chi mua tna mung cang ca - No Money No Honey

Sapa- (just a quick over view)

The phrase no money no honey is a popular phrase not really sure where it started but its all over shirts here and locals say it frequently.
Similarly the phrase "Same same but diffrent"is also all over on shirts. Apprently it started in Thailand becuase all teh shops are all the same but ( not really) diffrent.

Linneah and and I have treked around sapa. We stayed a nice place with an excellent view. Much nicer then I was expecting. We had a real shower and a real toilet. On our frist day we took the single trail down to Cat cat Village. We were able to see the tallest mountian in Indochinia. So many rice fields it was crazy. Lots of steep down hill walking on light path. We tried very hard not to fall. Then We came back to town for a ethnic lunch and a nap. Then we went on a hike to the top of the mountain in Sapa. There was an orchid garden, and Ostrich farm, views of Sapa, and near by Dragon Mountain. Then we came back walked around the town and then sat on our deck to read and relax before we went out for dinner. For dinner Linneah and I decided that wine sounded like a nice accompaniment to dinner, so we got the Apple wine. We were expecting a regular bottle of wine. Instead what we had ordered was the local eqivelent of sake and they don't have people order bottles of it. I think the restraunt staff was laughing at us. But the apple wine was very good and we have some left (it came in a water bottle) for another night.
Today we got up and went on another trek. We went to Lao Chai, a catholic village and then to Ta Van, a buddist village. One of the the woman from Ta van followed us the entire way from Sapa to the village. Her ussual walk home. The trek was about 9k's of steep up and down hills. It is crazy that she does that walk at least twice a day. We saw a lot of schools along the way. I am very impressed with te\he amount of schools here in rural villages. There is more of a focus on education here then the other countries we have been to. We found out that they are goverment funded so that may be why there were so many. We took the 10 minuet bus ride back from ta van becuase the tour company doesn't have us walk the 10k's back to Sapa. We take the night train back to Hanoi tonight. Then we have a day and a half there and then we are on to Hoi an. and then I start my 3 day journey back to NJ.