Joc's Journeys

We are back from our 2-day trek into the hill tribe areas around Sa Pa, and it was great! We had very good weather until this morning (when it rained), and the scenery was gorgeous.

I think it was the same route I did years ago when I was here, but it was remarkable how much things have changed. Sa Pa itself is much busier, most notably in the motor bike and car traffic, all of which comes with almost perpetual honking and a good bit of exhaust. Given that tourism seems to be the main economic force here, I think it's extremely unfortunate that this has happened to the city because it really negatively affects the experience. I would expect it to permeate the guidebooks soon. The hill tribe sales forces are also quite aggressive, to the point of harrassment. I might actually be interested in shopping their wares, but I am afraid of what might happen if I show the slightest interest.

Our guide this time was "Pit", and she was a funny girl (19?). She was very light on the educational aspect of the trip, and didn't keep pace with us one of the days, but was relatively pleasant. We were speculating that her general apathy, however, was indicative of the increased tourism in the area. I asked her at one point if she had been the guide for our friends a week earlier (Matt, Neda, Tanuka and Jeff coincidentally used the same company), and she shrugged and said she doesn't remember names - too many people come through. Mai, my guide from 2000, was much better! Nevertheless, she didn't get us lost.

To the highlights, though: the scenery is still fantastic. I am so impressed that they have turned such rugged countryside into productive farmland! The first day was supposedly ~15km long but only took us 3ish hours; the same with the second. There were many other people on the trail the first day, but fewer the second (much more desirable).

I also had the opportunity to work in a paddy - great fun, exclusively because when my back got too tired I could stop. What hard work! I went with Pit and the mother of the household in which we were staying - about a 5 minute walk from the house to a 10-tiered steppe. I learned that the paddies are cut out of the mountain by hand. Each ends up being about 5-6 feet wide and 30-100 feet long. Somehow they flood them, and then water buffalo are used to dredge the inside of the paddy so it's relatively level and well tilled.

The first stage of the process involves spreading rice seeds by hand across the top. The rice then grows in like thick grass. Once it's relatively tall and green, but before it produces rice, it's then pulled by hand and relocated to new paddies with a good bit of space in between each stalk, apparently so it grows better and can be more easily harvested. The replant is the part of the process that I participated in.

On the way to the paddy, we passed some men working on the edge of one of the paddies, and they pulled out of the ground what looked like a 1-foot snake. I asked Pit if it was a snake, and she said no. "Are you sure?" "Yes, it's not a snake." "What is it?" "I don't know the word for it in English." "I do: snake!" We then bantered a little more about maybe it was a leech or a lizard; I maintain snake, she maintained it wasn't a problem, so I put it out of my mind.

We walked around to the far side and then descended along some pretty steep grass, left our sandals on the side, and then stepped into the paddy. The mud was extremely soft, slightly warm, and up to my upper calves/knees. She gave me a bunch of the rice and we got to work. Turns out I'm not a bad rice planter! I required some guidance (my natural instinct was to plant the rice too far apart). She also taught me how to lead with my fingers so that the rice roots are better planted and so the stalks stand up straight. I got the hang of it, though I was very slow - I was planting about 2 feet to her 4.

We did 1 paddy, and then stepped up to the next. The transitions were tricky though, because the boundaries between the paddies are about 8 inches wide and still fairly soft mud. I hopped up relatively readily, but keeping my balance wasn't easy, particularly when part of the wall collapsed. There goes the white girl, into the other paddy, already planted! Fortunately, they were laughing at me as I scrambled out and tried to fix the rice for them. Then I had an incident in which I started to tip again, but instead of stepping into the paddy, reached across the other side with both hands, successfully not falling, but then catching myself in the bridge position with no obvious next move. (I somehow tipped myself up and got out of that one). I think part of my challenge was that I outweigh most of them, plus am obviously not used to flying around on these tiny muddy tracks.

We planted two more half-paddies. Other animal highlights included a large bulbous spider (I kept my cool), and a tangerine size ball of frogs eggs (if I understand the translation correctly). It was quite an experience.

I did the first paddy without too much trouble, then when we turned to the second, decided I could hang if they could. Also managed the third, despite a cramping back. But then I finally had to admit that these tiny women were far stronger than I (I could barely stand up straight), and declined my next batch of rice.

They seemed relatively pleased with my stamina though, and I felt good about contributing a bit. (Though I also felt a good bit of pressure knowing that this was their food we were growing! (All subsitence farming)). Unfortunately there are no pictures of the event - my broken camera was too much for Pit to manage, so I just have the memories. I was given a tradiational hat to wear, though, for those of you trying to picture it!

The rest of the evening was equally eventful, mostly because of the 13 (small) shots of rice wine they "offered" us. Led to some good times, including Aaron renting a duck to chase, then buying it for $10USD, then deciding not to chase it after we learned that it would be eaten the next morning if we did (I had declared myself on the duck's side and was prepared to run active interference). The family (who was leading the drinking) also had a fun toy: a badminton-sized racquet with electric strings that would zap mosquitos when you swung it at them. All in all it was a good time, though the next morning I was feeling a bit sub-par.

(Side note: there have been far fewer mosquitos on the trip than I anticipated. Since we've started, I've gotten about 8 bites, 5 of which were on one of the climbing days in Chiang Mai. So far in Vietnam, 0!)

The next day we walked for another few hours and ended up at a waterfall. The fall itself was relatively short - 12 feet maybe? But the current was quite strong, and initially very cold. We got in, swam closer to the waterfall to get a look at how crazy the kayaking landing would have been (giant rock that you would have nosed right into), and then scouted an area for some cliff jumping. Carl displayed his usual routine of back flips, and I did my usual routine of pencil jumps. Good times. Last night was far more mellow as we all categorically refused the offers of more rice wine.

Today we woke up to clouds and the prospect of a steep climb back up the same trail we had come in on. We opted for the motorbike option instead, which then turned into quite an adventure when the clouds broke into rain. In general, we were going slowly enough that a fall would only have meant mud and a few bruises (we were all riding behind local drivers). Nevertheless, it was quite exciting. One "highlight": we stopped for no apparent reason, then asked Pit what the matter was. "They are building the road" (accompanied by a poof gesture with her hands). "They're dynamiting?!" we clarified incredulously. A minute later: BOOM! from up ahead, as limestone flew into the air in some not so small chunks. We waited for a few more blasts and then continued on our merry way. Note that the communication system between the guy stopping us and the dynamiters was a series of whistles. As I said, quite the adventure. We had originally planned to rent bikes when we returned to Sa Pa and then explore Pit's village, but given the weather we opted out of that in favor of a long internet session!

Next stop: Halong Bay. Fingers crossed for some more good weather - this is a place I have been looking forward to revisiting...