Adrian and I said our goodbyes yesterday morning in Hanoi :( I decided that Halong Bay was not for me...I decided to save up the money to climb FanXiPang mountain in Sapa. Adrian hopped on the backpacker bus to Halong Bay and I stayed behind to explore Hanoi.
I managed to make it to the Hoi Chi Minh mauseleum before the rain started POURING down. Seriously, it rained hard all day LOL. To get into the mauseleum you first have to check your bags and camera, then you have to get your purse scanned and walk through a metal detector....I felt like I was at the airport! There are officers everywhere looking very serious in uniform with guns. Once you enter the mauseleum you have to stay on the little carpet and are not allowed to stop walking...you follow the carpet into the room with Hoi Chi Minh's body (who is surrounded by 4 guards who watch you suspiciously walk by), walk around the room and leave the building.
After the mauseluem I walked to the market in the rain and then took the local bus to the museum of ethonology. All of the signs are written in Vietamese and no one (not even people who speak english) knew what I was talking about when I said "ethonology" but a nice man on the bus was able to tell me what stop to get off at for the street the museum was on, which was awesome. The people here are such a contrast.....most are willing to help you out, give you directions, help you with your map, offer you a seat under a canopy when it is raining, offer a cup of tea when you are soaking wet. ... Then there are others that look at you and make you feel like you shouldnt even be in the country....
I got on a sleeper train last night super exhausted, but ended staying up talking with a lady who has travelled a lot of the world who was in the bunk next to me. We arrived in Lao Cai at 5:30 am and hopped on a bus to Sapa. I really lucked out because a guy on the bus from Australia who was also going to the same trekking place as me had lived in China for a year teaching English! We talked for like, 4 hours about China and he gave me some great advice and taught me how to speak enough Mandarin to get by! SO awesome! I was a bit nervous about China before but Sam really got me excited for it!
I have so many good things to say about Sapa...it is a beautiful mountain town surrounded by clouds that mist in and out of the city. Hill tribe people walk around everywhere and the people are incredibly nice! I climbed Dragon mountain today and was so overwhelmed at how beautiful it was I ended up staying up there for 3 hours! Walked around the market, meet some girls from the states, and was invited by the lady who runs the trekking place/guest house im staying at to have dinner with her family! They even let me help cook a little bit... :)
Time for bed for me...have a few big days climbing FanXiPang tomorrow. As a side note, it rained here yesterday, this morning and this evening. My guide said that it is lucky because if it didnt rain we wouldnt have been able to climb the mounting.. there hasnt been rain here all month and the park has been closed since March 11 due to fire risk!
