Boy riding a buffalo in the mountains
I stood on the balcony, wiped the sleep from my eyes and watched the clouds roll in through the valley below me. I slept well last night because it was so peaceful and quiet. We ate a quick breakfast which consisted of bananas, bread and a few wedges of Laughing Cow before making our way down to the lobby. A group of us from the hotel, including the Israeli family, hired a Jeep for the morning. We though it would be a nice idea to drive down into the valley and then hike around some of the settlements below. The Jeep was the perfect means of transport considering the roads were in terrible condition. At one point (on a cliff edge) there was no road! The Jeep took us half way down into the valley where we started walking. The views of the mountains and rice terraces were incredible. There were butterflies everywhere. One even landed on Ohmei's face. The kids enjoyed picking them up when their wings were closed. Ohmei kept handing them to me as gifts. I looked around and tried to imagine life in the mountains. I was impressed with the irrigation system that they used on the rice fields. Bamboo shoots are cut in half and used to flow water from one layer to another. The residents even managed to make a generator for electricity from the natural flow of water down the mountain. A small wire rose up from the contraption and was routed for miles to a small wooden house in the distance. I also got see rice being polished and bagged for shipping. I watched boys ride around on buffalos and little girls carry babies on their backs. It was such an eye-opening experience to see how these people live their lives. Although they have a very hard life and are seriously underprivileged the people here seem to be happy and content. The driver of the Jeep met us at the other side of the valley and took us back up into town. We then walked for an hour or so down another mountain to the river below. It had been decided that we were to go swimming. Ali pushed me in first and I almost froze upon entering the water. Just as I was about to curse her in front of the children I became aware of the really quite strong current. At first I joked and made it look like I was being dragged by the current, but then seconds later it was no joke. I couldn't stop myself. I just kept sailing away and couldn't fight the force of the water. It dragged me further towards the waterfall until finally my body was stopped by a large rock behind me. After that, we established a safer place to swim and then stayed there.
I ate alone at a restaurant called Little Sapa. I ordered Vietnamese spring rolls in rice paper with pork and vegetables followed by sweet and sour pork with rice. Both were excellent. Back at the hotel I played with the kids on the balcony. They were climbing all over me like a frame. I tried to tell them that I needed to go shower but they wouldn't let me go. I was determined to keep some of my energy for the 13 hour train ride we were about to endure.
