Hello from Laos!

Hello Everyone!

So, I'm officially in the capital city of Laos after a 24 hour bus ride from Hanoi! While I can't say that I enjoyed the bus ride all that much, I am happy to be here! When I last wrote, I was headed to Sapa for some hiking. Sapa was absolutely beautiful. It's a town situated up in the mountains and surrounded by villages who have built their lives and livelihoods literally into the hillsides. My group was quite international with 2 Australians, 2 Dutch, 1 Malaysian, and myself! We began our hike walking through Sapa which offers some breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains and the vast valleys below. It was a bright and sunny day with not a cloud in the sky.....a perfect day for a hike! We descended into the mountain valley which took us through terraced rice paddies, indigo patches, and vegetable gardens. We also passed massive water buffalo munching away in the rice paddies! We passed through several villages where the Hmong people live (a minority people group living in this region of Vietnam). As we walked through the villages, there were countless chickens, ducks, puppies, piglets, and water buffalo to observe. We arrived at our "homestay" which to my disappointment was more like a simple hotel than a night with a family. It was still nice though. We walked down to the river and went for a very refreshing swim which felt so good after a long hike under the sun. That evening, I walked up this road heading into the hills and met many of the villagers along the way. It was away from where most of the tourists hang out....so I was able to have more authentic interactions with the people which was nice. Everyone was very friendly and the views as I walked up were beautiful as the sun began to set. The next morning was chilly and the fog so thick in some places that you felt like you were hiking through a cloud! While this limited the visibility, the cool weather was nice and it was kind of cool hiking through bamboo forests with all the fog. We also visited some more villages and got to take a peak into the lives of some of the people living there. All in all, it was a great experience. That evening, I was on the night train headed back to Hanoi where I spent the next day. I visited the Museum of Ethnography which was quite impressive and documented the great diversity that is present in Vietnam. It was really interesting to learn about all of the different cultures, languages, and ways of life that are dispersed within Vietnam. I was kind of sad to leave Vietnam....it really is an amazing country! But, I'm excited to discover Laos as well! I'll keep you updated on how that goes!

love and miss you all,

Rachel