May 16

 

Great day to be a Jackrabbit!!!

Day three in Vietnam! Today we woke up around 7am in Sapa after a thunderstorm last night. All of us students woke up to a fantastic mountain side view. The weather was significantly cooler than in Hanoi, being around 65 degrees Fahrenheit and cloudy. We started off the morning with breakfast which included fruits, veggies, noodles, sausages, bacon, bread with jams, and pho. A lot of students opted for bread or bananas for a more filling breakfast!

We then checked out of our hotel and boarded the bus to head to our walking tour around the countryside. Before boarding the bus there were a ton of older local village ladies waiting outside our hotel asking us questions. We met a lady named Chi Chi and she promised us that she would meet us at our main stop before hiking. And she wasn’t kidding, as we were greeted off the bus with a swarm of the same village ladies. The first part of the hike was straight downhill. It started to rain which made the trail slippery. Luckily no one fell, and the local ladies would grab onto our arms and help us down the trail. After a long descent we stopped at a bridge and the local ladies started asking us to buy things from them. This included bracelets, wallets, headbands, bags, and stuffed animals, all hand embroidered by the locals. Sophie talked to one of the local ladies as they were walking down, named Mihn Li who was 28 and had two young children. Eventually, Sophie did buy a little embroidered water buffalo for 150,000 VND (5.79 USD), which she wished she had bartered a little bit lower for.

Rice paddies in Sapa

We continued our trek and found some local farmers that were tilling and planting rice. Our tour guide, Tony, got permission from the farmers for us to plant some rice. Everyone took off their shoes and jumped right into the mud in the rice patty. Lots of photos were taken and everyone got to experience planting rice by hand. We asked Tony more questions about the rice planting processes and Northern Vietnam. We learned that Northern Vietnam has four seasons with winter being November-March making it possible for only harvest one crop per year. Southern Vietnam is different because it has a wet and a dry season, which makes it possible for 2-3 crops to be harvested per year. While rice is the most common crop, farmers also plant corn, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and various herbs. The rice is first planted in a nursery rice patty, where all of the crops are close together. Once they are green and grown, they are harvested and then replanted in other plots to spread them out so the farmers can increase yield and growth.

Planting rice with farmers

After washing the mud off of our feet, we continued our journey, hiking up very steep hills. We passed through a couple of villages and waved to the locals. We passed by some rice patties being tilled by water buffalo. Water buffalo help work the soil which makes it softer and a better environment for the rice to grow. Compared to the tractors and current farming practices in the states, this was a very different sight and really put into perspective the differences of the two countries. We walked up very steep hills, and the group got very spread out depending on everyone’s walking pace and the terrain. Most of us would either stop along the way to take pictures and reapply sunscreen. At one point there were water buffalo tied along the trail and some students stopped to take pictures with the animals. After walking around 4.5 miles for about 3.5 hours, we grouped back up at a local school. We finished our trek in Lao Chai where the buses took us back to Sapa for lunch.

Plowing rice paddies with water buffalo

Livestock evaluation, Vietnam-style

Lunch was at the Red Dao House and was a fan favorite by many of the students. The food included pumpkin soup with bread bites, fried potato balls with veggies, cooked eggplant that tasted like butter and brown sugar, rice with chicken or grilled pork, and some fruit for dessert. Many of the students enjoyed the meal, especially the fried potato balls,  and it was nice to cool down after our long hike. After lunch we stopped at some shops close by and some of the students took the opportunity to buy some souvenirs. We then walked to the bus to head back to Hanoi on our 6-hour bus ride. Most of the students slept, journaled, or read a book.

Showing off treasures

Dinner was at Little Hanoi Restaurant. This evening we had another 5 course meal, starting with chicken egg drop soup and spring rolls. This was followed by cashew chicken, teriyaki pork and garlic eggplant. Shrimp was a new addition to our meals which was served with a passionfruit sauce and we ended the meal with another amazing plate of fruit. After dinner we headed back to the hotel where most of the students are exhausted from the long day of hiking and bus riding, to rest up for an early wake up tomorrow!

 

Trinity Back, Sophie Kyllonen, Paige Foster