tell me to eat more, or ask me if I didn't like it, so I would eat more so as not to offend her. She literally would not let me stop eating until I had to beg her that I was full. I asked her several times when her family would eat but she just smiled and laughed at me. After I was finished I rolled to my bed to rest my full belly, and was shocked when she called her 7 children in to eat my leftovers as their lunch! I felt terrible, if I'd have known they would eat the same food I would have eaten a lot less, but she wouldn't let me eat any less than I did! I decided then and there that however bad the experience was by my standards, I would stay with Tu both nights as I had agreed because of the kindness that her and her family were clearly prepared to show me. This is a decision I would later hate myself for, but a decision I'm glad I made anyway.
After eating, Tu took me on a walk around her village and we had a chance to talk a bit more. She spoke with near enough perfect English, all learned from tourists as she didn't go to school, and sometimes she would point at things and ask me what they were called. She talked to me about her friends that she has all around the world who come back to stay with her again and again, and about life in the village. As we walked we walked past endless amounts of people that she knew and they would all stop to talk to me and ask me about myself, my family, my life. The people in the village were truely some of the most friendly I have come across anywhere and the village itself was so pretty and peaceful.
The next day we did more exploring of the local villages and took a trek up one of the mountains. Tu invited one of her friends to join us (I forgot her name), who was just as sweet as Tu. They took me for a delicious lunch of noodle soup and we even had a beer over lunch, just my kinda girls!
That evening was pretty relaxed, I spent time with Tu's family (none of whom speak English but the children were adorable) and she made me home made spring rolls. The children spend their time sewing things to be sold on the streets to tourists, so when I sat helping her daughters for a while I was so happy when Tu gave me a bracelet and a bag to say thank you.
The next day I was due to catch my bus back to Hanoi in the evening, so Tu offered to show me Sapa town and stay with me until my bus at 5pm. We spent the whole day wondering round the tiny town, looking at the handicrafts in the markets and walking up the tallest point in Sapa.
By the time 5pm rolled around, and as Tu was putting me on my bus with a bag of drinks and bananas for my journey, I was so sad to leave. Despite it definitely being the worst place I've stayed (showering with a hose and waking up to the sound of pigs running around isn't exactly ideal), it was ironically the most expensive as I ended up giving Tu double what we had agreed on price wise (1 million dong, which is around £30 - nothing to me but a lot here and will hopefully make a difference to her and her family). She was so kind to me and showed me so much of the way people in villages like that live that I will never forget my trip to Sapa!
If anyone reading this ever gets the opportunity to go, do a home stay not an organized tour to make sure your money goes straight to the family who look after you! The experience is so worth it, if you can handle it!
No comments:
Post a Comment