Epilogue

Day Twenty-three - Tuesday,November 23rd, 2010 - Return to Ha Noi

We are up for a sumptous breakfast on our luxury Junk at 07:00 am, followed by a trip on the junk's hand-rowed tender to a nearby lagoon, accessed via a low cave that permits entry inside, where the main attraction is a group of monkeys (baboob-like) that scamper up and down the cliff side or just getting into a tree and "shaking the bejeessus" out of it.
Back to the junk for some last minute downloading of photos from all of the group's photographers and saving to an external hard-drive, an early lunch, then we are tendered back to shore and begin the 4 hour trip back to Ha Noi, stopping off at a pearl factory in Ha Long - no takers it seems!
We arrive in Ha Noi around 4:30 pm at the Thang Long Opera Hotel, where we shower and change prior to the last supper at which Binh had thought to provide two birthday cakes, one each for Janet and Dan who turned 39 and 49 respectively today.
For Jean and Fay, Janet and George it was time to set out for the airport and the trip home - the former via Narita (Tokyo) but for the latter via Incheon (Seoul), and wouldn't you know that was the day the bl---y North Koreans chose to attack the South, so no quick trip into the city, instead a 12 hour lay-over in the lounge, but luckily our plane took off without incident. Now we are back home to a winterland of snow and sub-zero temperatures - a world apart.

Day 22 - Monday, November 22nd, 2010 - Overnight trip to Halong Bay

It's 3:40 am and someone is rapping on our sleeper doors telling us that we are in Hanoi and to get the heck out of our sleepers - so we do that, ending up on a barren looking platform all bleary-eyed. After some 40 minutes a bus arrives at the station square, which even at that time is "a zoo"!. The bus trip lasts about three hours - so make your washroom plans accordingly (unfortunately there aren't many good options!). We stop off 15 kms from Ha Long Bay for "breakfast" Pho or else. Then we head down to Ha Long Bay where we have a 3 hour wait till we board - someone discovers the BMC Hotel, where they seem glad to see us and we have a second breakfast and blog or play bridge

Day Twenty-One - Sunday, November 21st, 2010 - Bac Ha to Lai Cao and overnight sleeper to Ha Noi

"On Sundays there is a fascinating market attended by all the tribes: Tay, Nung, Dao, Flower H'mong, Giay, Ohu La etc - it's a great opportunity to see the local life style as thousands of people gather to sell produce and socialise. It is a riot of colour as everything from pigs, ducklings and wooden ploughs to scarves, gaily embroidered bags and jewelry are exchanged. The main that you will see is Flower H'mong, the mostclourful one in Vietnam.
After an early lunch we retrace our path back over Bac Ha pass and descend to Coc Ly where we walk ~ two km to board a long boat for a relaxing two hours on the Song Chay (Blue River), passing limestone cliffs and water buffalo on the waters edge. We return to Lai Cai town - literally the end of the line in Vietnam. The town was destroyed in the Chinese Invasion of 1979 (and subsequently rebuilt) andteborder crosing was closed until 1993. Thewe can look across the river to China. After a shower we change prior to dinner, then board the overnight sleeper train to Ha Noi."

Janet buys a silk sleeping sheet at the market for two bucks (that came in very handy later that evenng on the train), while Richard gets his ears lowered for a buck-fifty (three times the going rate for the locals).
Afterward, back over yesterday's pass, we get dropped off at the mouth of a paved country road that quickly becomes rugged red dirt (which later caused a frenzy amongst the shoe-boys at our afternoon hotel) en route to the Song Chay river passing through an ethnic village just before the "dock". We spend a pleasant hour going up then down river before disembarking at the village where we lunched yesterday, only to have another multi-course lunch. Around 3:00pm we arrive at the Thein Hai hotel on the station square in Lai Cao. No sooner have we alighted from the vans than shoe-cleaning boys seeing the red dirt on our Keens - one grabs a shoe, then a second grabs the other and it's not clear who is going to give them back and who should be paid - almost to the point of causing an internatonal incidnet. Anyway we spend a pleasant few hours there, shower and rest, the after a small meal we board the Hanoi sleeper at 6:45 pm. Several bridge players rediscover the pleasure and play until 9:30 pm after we all fall into somewhat tortured sleep.
We hear that there are 5 inches of snow in Vancouver, so we are grateful to be spared that! TTFN.

Day Twenty - Saturday, November 21st, 2010 - Sapa to Bac Ha

"We start the day with a fabulous 1,000 m descent (over 30kms) to the Red River valley on the China border. The scenery is spectacular and te biking wonderful - truly a day to remember. we will pass through ethnic villages where the local people wear their traditional colourful clothing. On reaching the river valley we all cycle together through the major town of Lao Cai to access the road to Bac Ha to avoid getting lost. The net 40km is flat until lunch at around the 80km mark. The last 20 km encompasses a 12 km steep (at tims 14%) climb to Bac Ha our final cycling destination".

Day Nineteen - Friday, November 19th, 2010 - Day off in Sapa

"Much of the attraction of Sapa is the H'mong and the Dzao people who sell their crafts at the market. There is a good selection of cafes, bakeries and restaurants in town, catering to all tastes. You may wish to simply wander around the town and the market, or to hike a short distance (4km) to Cat Cat village, where you will have the chance to see more local craft shops, the lovely waterfall and a short cultural show before returning to Sapa via a steep climb back up to the town."

A FEW STEPS BACK IN TIME TO CAT CAT VILLAGE

Day Eighteen - Thursday, November 18th, 2010 - Lai Chau to Sapa

At the start of the day we visit the local market and Marg makes a new friend in this "Silver Dzao" woman, so-called because of the elegant headgear.

Garry and Marg during the long and arduous ascent. Both are very strong riders, but Mike was way ahead - He's the "King of the mountain" while Marg is "Queen of the mountain".

"We continue on our way through scenic hills and valleys with one climb over Giangma Pass, before tackling the Hoang Lien Son Pass (aka Tram Ton Pass), Vietnam's highest at 1900m. [Note to Group 2 - if you haven't been using masks, bandanas, etc., today is a MUST on account of extensive road construction causing red dust plus smoke from outdoor fire pits as well as a cold enveloping mist - We suggest masks are a necessity from Dien Bien Phu onward!] Finish the day with another great descent to Sapa (popn 36,600 plus lots of European tourists, elevation 1650 km). Sapa is in a magnificent setting (so we are told - we arrive in a pea-soup fog) in the mountains and an attractive little town (crammed full of restaurants, including Italian and Indian as well as Pizza parlours). NB Keep a warm jacket and gloves handy for the descent, as it can be very cold at the summit (agreed!)".

We board the bus at the hotel to avoid cycling the Giangma Pass which is reportedly an 11 - 13% grade! En-route to the the top of the pass we visit a local market and have fun trying on
Silver Dzao ethnic costumes, bartering for hats and fancy belts, and taking photographs. The market is very colourful with several ethnic minorities in traditional dress selling ducks, chickens, live pigs, fruit, vegetables, meat and household items. Bingh literally drags Chris back to the vans and we head off into the fog. Gary, Chris and Marg hop on their steeds at 12.6 km, for a short lived downhill just before commencing the climb to Tran Tom Pass. The route is very steep, unsealed and extremely dusty. The whole road is under construction and at times it is almost impossible to see or breathe. Undaunted, we carry on and meet June, Janet, Jean, Faye, Mike and Jim who join us for the rest of the ride to the summit. The dusty, rocky road and chest pain took their toll on Janet, Chris and Faye who elected to rejoin the rest of Group 1 in sick bay and motor to the summit. The fog refused to lift and we can only imagine the magnificent scenery that we are missing. As we approach the summit, the going gets tougher and tougher and the last two km seem to go on forever. Gary is pushing on with about half of his lung capacity. Road construction continues almost to the summit. On arrival we are served a local cup of hot, naturally sweet tea by a local lady in her tarp lean-to. The tea is very much appreciated. Several packets of the dried leaves will be making their way back to Canada. In addition we taste some rice cooked in bamboo tubes and some very tasty BBQ pork. The temperature at the top of the pass is considerably lower than in the valley so we wipe the grime off our arms and legs and put on all our warm clothing for the exhilarating ride to the bottom. As we drop elevation, the fog intensifies and we brake as it is almost impossible to see. The fog is actually like a Scotch mist. Bingh leads us through intersections that we can barely see and finds our restaurant for a wonderful hot lunch. Most of us opt for tea to warm up, but Chris gets the bargain of a lifetime, an amazing large bottle of beer for 1500 dong ($o.75).

Once again we hop onto our bikes and cycle the last km to the Bamboo Sapa Hotel which has wonderful heated rooms and absolutely the best showers we have encountered on our tour. Dinner is a more formal affair than we have experienced to date and we are given time to savour each dish - of which there were many. The local Vietnamese Dalat wine is surprisingly
good.