vietnam: day 9

we arrived at laocai at 6am.  w didn't get any sleep on the train, as he's a light sleeper, and i got some.  our guide and driver picked us up and drove us up to sapa, a mountain village that contains 5 ethnic minority peoples.  we checked into our hotel, ate breakfast and took a brief nap.

we went to silver falls with the guide, whose sister is on summer break and came along as well, which was nice.  we had some sticky rice which is cooked in a bamboo stick, sweet grass tea and sweet potato at the bottom of the falls.

after another nap, we met up again to visit the village of the black hmong peoples.  they use the indigo plant to dye fabric black or blue, and many of them still live an indigenous lifestyle.

in the evening we walked around the sapa town market, and had hotpot for dinner.

i forgot to mention one very important fact.  the weather is much cooler up here, which is awesome.  i think it's about 20 degrees cooler here than in hanoi.  i couldn't stand 5 minutes outside in hanoi without drenching myself in sweat.  it's so cool here i have to wear a long sleeve shirt!