Beautiful Montagnard Villagers

Happy Birthday to my twin! Esther!!! And ha ha, all my other twin too! Cheryl!!!

Tourists are bomarded by the local ladies offering handwoven bags, bracelets, earrings...anything you want! I tried on one of their reed "backpacks"... surprisingly heavy, but comfortable!

So, I celebrated my 22nd year of life over a duo chocolate pie and a tasty almond apple tart, at Baguette & Chocolat, a bakery in Sapa. Didn't really feel like a birthday! Thank you for all your birthday wishes!! I miss you all! We'll party when I get back ;)

When I woke up this morning, Sapa was entirely blanketed by the clouds...looking out the window, I could see maybe 200m?!? It was gorgeous. Unfortunately, I had dropped my camera (yikes!) and couldn't take a photo. The local market was very colourful!! All the women from the various hill tribes were buying lengths of black linen for their skirts and vests, and there was a huge selection of food, from the ubiquitous PHO BO (beef noodle soup), to something more exotic...it looked like stuffed snake! We sat down for some noodle soup with pork & tofu, and the local chef sprinkled these long grains of white powder over the bowl...I think they use MSG liberally here still! Eeep! Heart attack in a jar... never ask for a menu...because the local price is always 5000 dong (US $0.30) a bowl. :)

Tiered rice paddy fields dot rural Vietnam.

Poor Romain got chewed out by the salesperson at the shop who fixed my camera. When you've been touring for a while, you start to expect the worst...I don't think the guy expected me to pay, but I was going to offer but Romain insisted it should be free...eep! This set the guy on fire and Romain got a lecture on how locals are actually nice people and don't necessarily expect to be compensated for being helpful. doh!

This is Zhao, whose mother embroidered the handbag I bought...

After lunch, we visited Cat Cat Village, a H'Moung minority village very close to Sapa. There was a gushing waterfall and serene rice paddies. Gorgeous! We then hopped on the motorbike and easily covered the 36km to Lao Cai, right next to the Chinese border. It is absolutely BOILING here...