Vietnam with a European Twist

We survived the overnight train to Sapa, thanks to Gravol. Of course it was not a very deep sleep, nor long enough, but relatively uneventful, thankfully- especially as we were sharing a car with some Asians who were originally chatty with their cell phones.

We did the unthinkable: we rented scooters. Yes, the nightmares of our last
scooter/motorcycle rental horror story still haunt us nightly, but what better way to see a country then to get behind the wheel? Of course we would have preferred to rent real motorcycles, but Vietnam has laws that no one can have a bike bigger than 125cc’s, so a 110 scooter was all we were going to get. It was weak in comparison to the Baja, and I kept groping for the non-existent clutch, but I reminded myself that I was lucky to be on 2 wheels in the first place. I mean, in Canada I would be huddled in the 4 wheeled kind, cursing the weather...


Anyway, of course within 5 minutes of our journey, Meaghan’s scooter started leaking oil. We were tempted to push her and her scooter off a cliff, figuring she most definitely was Jonah and was harbouring some sinful deeds. Instead we exchanged her bike. I am pleased to report that was the end of the scooter nightmares. Phew.

We’re way up north- about 5 minutes from the Chinese border. To those of you who are jealous of us baking in the sun, your jealousy is wasted here as it’s only about 10 degrees.


We got a hostel for $1.34 per night, and it’s not bad. Quite nice, actually- complete with hot water and toilet paper. Practically 5 star compared to the train. We all chipped in for an extra $2 for a heater. No kidding. Friends who were just in Ho Chi Minh (the south of Vietnam, where we are headed next) advised us to pay extra for AC in Ho Chi Minh as the heat was simply unbearable. Here, we’re chilly.

Sapa is a cool town, kind of laid back with a definitively European feel, and we’re really enjoying it here. We’ve had some delicious food (which isn’t all that common thus far in Vietnam, springrolls aside) and a relaxing evening wandering around. I actually had a latte that put Starbucks to shame, a feat that I thought was impossible in Asia. My coffee addiction has never bothered me, but here it's been tough to feed at times and I've suffered a mild headache or two as a result. Serves me right, I suppose. Now as I sit here to recap the day, some tragically hopeless Asian karaoke from the bar next door has just started serenading me and I’m tempted to delete what I’ve written about the town being lovely and quaint with a European feel. The Asians and their music. It’s terrible when the voices are professional and on key. Add an off key karaoke singer, and it’s worse than an animal in heat.

Speaking of which, on our magnificent scooter ride through the mountains to a northern village, we saw some hilarious things. There was the pot bellied pig who lazily meandered across the road as we were approaching, her nursing belly literally getting a case of road rash. There was the ox that was pulling what looked like a skid with a couple plastic jugs on it down the road, being led by its master. The skid was just scraping the road. Wouldn’t wheels have made a more efficient system?
The topper was the scooters cargoing animals around. Get a load of this: a scooter was towing a cage with a live pig in it. Another scooter was carting around a mitful of chickens. I have no idea if they were dead or alive. And get this: a scooter was pulling a horse along! The man was driving, the woman on the back held the rope to the horse, and the poor thing was galloping along to keep up with the scooter. Peculiar!

The north is peppered with Hill Tribe people. They dress very ornately (translation: gaudy) and we often saw them working hard leading livestock around or selling things at the local market or cooking. It was very interesting to see, but they turned out to be a pain, always pestering us to buy the ugliest things we've ever seen, like pants that looked like they were made from your grandmother's old tablecloth! They even pestered us when we were eating in restaurants, so their charm wore off quickly.

Monday night we take the overnight train back to Hanoi, and the following day we snag a flight to Ho Chi Minh. Yes, be proud of us as we’re actually splurging on airline tickets. They were only $75 and we figure that we owe it to ourselves. We’ve had enough of the wretched trains and buses and we still need to get to Cambodia.

Our thoughts on Vietnam? We’re glad we came, although none of us would put it as a contender for our favourite country. Laos felt very laid back and had great food, where in Vietnam it’s much more developed and therefore more chaotic and the food has been a bit hit or miss- mostly miss. However, Vietnam is more culturally rich, as determined by the scooters toting animals, clothing, and markets here.

It's been very intersting, though. I mean, I've seen things that I figured I'd only ever see in pictures of National Geographic. How lucky I am to be travelling like this.