Sapa

After an overnight train journey from Hanoi to Lao Cai, I found a mini-van to Sapa with some people, and we headed through the foggy mts. for an hour before we arrived in this breathtaking scenery! I met a girl on the van named Karen(born in the USA and has lived in Isreal all her life). She and I decided to share a room together($3 a person). Let me just say that when you step out onto our balcony you get an eyeful of Giant mts with clouds settled in the valleys, irrigation shelves flooded with vegetables and rice(and leeches we later learned), and a small town that inihabits a small place on a flattened peak. In the evenings it's quite chilly! I have had the most fun with Karen, and find myself laughing non-stop in her company. She and I share the same goofy humor, which is rare. hahahaha! We had fun exploring the town and getting harassed to buy crafts by the tribal women. She and I befriended 3 Black Mung trbe women and were invited to their village the following day. What an honor!
We awoke early completely famished and rushed off to our favorite cafe. At 10 a.m. we met the ladies at our hotel, and began our 6 hr trek down a steep mt. At first there was Karen, our 3 tribal friends, and I, but as we walked from town many other tribal women left their work to join us and chit-chat to the villages. Next thing you know motorbikes are wizzing past us chuckling at Karen and I with our posse of 12 women in traditional attire carrying parisols and sauntering down a steep slope. She and I were learning about their cultures, because within the group there were women and children from 3 different tribes, and it was interesting to learn about there traditions. They loved hearing about our lives as well, and were surprised that I wasn't married and had no children yet. We saw 3 villages, and had lunch with the leader Grrr and her family. The lunch was vegetarian: Rice, bamboo root, morning glory, and cabbage. It was delicious, and we were famished! By the time lunch was over we bought a few crafts, and were given a lift back to Sapa on the back of their husband's motorbikes. That night Karen and I met a group of Israeli guys and we sat around listening to Hebrew music on their balcony and joked around for hrs. These guys are really hilarious!
This morning it was rainy and foggy. We rented morotbikes, only to turn around and get a refund. It was apparently not the day to zip out to the waterfalls. That's ok. When the rain finally stopped Karen and I walked down a mt. to walk near the rice fields and explore the valley. The cement path was steep and slippery. Karen fell and slid all the way down the path on her butt. She wasn't hurt, just very muddy. We spent the whole afternoon laughing hysterically. My stomach and face still hurt from it. You should have seen us trying to climb up the slippery path! Lets just say we were both on all fours. We were also speculating what Meatloaf wouldn't do for love....
Karen left by bus this evening to take a bus to China, and I was invited by the Israeli boys to celebrate a jewish holiday with them(not sure which one), and discuss plans to rent a mini-van to venture out to Ba Be Nat'l park and then circle down to Hanoi where I will take a bus to Nihn Bihn. I'm not sure if this plan is realistic yet. I wanted to do the motorcycle tour, but unfortunately it's officially the rainy season, so my plans have to be flexible now.

I just have to say that everyone tried to talk me out of coming to Vietnam, because they complained about the people, but I find the people to be beautiful and giving. Sure there's scam-artists, but they're everywhere in the world. In Asia it's more in your face, so with that awareness you can navigate through it with eyes open. I really am enjoying my time here in this culture overall. My only concern is the expensive prices for transportation and accomidation is most places, so I need to begin my journey south to Cambodia soon. I don't think I will stay in this country for an entire month, and I will skip some sites that I'm not truly excited about.

Thank you to all of you for sending me warm Birthday wishes from home.