Sapa is the most popular place to go in the Far Northwest amongst budget travelers and packages tourists alike. By using Sapa as a base you can hike off to more remote ‘traditional’ hill tribe villages and sometimes you will be offered a bed in a village for the night. Sapa was originally built as a hill station in the early part of this century and, in winter, gets bitterly cold. If you are going to be visiting Sapa in winter do not forget the winter woollies.
Sapa is preparing itself for the continuing tourist boom considerably well. Behind Sapa, towards Phong Tho is a high pass forming part of the Hoang Lien Mountains that were known to the French as the Tonkinese Alps. This range includes Fansipan, the highest mountain in Vietnam at 3,143m, which view at dawn could be spectacular.
There is a weekend market in Sapa during which the town fills up with hilltribe people selling their wares. If you want to see these tribes as they "traditionally" live (as opposed to flogging jackets to tourists), either go for a hike or head over to Dien Bien Phu from Sapa. This stretch has the most traditional people you will see in the whole of Vietnam. It seems that most tourist groups pile into Sapa during the weekend for the market. However, travelers have reported that during the week is a much better time to catch a glimpse of the real Sapa avoiding from a big hassle of tourists.
You can hike in the surrounding area and visit a number of fairly traditional predominantly Mong hilltribe villages. Further afield is the colourful Red Zao, Dzay, Tay and Xa Pho people. A home stay in the Tay village would be unforgettable experience.
Thứ Ba, 22 tháng 1, 2008
Thứ Hai, 7 tháng 1, 2008
Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City
Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City
Saigon, officially re-named Ho Chi Minh City is a thriving metropolis with an unavoidable western flavor or influence offering quite a different experience than Hanoi. While Hanoi is a smaller city where you can savor more traditions and the obvious traces of the red-tape which can be found in any capital city, Saigon is in continuous transition as it takes in the best and worst sides of "doi moi" movements (renovation of the country) based on the market economy rules. This is the commercial hub of Vietnam, the industrial muscle of the nation. This is the rendezvous of business people and business movers.
Saigon has seen itself grow at a rapid pace and its skyline is constantly changing as multinational interests seem to be " fighting for a seat on a plane into the country". Doi Moi and the lifting of the crippling embargo have opened the floodgates to an unstoppable torrent of foreign capital. Now everyone wants to be friends, after all, there is a lot of money to be made. After twenty years of forced sedation, Vietnam is now stirring but Saigon is wide awake.
For many of the inhabitants of Ho chi Minh City, nothing has changed. The streets still swarm with life. People buy and sell things, bargain, cook, wash, sleep, eat, drink and live on its streets. Despite the large amount of money being thrown around, the filter effect is yet to manifest itself and thousands of people have to survive on virtually nothing while the people at the top of the filter enjoy enormous profits. Cyclo drivers, often unable to do other work due to government policy, earn next to nothing and are still feel the pressure of being on the losing side. As they bed down for the night on their cyclo, across the street from the La Lai Hotel, wealthy Vietnamese arrive in their Mercedes Benz for a night of indulgence.
In summary, Saigon faces all that is good and all that is bad brought on by the new movements of Vietnam. It obviously promises lots of interesting things to discover, while it remains an exciting centre for shopping and hanging around as it moves to regain its once famous name; "the Pearl of the Far Orient".
Saigon, officially re-named Ho Chi Minh City is a thriving metropolis with an unavoidable western flavor or influence offering quite a different experience than Hanoi. While Hanoi is a smaller city where you can savor more traditions and the obvious traces of the red-tape which can be found in any capital city, Saigon is in continuous transition as it takes in the best and worst sides of "doi moi" movements (renovation of the country) based on the market economy rules. This is the commercial hub of Vietnam, the industrial muscle of the nation. This is the rendezvous of business people and business movers.
Saigon has seen itself grow at a rapid pace and its skyline is constantly changing as multinational interests seem to be " fighting for a seat on a plane into the country". Doi Moi and the lifting of the crippling embargo have opened the floodgates to an unstoppable torrent of foreign capital. Now everyone wants to be friends, after all, there is a lot of money to be made. After twenty years of forced sedation, Vietnam is now stirring but Saigon is wide awake.
For many of the inhabitants of Ho chi Minh City, nothing has changed. The streets still swarm with life. People buy and sell things, bargain, cook, wash, sleep, eat, drink and live on its streets. Despite the large amount of money being thrown around, the filter effect is yet to manifest itself and thousands of people have to survive on virtually nothing while the people at the top of the filter enjoy enormous profits. Cyclo drivers, often unable to do other work due to government policy, earn next to nothing and are still feel the pressure of being on the losing side. As they bed down for the night on their cyclo, across the street from the La Lai Hotel, wealthy Vietnamese arrive in their Mercedes Benz for a night of indulgence.
In summary, Saigon faces all that is good and all that is bad brought on by the new movements of Vietnam. It obviously promises lots of interesting things to discover, while it remains an exciting centre for shopping and hanging around as it moves to regain its once famous name; "the Pearl of the Far Orient".
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