Sapa Stitches

Think Sapa, think mountains, terracing, tourist, street sellers, minority people, noise, cool fresh air and........colourful stitches!

The first thing that hits you here is all of the Hmuong, Dzao and other minority peoples women trying to convince you to buy THEIR hand-stiched articles.



Intricate and colourful materials sold by persistent but delightful women.



Working in small village houses all around the area, women make the material, dye it, stitch and sew it.





And what they create are blankets, scarves, hats, bags, belts, jackets, skirts, bracelets, cushion covers - just about whatever you can think of. And actually, the produce is really quite spectacular.



And the stitchers themselves are absolutely gorgeous women. This is Mai Linh, a 30-ish Dzao (pronounced sort of like "Zow") girl who lives in a 100-year old house who stiches and cooks - but more about her on a later post. The basket full of material she showed us was amazing, and several bits and pieces were purchased for princely sums.




....... including this hat, which became No. 2 of Hillary's growing Vietnamese hat collection.



But I just could not resist having a bit of fun with these ladies who were leaning over the street railing of our restaurant, cajoling us through the window to buy their stitches.

Ahh Sapa.........

Lao Cai Market

After spending the day in Hanoi, the three of us (that would be Ingrid, Hilly and I) got picked up at the hotel by Mr Phuong, Hoai's boy firend. He got us on to the train, which left for Lao Cai at about 9:30pm. We had a four berth carriage which was almost brand new and very comfortable. It's an eight hour overnight ride, getting in to our destined location at about 5:30am. After a quick shower at the local hotel (just near our project office) we grabbed a local breakfast and then struck off in search of the market where all that food came from.



The Lao Cai market is not the same as my favourite one way down south in Rach Gia. It's a street market, running down street, around the corner and up around yet another street.



Lots of food - veg and meat a plenty. And lots of squating women wearing friendly faces to proffer up the goods.



And its a place to meet and greet. Mums looking to stock up on bamboo root, kids running around looking for toys and grandpa doing the errands.







And the sellers are friendly in Lao Cai. But I really don't think they see too many westerners cruising around - most visitors would normally hop off the train and then head straight up to Sapa. So anyway, I said hello to one of the ladies and she just started to laugh. I smiled and laughed back, but she just kept on laughing and chortling. After 20 seconds or so, it was becoming a tad disconcerting! And then I realised she was also rubbing her nose through her tears.

So my narrow (but rather cute?) nose is actually an incredibly skinny nose in this part of the world, where wide is wonderful. I think she thought it was one of the funniest features she had seen in a long time! Gives you an idea how exciting life is in Lao Cai!!



Breakfast included vegetarian pho (noodle soup) and pure mango juice. Fantastic!

Anyway, after this quick look around, the girls headed up to Sapa. I was a few hours behind them before taking the 45min trip by car up the windy road to the hilltop town.

Lazy Daze

Today has been a lazy one - bit of a re-charge after a fast and furious week. Didn't rush out of bed, checked the email, downloaded the latest LNL episode from the ABC website, sank a bit of porridge, haircut at Axa (I should have shares in that place), collected Hilly and went around the corner to the picture framers. After a bit of artistic banter and H imposing her creative will, we steered course for the dress shop and then the jeweller! Thank goodness we got hungry - snapped her out of her spending spree! I devoured some spicy chicken and veg in pita bread with a vinagarette hinting of ginger - perfect.



We ran into James (who is over from GHD Melbourne) and sank a few Japanese beers with him, sitting in Mojo's (our Saigon equivalent to Coco's in GWaves), watching the world go by.



James had arrived yesterday and had already bought 2 fitted suits, shoes, shirts and stuff. This morning he was dragged around the city by a wild cyclo driver.

Anyway, a few other Aussies stopped in to say g'day and to shelter from the rain that came out of nowhere - as it will in the rainy season! Then finally we got down to business ....................



food shopping at Phuong Ha's !

Hilly has found this place down on Ham Nghi Street, which is a few blocks away from the centre of town. Very clean, very full, and very hot upstairs! They often follow you around - making you think they don't trust you. But actually, they just love to help you choose things. And as soon as the plastic basket is even half full, they spirit it away and give you another one. Ahhh...nice ladies. And they always slip Hilly a few extra chocolate bars or something.



PS - Hill is pretty proud to point out that she is the tallest person in the picture! Haha.