Our adventure started the night before at Ga Ha Noi, or Hanoi railway station to those of us unfamiliar with the Vietnamese tonal system. We were escorted rather frantically to our berths, on the unfortunately named Ratraco carriage, on the 21.10 express train to Lao Cai. 350 km in ten hours never passed so slowly, think we must have missed the "express" bit... We lurched through the night, Anthony got a great nights sleep, Gill and David tried to sleep amidst the cacophony of locals selling food and drink and the emergency stops of which the train seemed particularly fond. Having said that, it took a while for us to look out under the window blind at dawn and realise that this wasn't just another stop, we were here!
Our destination for the next two days was to be Topas ecolodge in Tan Kim, a two hour drive from the railway station. The usual dilapidated wooden houses, kids, dogs, mopeds, pot holes and road diggers lined our route as we climbed ever upwards into the dusty hills. The road became increasingly rough as we made our way along the precipitous road to the lodge. The lodge is only 18kms out of Sapa in distance, but years away in time... Life around us here looks like it it hasn't changed in hundreds of years.
We were greeted by screeching Red Dao ladies, in their red embroidered hats, all desperate to sell their wares. After a sleepless night and a rough road journey, the last thing on our mind was a piece of grubby sewing, however ethnic!
Topas ecolodge has some seriously poor Tripadvisor reviews and we were really pleasantly surprised by how charming and cool it is. A number of thatched cottages perched atop a mountain, high the valley, reminiscent of a Tuscan hill village. The valley was a complex pattern of beautiful rice terraces. We will be happy here. The views of towering mountains, chain upon chain of paddy fields, distant villages with smoke rising from their hearths completed this bucolic scene. We were really lucky to be able to see all this so clearly, often up here it's cold and misty.
Our first foray, accompanied by the lodge chef, Kuhn, was a three hour round trip hike to some local villages and school. The first half hour was accompanied by the determined Red Dao ladies, but our sticking power was greater than theirs, as they ran out of enthusiasm a few miles in and we still hadn't been persuaded to part with any Dongs! One or two of them had a mobile glued to their ears! Initially following the mid level rough road, we soon turned off and descended on soil paths through small farms and paddy fields. Ducks, pigs, water buffalo, children and people working in the small fields all showed an interest as we passed. We crossed the river on a seriously dodgy looking suspension bridge and then a climb back up the other side to Ban Moi village, school and government house. Kids were practising for some festival and we enjoyed a few minutes in the shade watching them parade flags and do a spot of marching. Cigarette toting teachers watched over this motley group.
We were invited into a local woman's home, it would be impolite to comment on the house, but it was a lovely gesture but not somewhere you'd want to stay for dinner. She was dressed in her traditional clothes and had a tiny baby similarly attired strapped to her back. We surprised ourselves refusing the offer of rice wine...
Child care here general appears a little lacksadasical for Western tastes. The kids, including the very young, run around without an adult in sight, carrying their big knives and walking very close to the edge of the steep drop into the valley. Younger kids are in charge of the very young, take a look at this picture where the older kids were loading this tiny child onto a white sack and letting it slide down the dusty hill as if on a toboggan. The tiny child appeared puzzled, the older kids thought it a hoot!
But the heat was building as we walked back and so a few G and T's were very welcome as we slumped into some rather comfy armchairs overlooking the valley. A perfect day.
Day two was a much more strenuous outing, about 15km over rough terrain from the mountain top to the main valley floor to Ban Ho village. We were joined by a great South African couple, Mandy and Stefan, so it was the five of us who faced the onslaught of the Red Dao ladies this morning. David made a new friend...
Kuhn was our guide again, and we were taken to his Tay village for lunch. It was a long, long steep descent through farms and paddy fields. The was sun baking the hard clay soil as well as us... Some of the descents were almost vertical so some rather undignified sliding on one's bum was called for!
Ban Ho village is a charming village on the valley floor, a series of simple wooden houses, open living downstairs and enclosed bedrooms. It was with some bemusement that we heard that the dogs around the village were all for food. David asked what happens if someone gets attached to a dog and doesn't want to eat it. the answer was simple, then we sell it to someone else and they eat it!' Fair play. But what we have liked is that yes, there are a few Westerner up here, but life carries on around us. Unlike some places, the people are not dressed in national costume for our benefit, this is their daily dress.
David and Gill were not looking forward to lunch, feigning tummy ache from mid morning in case they had to refuse! We lunched at a lovely little house, with a few pigs, cats and dogs, veg growing the garden, The beef noodles and beers were lovely. The last stretch was to some cooling waterfalls just outside the village. Our feet needed a bathe in the cool waters.
An added benefit here is that unlike on the Tripadvisor reviews the only wildlife we saw was friendly, Ant now wants a goat to take home.
What a lovely place this is, tucked away, worlds away from anywhere, a perfect two days.
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