Oh if my mother only knew ...

I'm feeling incredibly uninspired at the moment. I just can't wax lyrically today. Maybe it's the heat, or the drilling outside or maybe it's just the general craziness of Hanoi that just getting to me a bit.
Sapa is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Myself and a Mexican lady and a couple from Germany and the Netherlands caught the overnight train to La Coi which is just on the Chinese border and from there we took a bus about an hour to Sapa. When we arrived the entire town was covered in a thick mist. We were all a bit worried that it was going to be not the best day in the world to be treking through the mountains. I went upstairs to have a shower and when I came back, I noticed, oh gosh there's a Church on the other side of the street. Our guide met us and before we headed off we were joined by two Spanish ladies, again by bus for about 35 minutes and then the trek started. It was great fun but hard. I am such a klutz, I was terrified that i would fall and break, twist, sprain or dislocated something. But with the help of the locals, who helped to guide me along, i did pretty okay, i only fell over twice, which was about the average, so that wasn't too bad. We then stopped for some lunch and then out guide asked, do you want motorbike or do you want to trek for another 3km. I opted for the motorbike. As did the two Spanish ladies, the drivers said 80,000 dong, which is about 5USD. It was way overpriced but the drive was 8km and we were kind of stuck. I had never been on a motorbike before and what an introduction, down the side of a mountain on the dirt track with no helmet. Oh if my mother could have seen me she would have died! The home stay was beautiful the setting idyllic and I slept very very well. the next day we went for a walk in the village and visited the local primary school which was provided by UNESCO. The little children ran out and were all shouting hello hello hello and trying the shake hands, some of the them were so tiny so cute. Then we visited a waterfall and then back to the homestay for lunch.
I really for the life of me don't know how some people can live with themselves. After lunch, the guide again asked, motorbikes or hike 3km up mountain. 80,000 dong. I opted for the motorbike as did the Spanish ladies. When we got to the top of the mountain, i paid my driver after telling him that he had ripped me off, he laughed, it was funny, the Spanish ladies threw a 20,000 dong note each at their drivers and refused to pay the rest. Then one of them started having a go at me for paying the full price. The drivers, insulted, threw the notes back at them and refused to take it. I mean a deal's a deal. When our guide arrived, there was a big kerfuffle and in the end the ladies boarded the bus with their 20,000s back in their pockets. The guide said that he would have to pay the drivers. that's 10USD for him, probably more than he got paid for dragging us threw the mountains in the first place. I was furious. I don't think that i have been that angry about anything in a long long while. So when we got back to Sapa, myself and the German lady and the Dutch guy paid the guide for the Spanish lady's bike rides.
The reason i have no photos on this blog is because my camera was stolen when I got back to Hanoi. I was stupid, and I was lucky that i didn't have my wallet and other more important things stolen. I bought a new camera the moment I realised, but I am now having problems getting the USB to work. I went back to the Army museum today to retake the photos of the captured US planes and tanks. It's so interesting.
I really really like Hanoi, but it's just that after a while the constant honk honk beep beep, and moto moto cyclo cyclo hallo hallo gets on your nerves. You get asked the same questions by every Vietnamese person you meet,
(1) where are you from? If I say China that really confuses them, it's funny.
(2) what age are you?
(3) Are you married?
(4) how long are you in Hanoi? To which i reply, Hanoi, no know i thought i was in Bangkok.