Tag Archives: rice

Sapa, Vietnam highlights

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Ever heard of Sapa?

I hadn’t. Not until the first two volunteers I met at FLO told me about it.
“So what’s been one of your favorite places to travel to in Vietnam?”
“Sapa,” they replied in union, “Yes, definitely Sapa.”
And then the physically smaller of the two–who btw Rick, the cameraman, loved to call the troll . . . : ); the other young lady was nicknamed the giant . . .; yeah, they made a great pair–she, the troll, started talking a mile a minute about the nice Hmong lady who guided them on their hike had told them all about the area. “It’s so beautiful!” she continued.
“Hmm, Sapa,” I thought to myself. “Maybe I should make that happen . . .”
And I did. The following shots have been chosen from a long list of shots; the task of editing these down was the hardest thus far. I took so m a n y amazing shots! It’s easy to do in Sapa; it really is breathtaking there.
“Where is Sapa?” you ask.
In Northern Vietnam, close to the border with China. I took a night train from Hanoi. The train left that busy city around 9 p.m., and by 6 a.m. I was in a minivan with lots of other tourists heading along the narrow road to Sapa. About 45-minutes later I arrived in that cute mountain town. (My first thought upon entering Sapa? “It’s the Gatlinburg of SE Asia!”)
Enjoy!
I shared the cabin with a lovely couple from Israel and a young Aussie girl; the rest of her family was next door.
Water buffalo are e ve r y w h e r e in Vietnam! (even on busy highways!)
She was working in a practically black chamber with only the light coming in from the open door to work by.
Locals hanging out in one of the villages we trekked (i.e. hiked) through.
“It looks like Tuscany,” the beauiful Israeli woman said; “Yes, it does,” I replied. (Have I ever been to Tuscany? No, but I’ve seen movies. : )
We have a few of these flowers growing by Rocket Girl’s house.
This guy had the biggest darn teeth! He seemed to love showing them to us.
A cute, shy girl with a Tigger umbrella who didn’t know any English. “Okay,” she said to the request to take her picture. (At least that’s what the guide told me she said.)
Lunch break. We ate upstairs in a house used for “home stays.” Our guide had brought food which was cooked there by the family. It was good: Pho (noodle soup) made with water buffalo meat. No, I hadn’t eaten any red meat in ages, but figured I’d give it a try; it was okay, a bit tough. Two bites was enough. But the noodles and broth was yummy!
Their “job” is to follow tourists as they walk on their trek. These ladies had left their village early in the morning; they were returning home (as they walked beside/behind us). And why do they do this? To sell something to us, that’s why! There seems to be a “rule” that they have to wait till the end for their sales pitch. “Where are you from?” they love to ask as we walk along. “The moon!” was my standard reply. “I’ve come down to earth to see how you live; it’s nice!” The gal on the right “tagged” me; I bought two bags that are earmarked for my sister Hannah. I figure she can use the design in a quilt maybe, or not, up to her.
We walked up hills and down to dales . . . and yes, over bridges.
This guy looked up. I waved. “You’ll have to marry him now!” the guide said. “Oh really?” I asked. No worries Tones, I kept walking. : )
I bought the purse I’m wearing from the young gal on my left; her mom made it. AND, I gave her my purple purse which I’d been carrying for 4.5 months. I was thinking that I’d leave it in the hotel room (like I’ve been slowly doing with lots of my clothing), and then thought, “Why not just give it to her?” She seemed jazzed. (It was cold in Sapa; that’s a new jacket I’m wearing . . . )
Vietnamese scarecrows.
Yes, they were literally right with us the entire trek.
How long of a walk? you ask. About 5-hours. We left at 9:30 a.m. and were back around 4:00 (after having about an hour lunch break). A van picked us up for the 12 – 16 km or so return. I hiked two days in a row.
These guys were assembling a building.
My last day in Sapa I went to a village which only happens on Sunday. Thought of you Marcie!
The mountain villagers come from all over to buy and sell at this market.
That puppy was so cute; I hope he wasn’t “marked” to be sold for food . . . it’s all part of the market. : (
Locals dining.
 Locals shopping . . . and getting their hair cut.
This person was returning from a day working in China.
We stopped at the border for a look.
OMG, I hope that’s not what I ate in Luang Prabang! This was at the market outside the train station; we had a few hours to “kill” in this arm pit of a town (like all areas around train stations and bus depots the world over).
Oh . . . being in Vietnam is making it easier and easier to not eat meat; these guys wanted out of their cage so very badly!

Okay den, Aloha everyone. Until we meet again.
-sj

AND
though this was posted on Monday, October 10th in Vietnam (Hoi An), I realize that it shows October 9th (the date in Hawaii).

Right now, as I type, my husband of 25-years is throwing himself a bash of a party in Kokee, Kaua‘i.

Happy Birthday Tones!
May you have many, many more healthy and happy birthdays!

Sat nam.

Last week Sunday’s bike ride with a few FLO kids and volunteers . . .

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My wheels for the afternoon.
The neighboring village.
Checking us out.
Along for the ride!
Off we went!
We visited Rob’s foster son’s family home.
Grandson and Grandmother.
Sean, yucking it up! (He’s Rob’s family member and an awesome young man recently graduated from UCSB.)
The kids love Rob!
More yucking it up!
We passed some rice planters.
Who invited the guys to come out and help out!
And they did!
It’s hard work . . . though so very beautiful.
This is how you do it . . .
The “neighborhood” Wat.
In case you were wondering what monks do when they hang out in their wat.
Rice, wonderful rice. How thankful to eat you.
Heading back to FLO.
Another wat.
Frog legs on the barbie.
A special treat for the kids who’d come along for the ride.

What a difference a day makes!

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Yes, I’ve made it over that hump. Whew.

Somehow I got the gumption to get down to task and get my work done. I finished the lesson plan by *1 a.m. and then crashed for a great sleep until 6:30 ish when I awoke and finished the written assignment.

As the stars were aligned with great goodness and generosity (Were they really? you ask; I have no idea; I just know that they were for this tired student : ), I didn’t have to be at school until 10:25 a.m. What a gift! I was able to finish my assignment, print it, and have it ready for turning in later in the day. I literally walked into the classroom at the stroke of 10:25; the teacher arrived about 2-minutes later. Perfect!

My head was the size of a pumpkin though all morning during class. It was an especially interesting session (really!) on how to teach writing. But there was one point when we were to match the description of different stages with their names. It literally hurt my brain to try and identify the correct matches. Really, it was a physical pain. So did I do the exercise? No, I matched about 2 out of 10 and gave myself a “pass” for the rest. I did make note of the answers for review when the pumpkin turns back into a . . . no, not a mouse, but something more resembling of a brain than a pumpkin.

The effects of my muddled mind were still evident when I ordered lunch. Yesterday at lunch, the cute young Thai waitress at a local restaurant I’ve found gently told me how to say rice, “Kow” (like how, I realize that I could be completely wrong, but that’s how it sounded to my non-Asian ears.) So today, when ordering lunch at a casual little spot on the ground floor of the school building, I just vaguely remembered a 3-letter word that started with K. But what I remembered was more like “Koʊ” (like know). So, did I get rice with lunch? Yes, but not because of anything I said. When she served me a Coca-Cola I realized my mistake. The rice? She simply said, “Rice?” to which I dumbly nodded, “Yes.” And so it goes in the world of having no idea how to speak the local language. Fortunately, the Thai are generally such nice people that my blunders don’t get in the way of getting something delicious for lunch. Yes, it was good. Spicy and good.**

Good night everyone. May you have a most wonderful and peaceful day. And oh, I wanted to tell you that I saw the most beautiful act of random kindness today enroute to school.

I was walking up these stairs to the BTS (skytrain) when I came upon a blind man just in front of me. I hadn’t realized that he was blind until a thoughtful young man coming down the stairs saw him, turned around in his tracks, took the man’s arm, and gently guided him up to the top of the platform directing him along the right path. Remember in the movie Amelie when she did something similar with the blind man outside the metro station? It felt like that, playful, fun, and just plain considerate. : ) Yes, the Thai people continue to show such generosity with one another.

Nightie night.

*Why’d it take so long? you ask. Because it did. I was tired and there were so many details to go through that I just couldn’t rush it. The teaching practice went fine, not perfect, but fine. (Is there such a thing as a “perfect” lesson? I don’t know; I’ll let you know when I teach one. I met my aim, and that’s what counts. The students learned something.) The topic? Celebrations. I talked for a couple of minutes about celebrations in Hawaii—first year baby luaus and May Day Lei Day. And then the students talked about the celebrations in their countries, read some fake blogs about celebrations, answered some questions about the blogs, etc.

**The coca-cola was probably exactly what I needed before teaching the sixth of my eight practice sessions. I didn’t feel any effects of the caffeine.