On what was supposed to be our only full day in Sapa, I just tried to spend as much of the day alone as I could. Having felt suffocated a little bit by the group with which I was traveling, I got up, went to a buffet breakfast restaurant and then to a coffee shop. (The same coffee shop that I’m in now.) The following day, we were scheduled to go on a seven-hour hike to visit nearby villages and then spend the night in a Vietnamese homestay. While this would have appealed to me if I were doing it solo (Is the subjunctive correct here? I don’t really care.), the idea of spending all that time with everybody was not so appealing. I ended up running into the tour leader in a Sapa street (it really is a small town) and telling her that I was going to cut off from the group and remain in Sapa, where I would meet the group when they returned to pick up their belongings, before heading to Hanoi. From that point, actually from dinner the night before, I was on my own and that’s pretty much how I needed it to be at the time.
Now, truth be told, even by myself, there isn’t a bunch to report about Sapa. In the town, I walked around a lot; ate at a bunch of different cafes; and went to the local market. I have eaten a lot of stir-fried noodles with chicken in Sapa and I have developed a taste for it. As touristy as this town is, I don’t expect any of the Vietnamese meals that I’ve had are “authentic” but I guess they will provide a good basis for me to judge other meals since I will be in Vietnam for another two weeks plus.
I did buy some goods from one of the local women who was hawking stuff on the street. I bumped into her on my first day and we talked for about ten minutes because she was very nice and her English was excellent. The next day, I bumped into her again and I agreed to buy some stuff from her and her partner, whom I had also met the previous day. The transaction was sort of surreal. We went into an alley, not a scary alley but for a little shelter from the motorcycles and cars cruising down the streets, and she pulled out her basket and started showing me goods. Unfortunately, about a half-dozen other local sellers saw us go into the alley and they followed us. All of a sudden, I was surrounded by eight little Vietnamese women pulling out various local hand-made goods and saying, “buy from me.” I ended up just buying from the two that I had met the day before, but I felt like I was running a gauntlet through the alley to escape.
Even though I spent what amounts to about three days in Sapa, there really isn’t much else to report. Since the weather was so craptastic, and because I needed to start booking flights, trains and accommodations for my post-Bangkok trip, I spent a lot of time indoors at the hotel or in restaurants and cafes. In a few hours, the group will return to Sapa and later this afternoon, we will board an overnight train to Hanoi. Having had an opportunity to spend significant time alone over the past few days, I should be ready to return to the group without feeling claustrophobic. When we get to Hanoi, one person leaves the group and another eight to twelve will join. Hopefully, I will find the changed dynamic refreshing. In any event, I’m caught up now and I’ll write a little more after some time in Hanoi.
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