Just like the Thai's love their king so much they are happy to send an older Swiss man to jail for longer than required really, just to send a clear lesson for defacing an image of the Royal monarch, so to do the Vietnamese still love former President Ho Chi Minh.
Ho Chi Minh, or 'Bringer of Light', or any other of his some 50 aliases you wish to call him by, is affectionately known to the nation as Uncle Ho. His body is preserved at a mausoleum in Hanoi, despite his express wishes that he be simply cremated. It is a strange experience, walking in pairs with Vietnamese families on their day off to go and look at the body of their President, deceased since 1969, having them chatting, laughing and teasing each other until the moment they file in to the temperature controlled room where their Uncle Ho lies, motionless in his glass sarcophagus, looking like he might make up at at any moment, or maybe twitch a finger, and have them fall deathly quiet in awed respect of this man.
Personally, I could not tell whether the body was the real deal and subsequently sent to Russia every year for 'retouching', or whether the rumours of Madame Tussaud's getting a new contract are true. Its an interesting thing, these people loving a leader so much - I can not begin to imagine Australians feeling that way about the 'Honourable' John Howard. But if you can give your country independence than I guess you're a fairly stand up bloke.
This communism thing is a funny thing. Its apparently quite hard to find a job here, but everyone seems to have one. I do know that for an OK job you mist pay and 'authorisation license' to a government official to even have a chance. The more you pay the better your job might be. No wonder so many people work in the rice paddies here. On the flip side, most people I have seen do have jobs, however they are completely superfluous - a tollway has a guard to slow traffic, then a ticket seller, then a ticket checker, then another guard to usher your vehicle in the right direction out of the tollway, and they all have additional people in the booth for some reason I am yet to work out.
Hanoi was pleasantly raining for much of Sunday. It gave me a chance to lounge around and read while vainly hoping that the streets might be shiny and clean when next I stepped out...
As I mentioned I was bound for Sapa that night. The overnight train left at 9.55pm (on the dot) and I have to say that this was by far the best sleeper train we have been on this whole trip. The sheets were clean and already on the bed, and there was even a nice little lamp on the table under the window. Unfortunately this did not automatically guarantee a good night's sleep. I don't think I slept at all that night, so when I arrived at Lai Cau at 6am I was surprisingly grumpy.
Thankfully the view on the drive from Lai Cou to Sapa was spectacular, so I was very quick to forget how much I would love to crawl into bed and sleep for the rest of the day, which was lucky because this was not an option. We were to breakfast, shower and meet our guide by 10am for a trek through the highlands some 20km from Sapa.
As we left town we were joined by a small group of minority villagers - friendly and inquisitive, but with a definite agenda to part us with whatever cash they could manage. All the women sew brocade to sell to the tourists while their husbands toil in the fields, or possibly drink at the neighbours place in the off season. The trek was beautiful, hills on either side of us and a swiftly flowing stream between. It wasn't too tough going, but a nice bit of a stroll. At lunch there seemed to be a changing of the guard accompanying us. This time we managed to get a group of 13 (plus 2 babies strapped to their backs) who joined us until we finally sat down at our homestay some 12-15kms from Sapa. Unfortunately the aggressive sales pitch continued for about another hour, before we got out the cards and started dealing out, trying to send a very disinterested message.
The family we stayed with were lovely. We sat and watched the mother prepare dinner, hoping to pick up a few tips on Vietnamese cooking, but as soon as the chips were ready (which we all knew how to cook...) we were ushered out of the kitchen to eat. The kitchens are so simple - a small fire pit in the centre of the kitchen with a grate over it, and a few pans, a wok, some sharp knives and a truck load of vegetable oil and Uncle Ho's your uncle. When the rest of the food was ready we joined the whole family to enjoy some great food and company. Com (the father) pulled out a couple of suspicious bottles and as a good host, poured everyone a shot of home made rice wine. Without knowing the exact alcohol content, you would not be far wrong approximating 30-40% proof, and it would put hairs on your chest. Immediately another round was poured, and then a third, and so on and so forth. I had lost count quite quickly, but there was a point when we protested the next shot being poured, but when the hosts only knew a few words in English that went something like 'one more', how could we refuse their generous hospitality. It was a funny evening, and probably one of the most enjoyable where we were really welcomed into the family.
Next morning I was up at 6.15 to try to catch the sunrise over the hills, but it didn't work out exactly as I'd planned. The sun rose, but in the valley, the effect was just missed. It was a sunny morning so I sat on a rock and gazed about, writing in my diary, to the great interest of the locals. Every single person who walked by on their way to work stopped and stared at my writing - I really didn't think it was that bad...
Our trek for that day was shorted, but pretty much straight down and straight back up the valley. I was whinging to myself about the 'tough paths' until about 8 people trotted by us with concrete roof slabs about 1m x 70cm strapped to their backs. After that I just put my head down and kept going. It was a great day, and probably the best experiences I've had in Vietnam.
I'm back in Hanoi now, and have met a few of the people I'll be joining on the China trip. A couple from Perth and a girl from California. I don't think the group is full, so hopefully it will be a nice small group of nine.
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