We spent 2 days “templing” but you could easily spend up 6 days as there is so much to see and know.  On our first day, we hired a knowledgeable guide that made a huge difference.  Not only did he educate us on the history and significance of the temples and associated religions, but he was invaluable on enlightening us about Cambodia in general.  There is still so much corruption from lower level (police) to the top government.  Also, there is so much hatred and despair between their neighbors Vietnam and Thailand.  It has been front news papers everyday we have been here.  But still, the people are always smiling and friendly!

The weather has been so much fun.  It gets so hot and humid that it is hardly bearable and then the sky opens up for 10 minutes and just downpours so hard.  Then the temperature becomes better for about an hour and them  the cycle begins. It downpours about 3 times a day but like I said, only for minutes and it is still above 30 degrees.

…many, many more photos in the Gallery above.

Ahh… the spa – that was relaxing.  I figured if I was going to do it, I should do it properly, so I visited the most exclusive spa.  It was as beautiful and professional as the one I visited in Dubai.  For only $40, I had a 100 minute full body Vietnamese massage and a facial.  The Vietnamese massage was a bit of a surprise as I didn’t really understand that it was a different style of massage. It consisted on standard techniques of deep tissue hand massage and then all of a sudden I felt a tool on my back that was quite hot. It was applied with hard pressure and then all of a sudden I felt the oddest sensation – part pain, part pleasure.  The tools were different sized glass cups. The rim is covered in some kind of “tiger balm” remedy and then massaged into your muscle.  At the end of each stroke, suction has formed and they pull it off creating  a lift of the muscle.  I don’t exactly know what the benefit of that is, but it was good.  Oh…I almost forgot…I had a pedicure later too.  Couldn’t resist – only $5 for pretty beach toes.

We had some dirty fun at the Trap Ba Hot Spring Center.  We soaked in private mud pools followed by a mineral water power hydro shower and then a soak in a private mineral water pool.  After we finally got all the mud and mineral smell off (not too bad especially to the thermals of New Zealand). our skin was so soft.

We enjoyed some culture too… visiting the stunning Long Son Pagoda then climbed the 200 stone steps to the giant Buddha sitting in a lotus blossom that over looks the city.  At the base of the Buddha was series of memorial alleys with gravestones of many Vietnamese soldiers lost in the war.

I made a cardinal sin of any traveler a few days ago and am now regretting it.  I had a drink from the street vendor with ICE…I knew that was a mistake but only stopped drinking it after half of it was gone (it was really good, fresh orange juice and I was thirsty). Needless to say, I have had some harsh stomach cramps and visited many toilets in the past 2 days.  I managed to find some crystallized ginger in a market today that is helping somewhat.  Another travel note/warning worth mentioning… the first time ever after almost 20yrs of traveling, I had my backpack slashed open.  I had my luggage (with a Pac-Safe backpack lock on it) stored at a reputable hotel while on a hike and someone cut into it with a knife.  The odd thing is that nothing was removed – had my laptop and other electronics in there too.  Lucky, I guess but proof that that kind of stuff happens unfortunately.

…more photos in the Photo Gallery above

We boarded a night train from Hanoi and arrived 9 hours later in Lao Cai.  Lao Cai is in the North and boarders China. We traveled to Sapa (1300m) which is where we started our 2 day trek into several Hill Tribe villages.  We basically trek along the Muong Hoa River where the villages are within walking distance of eachother, but the people have their own languages, customs, and do not marry outside their own tribe.  They wear a mix of their traditional & western clothing, but it is their head dresses and colors that differentiate themselves from the other tribes.  The younger generation is now being educated by charity (Unicef) founded schools and is being taught Vietnamese so that there is a common spoken language.  Many of the young also speak broken English picked up from visitors but are not taught it in school.

The first village we visited was Lao Chai which is where the Black H’mong people live. They wear the black & indigo headset.  You can see most of them have blue stained hands from dying clothes with the indigo leaves.

The second village was Ta Van Village where we visited the Zay people.  We stayed overnight there with a local family in a “homestay”.  They are a descendent of a Chinese tribe and have similar features and culture.  They were so welcoming.   Three generations in the home including the most adorable 9 month old baby – never cried, no rashes or other baby-issues and already potty-trained! The meal they prepared was incredible and all cooked over a small fire in a wok and a few pots.  We got involved and helped make spring rolls.   Then served with dinner in a recycled water bottle was Rice Wine – 25% alcohol.  Everyone makes their own moonshine.  It tastes like Saki  – I wasn’t a big fan but Elias seemed to enjoy it.  He and our guide, Zoom, drank the entire bottle.   Then for breakfast, they made the best banana & honey pancakes I have ever had – again over an open fire.

Then we walked half a day to Giang Ta Chai where we visited the Red Dao people.  They wear very colorful, embroidered clothing and a red scarf on their head.  The women shave off their eyebrows and some of their head as part of a custom – it means they are married and men shouldn’t flirt with them.

It was really beneficial having Zoom, our guide. He was full of interesting facts about all the different Hill Tribe People and Vietnam in general.  Everyone we meet always ask us if Elias and I were married and we just thought it was a general question…but really, they were curious because in Vietnam it is illegal to live with your boyfriend. You can be fined and jailed.  If you like a girl, then the boy then stays 3 days with the family and at the end of the stay, the girl can decide accepts him as her boyfriend or not. This is very common practice – even in the cities with modern families.

The water is so warm. We spent the afternoon swimming and kayaking around and through the islets and karsts. There were only 8 people on our boat and we would kayak around to deserted beaches where we didnt see anybody. It was perfect.  Lots of fish everywhere – not as colorful though as the fish in Thailand.   You asked if it is smoggy (from the photos) – but it isn’t smog…it is just the air from the heat and humidity.  The temperatures have been on average around 30 degrees.  It is clear in the morning, but by 9am, it starts getting hot and the visibility becomes less.  We also explored a huge cave that is a haven for fisherman during the monsoons and lastly visited Monkey Island.  Monkey Island had a steep hike up to the most beautiful view point…and of course, it had lots of monkeys.  And the best part of the day was that Elias did not get a sunburn. (this is a big deal!)

Strolled through the markets.  Once again, found some very interesting things like jars of pickled snakes, scorpions, & seahorses…something to cure any ailment.

We went to the three beaches on the island that have huge, fancy hotels on them.  We had to check out the prices and they were still under $100usd.  Amazing!  Our place is called Cat Ba Dream which is on the harbour with seaview; a new hotel and only $10usd! It really is ridiculous how cheap it is here.

The noise of the city has finally got to us.  We have decided to head to the beach – Cat Ba Island.  Getting there was a bit of a mission.  It involved a bus that after 2 hours just dropped us off in the middle of an intersection in some town that we had no idea where we were. Thankfully, a very nice Vietnamese student came to our rescue – he was watching us walk in circles from the other side of the road and spoke good English. He hailed us a taxi and directed us to the pier.  This is when we really got screwed.  We bought a ticket for the high speed boat to take us to Cat Ba Island…only, when we walked to the end of the pier, it was a huge rust bucket – the kind that CNN always reports that sink! (picture below) We reluctantly jumped aboard and laughed.  It was only minutes before a New Zealand couple who was also douped, joined us.  Us four tourists and 200 locals.  We finally made it (2hr later).  So much better to be on the island.  Not much noise or traffic – perfect.