Greetings from Sapa!!

yes, Vietnam is very well connected, mind you!

many hotels and guesthouses offer free wireless services.

and internet cafes along the streets are a common sight.

oOoO... in Sapa, according to our guides,

the guys are too shy to come outta of their houses.

haha... so no luck at bridegroom selection.

However, it's really a good place for the scenery and the weather.

Helps us escape the heat from Hanoi.

It's a mountaineous region up north,

with many terraced padi fields as we took our bus up the mountains.

like a walking tour into geography text books.

We arrived at Lao Cai 5am in the morning and the sun's already up

and the streets buzzling.

Sapa is a good place to meet new people.

We've met a Canadian whom we shared dinner and lunch with.

He uses a chopstick for lunch, and

they (my aunt and Evon) exchanged their experiences of other travelling trips.

It's amazing! and we also bumped into a cheekyIndonesian man

travelling with his family who initially thought that Peter (the canadian)

is one of our husband. heh...

back to the trip,

we were attached to a tour guide from the H'mong tribe.

she's 19, one year younger than me!

and while we singaporeans are bilingual,

she's effectively multi lingual,

speaks h'mong languange, Vietnamese, English (very good command!),

a bit of Spanish and Franch. Amazing girl.

guided us on a 3 hour trek,

carefully elaborating on the interesting elements of the sights,

patiently waiting for us taking photos.

it was an enriching exchange.

i think this is the best time to visit sapa.

before it becomes too heavily commercialized.

it's a wonderful experience immersing in the cool weather,

get in touch with nature, walk along the padi fields, see cow dungs of various shapes and sizes,

animals roaming around the village, enagaging the friendly folks

it's not a clique comment, they are really friendly!

they maintained plastered with a one million mega watt smile

even if you reject buying their goods.

but the small little annonyance is that little girls as young as 10

will tag along tourists trying to persude you to buy their bags.

and they'd pop the questions like 10 times along the trek.

it's good in a way, that they are not begging but earning their keep.

the girls here are beautiful,

innocent with a tinge of weariness.

as if they've been through really hard life,

but they Lambe (the guide) says it's only because of the eye-blinding sunshine.

Ohh... and this old hardy lady tagged behind and beside me thoughout the whole trek,

trying to persude me to buy her bags.

i feel awkard and didn't make any promises.

because she isn't as "adorable" as they kids,

it's probaly harder to sell her bags compared to the girls.

and the kids who comes in swamps.

so she probably have to follow the tourists along to earn her keep.

she offered me umbrella in the latter part of the trip,

and i offered to carry the umbrella for her.

and to make up for my guilt, i offered her my cold mineral water too.

bought a pencil case from her after my return to the hotel for s$4.

i didn't want anything

because i know they natural dye used is not set and will stain our hands and clothes.

i suggested giving her the money.

my aunt objected because it not only diminishes any sense of self worth

but also reduces them to mere begging.

she is so right.

To conclude, this stop is a MUST in Vietnam,

and i'm already looking forward to the 5 hour trek and homestay tomorrow!

keep you guys updated! :)