feldmanlarry

After the 8.5 hour Victoria Express train ride from Sapa, it was a good feeling as always to have a guide waiting for me. We were just 1 mile from the Chinese border in the extreme north of Vietnam. He took me up to the Victoria Resort at the top of a hill overlooking the town. I assume this was a colonial relic of the train company having a resort at the end of the line. The guide asked me how long I wanted to take to have breakfast and get set up in my room. I knew if I had too long, I would jump right into anything resembling a warm and comfy bed so I said I could be ready in 1 hour. This barely gave me enough time to have breakfast and be ready but it definitely would not have worked out to take any longer.

For breakfast, I had a Rice Pancake, which is a traditional Vietnamese food. It wasn’t bad but It’s always better to get something local that’s not bad than something I know I’ll like but is available everywhere in the US.

We were in the middle of the Black Hmong tribal area. We started in a traditional village called Cat Cat, that is also a tourist area for a handful of people like me. We drove to the top of the village and went down probably hundreds of stairs. The weather was in the low 60’s and misty but not raining. The steps were slippery, especially at certain areas, such as the one I slipped at. Fortunately, I didn’t get hurt at all. I was going quite slowly but after falling, I took the guide’s offer of going arm-in-arm with him. Soon after, he started to slip a little and I held him up but for the most part I felt much better holding on. A bad fall could have serious consequences for me such as ending the day or ending the trip or even ending all trips.

I really appreciated the village. There were pigs and water buffalo all around. In other words. I wasn’t the only pig around for once. I like the second picture here with the rice field in the front and villagers working in the corn field in the back. The rice had already been picked for the year.

I spent quite a bit of time at a Hmong hut that was open for us to walk through.

I found a piece of embroidery that really appealed to me and bought the red one below. The person who made it is in the second picture below and it’s not me. The 3 medallions near the top and the 3 at the bottom are meant for good luck since three is a lucky number for the Hmong. Each medallion has the 12 signs of the Chinese Zodiac. The back of the piece is dyed with indigo. The embroidery in the front is silk, which is not native to the Hmong so they buy it from nearby people.

Here is a vat of indigo, which they use as the base for several colors.

My father loved to bargain when we traveled and at home. He was a professor at Cornell University but he clearly could have made a lot of money in business. He loved the process of negotiating. I think he liked the drama, the give-and-take, and the battle of wits. A family story is that he almost missed a boat when our family was going through the Suez Canal in 1954 (just before the Suez War) because he lost track of time while bargaining.

I did not get the bargaining gene. I’m terrible at it. It didn’t help here that the guide was urging me to accept the price they asked for. They offered two for 800,000 Vietnamese Dong, which sounds like a lot but it’s actually about $36. I countered with 300,000 for one ($13.50). The woman below with the baby, who I assume was the daughter of the woman who made the piece countered with 400,000 ($18). I countered with 350,000 and she countered with 400,000. I countered with 370,000, she countered with — you guessed it, 400,000. Bottom line, I paid what she wanted, 400,000.

I totally lost the bargaining but on the other hand I got an amazing piece that took amazing artistry and untold hours for $18. This woman clearly outsmarted me but maybe the guide was right that I should just pay what they want.

They had more than one of these water power rice husking machines. The abundant water from springs and from rain run-off causes the chute to lower. When the chute fills, the water falls and the chute goes up again. This causes the hammer on the other side of the chute to break up the rice.

Here are a couple of scenes of Hmong people. The woman on the bottom is selling roasted sweet potatoes and roasted eggs.

This is me thinking of living with the water buffalo.

I saw this guy with a Pittsburgh Penguins jersey so I had to get our picture. A minute later he got it filled with wet paint. My guide warned me about the paint just before the same thing happened to me. I’m not sure where he was from but we were about as far away from an ice hockey rink in Pittsburgh as you can get.

They had a dance and flute show at the bottom of the steps.

Also at the bottom of the steps was this beautiful waterfall and this scary bridge that moved a lot as people walked on it.

Hard to believe but the green thing behind this girl with the yellow and red stripes is a very young child.

We then moved to an even more isolated village called Sin Chai. This village did not have the tourist currency coming in and was much poorer and even dismal to me. I said to the guide that I imagine these people to be quite happy for the most part since they have their families and the land and he agreed.

Here is a duck pond for the native foie gras. The picture on the bottom is Margaret and me having a fight.

The local school was on its lunch break but we were able to come into the grounds and take a few pictures. Hopscotch is everywhere in the world.

I walked into a second grade classroom where these few children were working on some problems. Maybe they had to stay after school, not sure. The math problems included to add 37+45, subtract 68-42, 45 kg – 21 kg, and to insert either <,  >, or = between 19+4 and 26. These were second graders so what they were doing was very similar to what US second graders would be doing.

The playground equipment was primitive but looked like it was fun. The fourth grade classroom just had a few girls playing.

On the way out, we passed some hemp plants, which were used in some of their fabrics. Hemp is closely related to marijuana but he said people don’t smoke the hemp. Should i believe him?

By 1 PM, I had exercised the second most since I got my Apple Watch in May. The day I exercised more was at my nephew Ethan’s wedding with dancing. The guide offered to take me on an added tour for extra money. I was exhausted from not sleeping well on the train. I have to be on the road tomorrow at 7:30 AM for a day that would continue until 9 PM when I will get on the train for the 8.5 hour ride back to Hanoi. I will get to Hanoi at 5 AM and then fly to Danang at 8 AM.

As you can guess, I declined his offer. It would have been a great trip but I still have two weeks to go. I have to keep some energy reserve. This was a great day. I had a rare opportunity to enter a world just about as far from me as is possible. What I saw today makes the hassles of traveling worthwhile.