Hi everyone. Thanks for adding your comments to the messages below - we always enjoy hearing from you.
We've spent the last two days in Sapa, a beautiful mountain town in the north of Vietnam, not far from the Chinese border. The area is populated by ethnic minority hill tribes, dressed in their brightly coloured traditional clothes. The area is stunning - tiered rice fields cut into the side of steep mountains, the tops of which disappear in the mist. We've actually had 2 days of unbroken sunshine which has been great, but which has made the trekking very hot work!
The locals are very friendly but they are continually trying to sell tourists their embroidery, which gets a bit wearing after a while. We've made a few purchases (including a new bracelet you'll be glad to hear Keith), although we've tried to not load ourselves down too much so early in our journey!
We feel a bit sorry for the minorities here. Although they live in a beautiful place they seem to spend their whole time (from 6 to 60 years old) pestering tourists. This wouldn't be so bad if they weren't all competing with each other - they all sell exactly the same goods. Maybe a bit of diversification might help? Having said that, they are apparently a lot wealthier than they were just a few years ago, so they must be doing something right.
OK then, its back on the train to the hustle and bustle of Hanoi tonight. We'll try to upload some pictures of Sapa when we get back. Bye!
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