My last trip with VEO

Hi there! This time I would like to share with you my impressions from the Responsible Travel to Mai Chau. Although three weeks have already passed, I still look back to the moments I spent there.

However, the beginning didn't seem very auspicious. We were supposed to meet next to the VEO office at 6 am and to my dismay, it was already 5:50 am when I woke up. As quick as possible I ran out of my house and took a taxi. I reached 110 Thai Thinh street at 6:10 when everyone was already on the bus and I found out that my usual companion was already sitting with someone. A little disorientated and still not 100% awake I sat on the first free seat I noticed. And after a small introduction I found common ground with my new companion, Đức. I would have never thought that I would have a possibility to practice my German with a Vietnamese guy! I felt very lucky to meet him. The four hours of journey just rolled by when we were talking. Before we arrived in Mai Chau, we had stopped over to straighten our legs and take some pictures since the view was amazing. It was also when I could realise how many volunteers were taking part in the trip. At first I felt a little lost, unable to find familiar faces but then a lot of friendly people came closer to talk to me and it turned out that most of them don't know anyone, so we quickly related to each other.

Two kilometres from our destination we had to change to a smaller bus. Finally, we arrived. Although it was a mountainous area, the weather was still as hot as in Hanoi. What we noticed in Lac Village were very well-kept stilt houses and a lot of homestays for tourists. We could also see a few looms next to our guesthouse. We knew that region is very famous for its handicraft but we didn't expect to see the workshop just next to our homestay. At the very first moment I saw the colourful skirts I promised myself to buy one.

After taking a look around our homestay, we had lunch and then together with my Malaysian, French and three Vietnamese friends took a random path to discover the corners of the countryside. We especially enjoyed the silence and peacefulness of the forest and riverside.

After this relaxing walk, we started preparing for the volunteer work. The Vietnamese members of the teaching group had already prepared all the materials so our task was just support them during the lesson and correct the pronunciation. Unfortunately, not many students from the village turned up so there was not much to do for all the teachers. That's why the other foreigners and I decided to join the group that was transplanting banana trees. There we finally found ourselves more occupied. We had to detach the baby trees from their mother and plant them in the previously dug holes. Despite the burning sun, we enjoyed the work and felt very proud of ourselves afterwards. We hope that our work will help the inhabitants of the village. (Of course after the work, it was time for posing ;))

Even though we were tired, we came back to the open-air "classroom" where the kids were playing with the Vietnamese volunteers. It was very funny to participate in the games and realise that we don't need to speak the same language in order to have fun together.

 

Then we had some free time when we could rent bicycles or just walk around the countryside. I decided to immerse myself (literally) in the paddy fields.  

After getting rid of the mud, it was time for dinner. It was beautifully served on the banana leaves. We had also a chance to try sweet local wine sipping it from an enormous pot through long bamboo straws. For me it tasted like a raspberry syrup that I miss from Poland!

The dinner was followed by the Gala Night. After the experience from Coi Village where the heavy rain spoilt the party, I didn't expect much. I must admit, that evening was a big suprise for me. I didn't know Vietnamese people from that side. I used to think they didn't really like to dance or party but then I found out that they could also enjoy themselves and, what is more, without drinking alcohol (unless I missed some part of the event?). I am not sure if this would be possible in my country ;)

First the youngest participants of our trip performed the chicken dance, then we listened to all the four teams singing  popular Vietnamese songs. Later, there was a competition, we were divided into 4 teams according to the colors of bracelets we got. There were a few funny rounds with challenges like: throwing with the water balloon at a living target, a word quiz in English etc. Then we could try the traditional game of  Thai people - dancing between the moving bamboo poles. Finally, we lit a bonfire and started dancing wildly around it. However, I'm not sure if it was a good idea because the fire made us feel even hotter but it will be one of the most unforgettable moments of the trip. It felt like dancing in an open-air club with the lightnings replacing the mirror ball.

When we were about to order barbecue, suddenly a downpour began. We had to hide on the terrace under our stilt house. Then we joined the party inside the other team's house. Although there were so many people, I think it was the trip when we spent the most time having fun together.

On Sunday, as on every VEO trip, we had to wake up very early. The early birds woke up even earlier to observe the sunrise! I was too lazy and I decided to get up just before breakfast. Like in Sapa, we had typical Vietnamese porridge with chicken for breakfast.

Then we set off for a field game. We had to complete some tasks in our teams. First was walking on stilts, then passing the bottle using our knees without touching it, taking pictures with the traditional outfits and solving a picture puzzle. All in the beautiful countryside and filled with colors Mai Chau market.

After the game, there was even bigger challenge awaiting us. We had to climb over 1000 steps to reach the Chieu Cave. Luckily, on our way we could admire the beautiful view of Mai Chau what made the trekking more pleasant.

We also enjoyed the cool temperature inside the cave!

After the effort we made to climb ub to the cave we were too tired to go back to the village on foot. We rented electric cars that took us to the market where we could buy a lot of souvenirs. I was especially happy with one of my purchases - the traditional colourful pleated skirt. Before we left Mai Chau, we had time for lunch and the indispensable nap. 

Now tears well up in my eyes when I think that my Vietnamese adventure with VEO is over. I have seen how the life in the countryside looks like, how big tourist potential it has, I have met a lot of kind-hearted people and last but not least I have had an opportunity to put my small brick in this wall bombastically called development of the disadvantaged rural areas.

If you are also willing to experience this, join the future events of VEO, Next weekend you can take part in a trip to Mai Chau again :) You can find all the events on the Vietnamese and English Facebook fanpages.

My trip with VEO to Sapa

Xin chào! This is my second post on this blog and I would like to share with you my impressions from the last Responsible Travel to Càt Càt in Sapa.

Since I arrived in Vietnam I have heard a lot about this district. Unlike the other VEO trips organizes which are rather unknown places, Sapa is a very famous town every tourist wants to visit. I wanted to find out if it was worth its renown.

This time our departure from Hanoi was planned for Friday evening because the distance between Hanoi and Sapa is longer, almost 300 km. I already knew that it would mean at least 6-hour journey. We set off around 9.30 pm and with some short breaks arrived in Sapa at 4 am. Although it was not the first time I travelled by bus overnight, I made the same mistake as always, not taking a blanket and warm clothes for the journey (when we were leaving Hanoi, it was still about 35 degrees). And as always I was shivering with cold when on bus. Luckily, I was also able to sleep. After our arrival in Sapa, we had to wait for the sunrise in order to walk to our homestay because the road is closed for big vehicles. Despite the bags we had to carry, it was magical when we climbed down the road surrounded by the mountains with the shy sunrays appearing from behind the high peaks.

After we had been accommodated at homestay, we ate porridge for breakfast. But different from my country, in Vietnam porridge is usually served with meat, in this case with chicken and spring onion.

Then we had some time to prepare for teaching English, we agreed on some details of the class and we divided the activities between us. Although we were a little tired after the journey, we were impatient to meet our new students. This time Yan Mei, the foreign intern from Malaysia, and me were assigned to be the main teachers so the responsability was bigger, too. Luckily, the other members of the teaching group had prepared for us didactic materials like pictures and quizzes. At the beginning we were insecure but after a while the class started going smoothly. The children were shy but with the help of other assistants they were gradually gaining self-confidence, answering our questions and participating in the games. We rewarded the children with sweets after they had correctly responded. I was especially moved when one boy who had already got some sweets, refused to take more because he said he had already got enough. 

Before noon we came back to our homestay to have a lunch. We had also an opportunity to observe how our host was roasting chickens on open-fire and help her preparing the vegetables.

Now I can say that the roasted chicken I ate in Sapa was the best one I have eaten in Vietnam. Another house specialty there is pork meat with onion and mushroom.

As you can notice in the pictures, unlike during the trip to Coi Village, our team in Sapa was much smaller. There were only 21 participants so we could get to know and talk with almost everyone. And even though, the Malaysian girl and me were the only foreigners in the group, most of them could speak English very well. We could share experiences with the Vietnamese who studied in as remote place as USA, Egypt or Cuba! It was a great opportunity to talk about different professions, majors, hobbies and find out we all have the same aim and came there to help people who can't afford a better education or children who can't attend classes regularly because they need to help their parents on the farm.
After lunch the night journey took its toll, we were craving for a nap, so we just put a mattress on the terrace and fell asleep immediately. We had to wake up at 2 pm to go back to school and teach our pupils again, this time living skills. The teaching was alternated with games so that kids didn't get bored. Our volunteers were very well-prepared and the children had a really good time.

I already can't wait to teaching the children again in Mai Chau. It is such a gratifying activity!
There was also a maketing team which brainstormed ideas to improve the economic situation of our homestay and a group that was preparing a signboard to make it easier for tourists to find their accommodation.

After the class, we had some free time and we decided to have a look at the surroundigs of our homestay. There was a line bridge and a stream with a waterfall under it. We went downhills to take a rest on the banks.

Later on, we ate delicious dinner (or maybe it tasted so good because we were really hungry?) and had a chance to taste the local rice vodka. As a vodka expert from Poland I must admit that it was a decent tipple, strong but with some sweet savour. After everyone miraculously became more cheery, we took motorbike taxi to the town. We wanted to see the particular night market we were told different stories about. But it didn't actually look the way we had imagined it. 

It originated long time ago. The market, the place of goods trade and culture exchange, was held only once a week on Sunday, people living in the far mountain villages had to go in advance on Saturday to be able to join it. It is on Saturday night that young villagers got a chance to get to know each other by joining such activities as playing leaf-horns, playing traditional games, singing and dancing, etc. Although now most of the villagers have motorbikes and the town is full of vendors also on the weekdays, the tradition has been maintained. The performances filled with romantic melodies express fervent wishes for eternal love. Now there is even a modern stage where the performances are held. Not until the early hours does the market finish, leaving happy memories in the minds of many mountain people. After that night, some are lucky to find out the match and make an appointment on the next market. Many of them have later become partners sharing the same life for good and for bad.

There are also drawbacks of Sapa. I found some vendors really importune when they kept offering us souvenirs even though we refused to buy anything. However, I must admit that the souvenirs made by the local community were beautiful and (usually, but not always!) cheap so nobody had to encourage tourists to buy them. What is more, the prices in the coffee shops and restaurants were higher than in Hanoi! And the density of Western tourist was such that I almost felt as if I was back home.
After a walk around the town and visiting a café, a part of our group decided to sing karaoke and the rest continued shopping. Still we came back to our homestay quite early because we were already tired after the whole day.

In the morning we had fried rice for breakfast and after we had picked up our things, we headed for Sapa again. The trail that earlier seemed quite easy turned out to be quite hard when climbing it up. However, the views with the surrounding paddy fields and high peaks on the horizon compensated our efforts.

In Sapa we took our coach to go to the Love Waterfall (Thác Tình Yêu), which lies within Hoàng Liên National Park. Afer a while of trekking we approached the Golden Stream and reached the waterfall that spread a fine and refreshing mist over our sweaty bodies. It was quite an impressive place. Unfortunately, it was also a little crowded so the ones who wanted a picture with the desired background had to queue. On our way back to the bus we were walking along the Golden Stream again. It owes the name to the colour of its bottom. Of course we took a lot of photos as well :)

We continued the trip in Sapa. We ate lunch and left our luggage in a hotel where we could have a shower and take the afternoon nap (by the way, I thought it was only a Spanish habit to sleep siesta). In the rest of the afternoon we had free time so we could choose what we wanted to do. Some people decided to stay in the town and do shopping (with the daylight the souvenirs attracted even more than at night!), other participants chose to go to Ham Rong Mountain, a park with an orchid garden and... Mickey Mouse statue! I decided to join 8 other travel mates and go on a motorbike ride around Lao Cai province. From the perspective of low frequented road we could admire breathtaking views of the mountains surrounding Sapa with their highest peak, Fansipan. Despite the capricious weather, we enjoyed the trip a lot, so that we didn't want to go back to the town. We stopped in a small village about 60 km from Sapa where we could visit some enigmatic caves. We hadn't understood why we needed to change our trainers for the slippers they offered us until we entered the flooded grotto. Surprisingly, the dark and lonesome cave was full of small altars dedicated to the ancestors with offerings. We met there two guys from Singapore who soon became our friends and joined our ride. The more people, the more fun we had.

Unluckily, when we finally decided to wend our way Sapa, the ride was unexpectdly stalled because one of the motorbikes broke down. The front wheel stopped moving. It had to be taken to the closest workshop in the village where we waited for more than an hour. When the sun went down, we also realised that one of the vehicles doesn't have front light. Happily, we managed to reach Sapa before 9, helping each other mutually. Although we didn't have much time for shopping as we had previously planned, I didn't regret choosing the motorbike ride. I don't doubt I will keep the memories of the mountainous scenery for a very long time.

After dinner, we set off back to Hanoi (this time I was better prepared for the freezing temperature on the coach). We promised ourselves to meet again because of the friendships we stroke up there.

If you want to live this experience yourself, you should join the next Responsible Travel to Sapa on August 28. Only 2 weeks left! You will find a description of the event and a registration form on the page of the event on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/123689604641193/