Travel Plan

A Trek Through Sapa The Northern Mountains Of Vietnam

The night is cool and crisp and we are boarding our train from Hanoi Vietnam to the northern mountain town of Sapa. Our train is a modern overnight sleeper; clean comfortable and sparkling white. The rest of the station is like stepping back in time. Ancient boxcars darkened by time are parked in the yard and steam is rising in the air. People donning conical hats are huddled around open fires. Some squat on small plastic stools eating noodle soup with chopsticks. As I look out the window I feel as though it is 1969.

We are led to our bunks by a petite and quiet women from ODC Travel. The company based in Hanoi where we booked our fourday threenight excursion. For 75 each all meals accommodation and transportation are included in our trip to see the magnificent rice terraces and to experience the traditional lives of the hill tribes of Sapa.

It is not long until I am peacefully sleeping. Rocking with the rhythm of the train I dream of the adventure ahead. 4:30 am arrives quickly however and I awake famished and thankful for the complimentary sweet bread and bottled water.

We have arrived in Lao Cao a small town on the Chinese border. As I step onto the platform a brisk cold wind awakens my senses. Luckily a van is waiting to take us the rest of the way so we don’t have to wait in the morning chill for long.

It is a harrowing journey up the winding mountain road. We put our lives in the hands of our speeding driver who dodges herds of water buffalo oncoming traffic and local villagers herding their oxen. Whizzing around each corner we are thankful to not have plunged off of a vertical cliff into the deep valley below.

We arrive a little shaken but all in one piece to our hotel where we meet our guide Xin. He is a friendly young man who grew up in the area and as we will soon learn enjoys singing and playing the guitar. We will be spending the next two days with him as he takes us through the mountains to visit the Hmong and Dzai People who live among the rice terraces.

The morning is beautiful. The sun in shining the chill is gone and the blue sky is full of fluffy white clouds. After some tea and a hot breakfast we shed our layers and begin our journey into the hills.

The scenery is magnificent and as we venture farther from the town my breath is taken away by the incredible view unfolding. Thousands of rice terraces filled with water glisten in the sun for as far as the eye can see. Every turn becomes more overwhelming and I am struck with awe by the giant terraced mountains surrounding me.

Barking dogs guard their territory as we pass and gaggles of ducks waddle by following their leader with frenzied dedication. Villagers from the Hmong Tribe speed past us carrying heavy loads in their woven baskets. They walk with ease as I gasp for air climbing the steep path. As we continue to hike Xin tell us about the people and the history of the land and how it has changed.

The Hmong village we are visiting has come to depend on tourism and he tells us not to feel pressured to give money or to buy jewelry to the people who will be approaching us. Not wanting to contribute to a begging society I chose not to give children the “bonbons” that they have come to expect or to give money for nothing. Instead I gladly buy some silver bracelets from a lady who invites us into her home for a glimpse of tribal life.

The house is stuffy and dark and a fire is burning in the kitchen. We huddle around the flame as Xin points out that the Hmong people have two fires in their dwellings one for cooking the other for warmth. Many generations live together under one roof and the house consists of a large open room. It is a fascinating experience but I feel a little uneasy to be staring at these people who have put their lives on display.

Leaving the Hmong Villages behind we venture farther away from Sapa and deeper into the mountains. I am relieved to not have people pestering me for money and no more children asking me for candy.

We make our way to the top of a mountain where Xin puts out a picnic lunch and we dine among a herd of water buffalo. As we look into the deep valley children stop by for a visit and we share some cookies and fruit. It is a place of overwhelming beauty.

The contentment is short lived however because we have a lot of ground to cover to make it to the village of the Dzai people where we will be spending the night. Being farther away from Sapa and not a part of the usual oneday tours this tribe is less corrupted by the tourism industry. They are completely selfsufficient at harnessing water from mountain runoff for irrigation. They grow their own rice sugar cane peanuts and vegetables. Every child attends school they raise their own livestock and weave and dye their own fabric for clothing. This is truly a people who are at one with the land.

We stay with a family that has four generations living under one roof. Their house built by the hands of villagers using traditional methods is gigantic and surprisingly cozy in the brisk mountain air. It takes one year to build a home and everybody pitches in.

We are treated to a feast after we settle in and enjoy their friendly hospitality. The 94yearold grandfather keeps my plate full urging me to eat more and we stuff ourselves until we cannot move. After dinner the rice wine is served and they will not take no for an answer. So it is “bottoms up all night”. Xin translates for us as we tell them about our country and they tell us about their way of life.

Later that evening we walk to visit other houses and the celebrations continue. Rice wine is flowing as we sit around the fire in their kitchens singing songs. The local people are eager to hear songs from our country and there is no getting out of belting out a tune. They applaud with enthusiasm and then Xin treats us to a traditional Vietnamese folk song before heading back to bed.

It is a cool night but we sleep well under a thick warm blanket and awake a little groggy from the abundance of alcohol the night before.

Saying goodbye to our hosts after a breakfast of fried eggs and a warm baguette we slowly walk to the mountains feeling the burn in our legs from the day before. We trek to the high waterfall overlooking the valley walk through a bamboo forest and once again witness the beauty of gigantic rice terraces.

A jeep picks us up at the end of our trek to take us back to Sapa where we sleep comfortably that evening in our small hotel. Our last day is spent exploring this beautiful town. We hike up Ham Rong Mountain to see its many gardens and stone forest shop for fresh fruit in the market and relax on a terrace overlooking the mountains. The people are friendly and as usual the scenery is magnificent.

Northern Vietnam is a fascinating experience. It is rich in culture and history and diverse in landscape. Vietnam will surprise you sometimes shock you but it will always keep you enthralled.

About the writer:  Dave and Deb are Canada’s Adventure Couple. They have traveled to over 35 countries where they have taken on extreme adventures from Cycling from Cairo Egypt to Cape Town South Africa and Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Every new adventure takes them to remote corners of the world where they paddle hike scuba dive and trek their way around the globe. http://www.theplanetd.com

Arabuko Sokoke National Park

Arabuko Sokoke National Park is located about 110 Kilometers from Mombasa town between Malindi and Kilifi towns and covers about six square kilometers of the coastal strip. Its gazetted as a natural reserve. The park is home to endangered birds and insects and is the largest tropical forest existing in Eastern Africa.

The coastal region is mostly a tourist zone with great tourist facilities and destinations.Most of coast region is covered by National parks and reserves. This region can be well traveled by motor vehicles since it’s flat with a good road network.Its usually hot and humid all year with very low rainfall .
The cold sea breezes sweep through the land lowering the temperatures by day. The temperatures usually range from 2230 degrees during the day and slightly cooler at night. The region has the largest number of tourist establishments and the best in the country. The white sandy beaches are an attraction on their own with many visitors choosing to enjoy sunbathing in the early morning sunshine.

The Arabuko Sokoke National Park receives rainfall of 900 mm1000mm in a year. Its easily accessible by road or air using the Malindi airstrip and Mombasa Airports. Its an excellent location for leisure walks spotting and photography of different kinds of endangered birds Butterflies and the coastal tropical and mangrove forests.
Accommodation facilities existing near the Arabuko Sokoke National Park includes the Temple Point Village Ocean Sports famous Hemingways Blue Bay Village Barracuda Inn Turtle Bay Beach Club.There is plenty of accommodation in Malindi town and a vibrant night life for the young at heart to keep them entertained all night through!

About the writer:  Paul is a Researcher and Reporter on Kenyan Tourism. For More Information on National Reserves and Game parks in Kenya Please Visit His Site at xenopages.com Kenya’s Online Tourist Guide

An Omniscience Center About Taranaki

Being an out standing knowledge center in the heart of New Plymouth from 2003 Puke Ariki is a combination of a library and a museum providing solid information covering all the aspects of Taranaki region. It happens to be the first purposebuilt combination of museum library and the visitor information center and won the Creative Places Award for 2003 and the Strategic Arts Initiative Category for its new concept and creative features.

The center consists of two department buildings neighboring the Tasman Sea offering superb beauty to the area which was used for land reclamation until 1905. Mentioning a major feature of the center The Maori Gallery located on the second floor of the North wing is displaying a perfect merge of traditional and modern facets of the area. It illustrates the history of Taranaki Maori exhibiting the arrival of new people from Hawaiki and the European immigrants that happened in the beginning of the last century.

The Richmond Cottage also displays key aspects of the past history of area Taranaki while making a colonial home including a heritage garden which consists of herbs vegetables and flowers. A main educational feature Discover it! is to be found in the old library as the youth can participate in some educative activities and special programs on fossils minerals. It also comprises of music videos a virtual forest and a virtual dress up wardrobe that shows with its screen the picture of the guest who wears desired clothes.

In addition the visitors could be served coffee and snacks at the Daily News Caf while reading news papers or new magazines that are updated every day. One who drops into the Caf gets exposed to many sources of world hot news such as BBC CNN and The Daily News which are screened on the three televisions on the wall and its clocks gives the times of different capitals around the world.

Tourists can also make bookings for accommodation facilities by the information center and New Plymouth hotels are widely known in the region as a chief member of New Zealand hotels providing wonderful hospitality services.

About the writer:  Naveen Marasinghe is an Online Marketing Executive at eMarketingEye which is a search engine marketing company that offers integrated Internet marketing services and specializes in serving the online travel and hospitality industry. http://www.emarketingeye.com/