We were disappointed in the All Nippon (ANA) flight. The food offerings were poor and the bed not that comfortable. When the plane landed, the pilot braked so hard, everything flew all over. Allan said the guy in the next pod’s head phones flew off his head. Geez Louise!

The All Nippon lounge in Tokyo was okay. The food offerings were sparse though…no sushi!! Whaaaa??? Even the lounge in Hanoi had sushi! But at least we had comfortable chairs with charging stations and glasses of wine, so all was not lost.

When we were checking our luggage at ANA, and before they opened up the stations, all the workers lined up and on cue, they said something in Vietnamese, and then they all bowed to us. The same thing when we were boarding the plane. Before they opened to let people through, they lined up, said something, and bowed to us again. Never saw that before. (Maybe they were saying “Lots of luck”… knowing the pilot’s proclivity for intense braking.) 😂

The United flight home to Newark was fine…Very long, but our driver was waiting for us at the airport, so we were home in record time.

It was a fabulous trip. So many memories in each country and the food was really delicious. But as always, it’s nice to be back home.

Thanks for following the blog. Hope you can tune in for our next trip at the end of February. See you then!

Hanoi Destination: Hanoi – Accommodations: Sunway Hotel

We slept in and enjoyed a late breakfast. The hotel restaurant was empty when we finally arrived, so we enjoyed the peace and quiet.

We spent most of the day reading in the hotel, but we did take a walk around the neighborhood. It was a beautiful day. We skipped lunch and just had egg coffees.

We met friends for a light dinner and then Thanh took us to the airport for our flight. We couldn’t check in until 3 hours before the flight would be leaving so we sat and talked with Thanh for awhile.

Thanh gave us “money” for Tet which is the custom. After he left us at the airport, he was going to his grandma’s home for the celebration. They celebrate days before the actual holiday, cooking and eating special dishes every day and visiting with family and friends. It’s similar to our Christmas. He said his favorite dishes are the fish dishes. His grandmother already bought a lovely cherry tree to put in her home.

We told Thanh to go because he was celebrating tonight with his family. We hugged and wished him luck and as he walked an away, he was crying and wiping his eyes as he went out the door. What a gentle and sweet young man. He was so nervous when he first met all of our group, since this was only his second time as a guide. He had asked us numerous times for comments and suggestions that would help him be a better guide, since we’ve been on so many trips. I felt like a mom to him and we were happy to help him as much as we could

We breezed through security and we are now in the lounge waiting for our flight to Tokyo. Then we have a long lay over, but we can spend it in the lounge in Tokyo so that will be great.

The next time I post, we hopefully will be home.

Photo of one of our beer bottle caps from when we put them on the train tracks. Thanh said that they don’t put coins on the tracks since the coins sometimes bind to the train wheels.

Destination: Hanoi – Accommodations: Sunway Hotel

This morning we left to visit the village where May Linh was born.  She was a member of the Red Dao village, but now, she lives with her husband in his village, which is about a four hour drive from her village. When she married a man outside of her village, the Red Dao villagers wouldn’t speak with her when she returned home to visit family. But now, they have accepted her decision and are friendly towards her once again.

Our first stop on the way was to the market in Sapa. What a happening place. People are getting ready for the Tet celebration and the market was very crowded. You would be able to buy anything in the way of food – Vegetables, fish, meats, noodles, and spices. Some of the meats, I had no clue what they were, but people were buying everything in sight. 

Then we went to the upper level and saw some of the beautiful hand sewn and embroidered cloth from May Linh’s village. I bought a beautiful wall hanging done on hemp, entirely hand embroidered. Just lovely. 

From there we visited May Linh’s childhood home. We met her grandfather and he offered everyone a cup of tea. We sat around the fire in the main living area which was very cozy and it took the chill off of us since it was damp and cold outside. 

May Linh told us that when she lived at home, she was going to marry a boy in the village. When girls are “engaged”, they spend a year or more making wedding outfits by hand. All the bead work and stitching is done by hand and the girl has to be as meticulous as possible since it is a sign of her worth. 

She had to make outfits for her husband to be, her father, the groom’s father, her grandfather, and she has to make seven layers of clothing for herself. It took her longer than a year to sew them all. She brought the outfits out to show us and some of us tried them on. The stitching was beautiful as was the bead work. She said it took her longer to make the clothing because she struggled to make the stitches perfect. 

She ultimately did not marry the boy, but she did use her wedding attire that she made for herself when she married her now husband. Her husband did not want to wear what she sewed for the old boyfriend since it wasn’t originally for him. 

She was the rebel in the family she said. She was not allowed to learn how to read and write in her language. Only boys were allowed. She didn’t go to school at first, and when she was fourteen or so she sold handmade items on the street. One day, a couple on a motorbike came into the village and told her that if she went with them, they would take her to China and she could make a lot of money to send back to her family. She almost went with them… but her grandmother came after them with a huge knife and took May Linh back home and didn’t let her out of the house for weeks. The couple were human traffickers so she was very lucky to escape. Some of the girls she knew at the time were not so lucky. Two girls left with the couple and were never heard from again. 

Usually, once the girls are taken away they were put in cages and let out only to sleep with men. When they got too old, they were sold to farmers and had to do farming work as well as be available for men. Human trafficking is still a big problem in Vietnam. According to a site I saw in the Internet, “Human trafficking has reached a rampant level in Vietnam, primarily targeting women, children, and ethnic minorities. Every year, a large number of Vietnamese citizens are trafficked to other countries, often those who come from “poor, vulnerable, or broken families” and lack a proper understanding of the crime of human trafficking.” Unfortunately, the women and children in the villages of Sapa fit this description – “poor and vulnerable” – and it remains a problem. The government does send government workers around in cars with megaphones, broadcasting throughout Sapa, telling the people about the dangers of trafficking and not to go with anyone who promises a better life somewhere else.

May Linh now has an education, but she still can’t read or write in her native language. Her husband is at university studying tourism. She works often for OAT as well as other travel companies during the tourist season and when she’s not working for them during the off season, she plants rice and corn for the family. She lives with her two daughters and her husband as well as her in-laws. Her daughters do go to school and she hopes they will continue and go to university. Her family didn’t bother with her for years because she married a man from outside of her village, but now they have all reconciled.

We bid her goodbye and then went on our bus for the long ride back to Hanoi. We stopped for lunch at the same place we had eaten at on the way to Sapa, and Allan and I enjoyed a burger and fries. Nice to taste after all the Asian food we’ve eaten these past weeks. But here’s a tip:  You can’t eat burgers with chopsticks!  😂

We arrived back at the hotel around 7 and most of us met and had dinner together and drinks. We chatted for awhile and bid each other safe travels because most of us will be leaving late tomorrow evening.

I don’t have to set the alarm tonight, because nothing is planned for tomorrow. It will be nice to sleep in.

At the market

The indoor market is huge!

Look at the size of those carrots!!!

Who knows what these are….😳

Black chicken. The black chicken has black skin, bones, meat, and feathers, resulting from a genetic condition called fibromelanosis.  The meat is firmer than regular chicken. It is considered a “healing food,” traditionally believed to restore health, strength, and energy. It is served to women during birth and afterwards to restore strength. It apparently is very chewy.

Beautiful dresses

A member of May Linh’s village. They are the Red Dao sect. They shave their eyebrows and they pull out the forehead part of their hair line. The custom of shaving eyebrows and the front hairline is traditionally considered a sign of beauty and maturity for Red Dao women and shows their married status. May Linh did not have to do that practice since she married a man from another village. The Red Dao are also famous for wearing a bright, often red, turban or scarf, frequently decorated with silver coins and tassels.

Fish for sale at the market. Families purchase live goldfish to serve as transportation for the Three Kitchen Gods (Tao Quan) to travel to heaven. The gods use these fish to report on the good and bad actions of each family to the Jade Emperor. After the ceremony, the fish are released into lakes or rivers, often along with ashes from burnt offerings, to ensure a favorable report for the family. 

Taking the live fish home

May Linh’s childhood home. Photo below…the tree at her childhood home is decorated for the Tet celebration.

Her grandpa. When we arrived, he was bundled in blankets on the bed to ward off the cold.

A room in the home

Sitting in front of the fire to get warm.

We tried on the wedding outfit that she had sewed years ago when she was 15. Beautiful work. Allan and I held each other but actually, when the wedding ceremony is happening , the couple cannot touch each other or make eye contact until the ceremony is over. We’re such rebels! 😂

Photo below shows the workmanship

Our hands from the indigo leaves yesterday. The color took a day to wear off.

The piece I purchased. The camera doesn’t do the blue colors justice. It is truly lovely and vivid.

People cut the cherry trees and take them back home on their motorbikes for the Tet celebration. They plant them in big planters and they will bloom. After the new year, they burn the bottom of the branch where it was cut and either plant it in the ground or just throw it away. We saw hundreds of people with trees on their motorbikes.

Little pigs at the door at May Linh’s childhood home

Sitting around the fire

All of us making our fingers into little hearts. Notice the fog in the background.

Destination: Sapa – Accommodations: Sapa Charm Hotel or similar

This morning after breakfast, we met our local guide May Linh and we set out for a trek on a nearby mountain slope in Lao Chai. The village below was shrouded in the fog, so we couldn’t see much in the distance. There was a little mist and the roads we walked on at times were muddy and slippery.

Ladies from the black H’Mong tribe walked with us and were trying to be friendly. They knew phrases like “What is your name?” or “How are you?”. May Linh said we could purchase handmade items from these ladies, but not to give money to children since the adults don’t want the kids to get used to money, but rather they hope that the kids stay in school.

May Linh told us that single boys in the village will sometimes “kidnap” a girl that they want to marry. He takes her to his mother’s home and she stays there for three days and nights. Then, if the girl likes him, a marriage might be arranged. The girl can choose not to marry the man if she doesn’t like him. If she decides to marry him, after the ceremony, she will leave her family and live with her in-laws.

Villagers can tell how rich their neighbors are by the number of buffalo they have. Three buffalo… you are considered poor. Fifteen buffalo, you are rich. The people make their living primarily in agriculture (rice and corn) as well as tourism. 

Alcoholism is a big problem. The women do most of the work planting the rice and corn. The men sit around playing cards and drinking. Come harvest time, however, men and women both work hard together. Because of the drinking, women are many times abused by their drunk husbands.

May Linh married a man from another village and her in-laws did not approve. The father-in-law never spoke to her, but rather communicated with her via his wife or through his son. Her husband is understanding and they have been married for 13 years and have two girls. Having girls is not as beneficial as having boys because boys will inherit the land, but girls will not.

We stopped at a home and the lady there gave us a lesson on batik. Many types of natural fabrics can be used in Batik. But the tightest weave and highest thread count such as linen, hand-loomed hemp, or cotton work better because these fabrics can absorb the wax the most.

Several types of wax can be used for making batiks but this lady used natural beeswax. She uses indigo extracted from the indigo plant. She soaks the leaves in water for several days and let them ferment to convert the indican in the plant to yield a natural blue dye. Then the material that she painted the wax on goes in the dye vat for three days and then it is put in boiling water to remove the wax.

We were all given a square of hemp and we tried our hand at batiking. It’s not that easy to do and we appreciated the beautiful batik work that the lady does.

It started to rain (the first rain we’ve experienced in all the weeks we’ve been in Southeast Asia), and it is much colder than Hanoi. The walk that we took today was pretty strenuous…up very, very steep hills and back down again all throughout. There were no handrails. The mud made things a little slippery as well. All in all…we did very well. I was a little worried about navigating the steep hills given my foot, but it seemed to be ok. I took a walking stick to take the pressure off the foot going down the steep hills.

We had lunch at a local restaurant and then Allan and I went back to the hotel, sat in front of the fireplace with a glass of wine, and read our books.

Dinner tonight was hot pot. We had chicken, salmon, sturgeon, vegetables, tofu, and noodles in the hot pot. I wasn’t a fan of the fish, but I did enjoy the tofu, the vegetables, the noodles, and the chicken. The broth was really good.

We tour a bit tomorrow morning and then back to Hanoi. It’s very cold here so we were glad we brought our Patagonia jackets and our REI raincoats that we could wear over our jackets.

It will probably be raining tomorrow as well.

Indigo leaves rubbed on our hands. Then May Linh poured water to rinse the leaves off. The dye from the leaves left our hands a light shade of blue.

They call to friends with the leaf. It makes quite a loud noise. I tried doing it and I got a little sound, but I couldn’t make the different sounds that she made.

Hot wax to do the batik. They make the patterns on hemp or cotton.

Below is a close up of the tool. The blade at the end is dipped into the beeswax and you draw with it.

My batik pattern.

Allan’s batik.

After the wax goes on, the material gets soaked in this indigo. After 3 days, they put in boiling water to take off the wax.

The scenery is beautiful but with the fog we couldn’t see very much far away.

Luncheon soup

taro with bean paste

Duck

Chicken and cabbage. Everything was delicious

Banana flower. Not the banana that we eat, however.

Hot pot Mushrooms and tofu going in

Everything in the pot

Have no clue what these were but they were tasty.

The batik cloth after it has been dyed with the indigo.

Enjoying the fireplace at the hotel.

Rice terraces

At the restaurant