A Train Ride and Some Trekking

Susie and I took an overnight train north from Hanoi to do some day-trekking out of Sapa, a market town at 5,000 feet in what they call the Tonkinese Alps. Victoria Hotels has a Sapa property, and they transport people the 186 miles from Hanoi in 'luxury' train cars that have beautiful wood paneling and comfortable duvet-covered berths. The trekking is through rice terraces and the villages of ethnic hill tribes. These mountain peoples' ancestors migrated from Tibet 500 years ago, and they still wear elaborate traditional dress and jewelry, including indigo-dyed clothing with intricate embroidery. They have their own distinct languages, but speak English, too. We saw mostly Hmongs, many of whom are Catholics or Protestants today. It's planting season, so the rice paddies are flooded with water that gleams in the sunlight. And everywhere you look there's another idyllic, breathtaking scene . . .