here, there, everywhere

One more day in Hanoi left to go (I've spent most of today lazily in pursuit of free WiFi and too many cups of ca fe sua), so here a few more disorganized photos of Sapa and environs; on my birthday, I hired a guide who walked me down the mountain through rice paddies and muddy slopes down to another village, where we stayed the night. The fog and rain thinned some as we picked our way downhill, though not by much, and I learned that a pair of cheap sneakers hastily purchased in Hanoi are not an appropriate substitute for real hiking boots (though Chai did the whole thing in a pair of bright purple rainboots and carrying an umbrella that she twirled jauntily the whole way downhill as I flailed and slipped around inelegantly in the mud), though I miraculously managed to go the whole day without falling down.

The homestay in the village itself was a lot of fun, though I forgot to upload any photos of it, so I'll have to post those later; at any rate, after our hike downhill, we warmed up by the fireplace in the house, which was populated by two mischevious (teething!) puppies and a distinctly singed-looking cat who abandoned his post inside the fireplace to leave a little sooty cat-shaped imprint in my lap :-) The next day, we hiked halfway back up the mountain and caught a motorcycle all the way back up into Sapa, where I was thankfully able to shower off most of the mud I'd accumulated before getting back on the train home.

Back in Sapa, I didn't have much to do except wander around and buy more bracelets from the women wandering around the market area. The photo above (which I took with her permission, obviously) is of Mue, who was carrying her baby on her back.