The Indian Contractor visits Vietnam and China on a Shoestring

The word unconventional has been used here because the method we used to access Bac Ha was unconventional. It seemed the only way to reach Bac Ha was by bus so we booked a bus ride. Only to find out the next day that it was a guided tour. All we wanted was a bus but we ended up with a tour group.

And I felt weird getting into the bus filled with package tour people who were talking about the importance of swimming pool and airconditioning in hotels.

The tour guide spoke english and it was quite clear. However one english lady had problems with him and picked on him for every little grammatical mistake he made. I would have liked to hear her speak Vietnamese with the guide picking on her.

We picked up our last passenger at 0830 and set off for bac ha via Lao Cai, the gateway railhead for Sapa/ BacHa. The guide gave some useful info on Vietnam including why the Vietnamese called the toilet "the happy room". It felt weird because just about everyone there came from star hotels. I felt like a beggar on an Indian train.

The road from Lao Cai to Bac Ha was a bit curvy and steep so the driver switched off the aircon so the bus could use all the energy to negotiate the slopes and bends.

We reached Bach Ha around noon, and the guide said "this is Bac Ha market, that is the way to market".

The british lady went," did he say way to market? I cant believe this!"

I just shook my head.

The tribal people here were dressed in very colourful dresses and the market was different from the ones we had seen earlier. On top of veges, drinks and garments they had pigs, horses and buffaloes for sale!

The vegetable and fabrics section were just like any other market I had seen. The liquour section was strange in that the rice liquour was sold in Jerry cans! See the pictures.

Check out the pics to see what I mean. The beasts were just tied or left to wallow in the pool while potential customers did some window shopping (without the windows ofcourse).

While we were shooting an interesting buffalo (pictured below), we heard a scream behind us. And some loud cursing sounds followed. We turned back to see someone running in our direction. He ran a short distance before coming to a stop at a 5 meter fall. His pursuers, a man and a lady, stopped too. The one getting chased shouted something at the two of them that made the man even more furious. He picked up a rock and was going to fling it at the guy. But the lady stopped him and they hurled more words at each. It was not clear who was in the wrong. But it was more or less clear who was getting the brunt of the beating. The pursuer then walked over to the other guy and held him by the collar and started talking in a loud voice. Times like this I wish I had a word to word translator! But I am sure he was wishing him (and possibly his mother) ill. Then, without hesitation he just threw him down the 5 meter drop. The man falling down managed to save himself from serious injury and walked in our direction. He was smiling and telling the audience(a big one by now) gathered on our side the story. If only I knew what it was... And if only I had a tele lens to give you guys a frame by frame sequence of the events! (Mean aint I??)

We were given only an hour or so, so we had to rush a bit. Damn those guided tours! It turned out we rushed too much and reached our bus earlier than others. We finished lunch with a french stewardess who bought 6 bags of garments from the locals. She was travelling with her father who proudly told everyone that the vietnamese still used french cheese on their breads!

We departed at 2 pm and visited a village on the outskirts of the Bac Ha town. This is where I was a little disappointed with my tour group and guide. The guide gave us special instructions like not to touch the children on the head and not to enter the kitchen. But contrary to what he told us, he brought us into the kitchen and started guiding us around. The owner of the house, seated by the door did not seem too happy at the sight of 10 people crowding in his little kitchen.

Then we walked around the village and saw some kids playing around. This is where the second disappointment came. Three kids were seated by the bushes and they were just having a chat I guess. Now imagine this scene. " Eight or nine people crowded around them and started firing their cameras. I felt sorry for the kids who had now become labaratory specimens. And the firing of the camera was not like a sniper rifle(one shot one "kill"). It was like an orangutan with a machine gun. Each one took atleast ten pictures of the kids. Judging by their expressions they were certainly not enjoying the attention. And it did not help that they had the kids cornered with no where to run. I regretted taking this guided tour.

We left the village soon, much to my relief and visited the chinese border at Lao Cai. I am no fan of Chinese border towns so I topped up my water supply and went back to the bus. On the return journey to sapa, I was sitting next to a dutch lady who was talking to an australian. She was telling the australian how some american girls were expecting rooms at $6 a night. She thought they were crazy and that they ought to be dreaming to get a good room for that rate. Now I know its bad to be nosey but I could not resist, so I chipped in my two cents worth of info and told them I had one such room and that the views and facilities were good. At which they started talking to me and asking me all kindsa questions. I could see they had never spoken to backpackers before. When I heard their plans and budget I gulped. I would not be able to travel like them anytime in the near future, but then again, I would'nt want to.

We reached Sapa at around 6. Then the same routine followed. Dinner, shower, sleep.