Mongolian Tour: Games and Kids

I previously mentioned how one my favourite things from our Mongolian trip was hanging out with our host families. One highlight in this regard was when we arrived up North with the families who trained horses. Another, was a a few days earlier when we stayed in a house rather than a ger. On all occasions children from the host families and their neighbours were pretty excited to have people to play with them. It was lots of fun spending a few hours playing volleyball, soccer, martial arts, chasey and other games with these guys:

Skilled volleyballer that I struggled to keep up with

Did not want to stop playing

Look at me!

A bigger kid!

Lover of whirly-whirls

Rob: the ultimate piggy-back 

These kids are going to be tired tonight

Collecting tolls at one of the coolest toll-bridges ever!

At the end of our stay with a family we would give them small gifts. As part of our fundraising for Nepali youth we accepted a challenge from Tim to fire a bow and arrow from a horse in Mongolia. Our plan was always to give the toy bow and arrow to a child after we'd used it. However, we thought that it would be a pretty boring gift for a Mongolian child, for all we knew they had a real one! It actually turned out to be the best gift we gave. The boy we gave it to (pictured below) was clearly delighted and he touched the bow and arrow to his head which Bimba told us was a way to show appreciation. We were so pleased he liked it! 

Rob catches a ride

A little one from the reindeer herder family. We had a fun flower picking game.
(Pick flowers, put them in flower pile!) 

UNO Special Rules: the game that transcends all barriers!

Locked in a disabled bathroom in China

People say that it is hard to get around China if you don’t speak Mandarin, at least compared to other countries were you don’t speak the official language. They are not wrong. I have found China more challenging than most every other country I have been to, even with my miniscule amount of primary school Mandarin. Some interesting experiences so far:

Failure to locate food in the third largest city in China!

We found ourselves in the centre of Guangzhou unable to locate any food.* Wholesale shops full of clothes, yes, but no food. 

I also have a ridiculous problem that I am embarrassed to admit. Growing up in Melbourne and going to the schools I did, I have been surrounded by elements of Chinese culture and food. I didn’t realise this until now, but unfortunately this means that I have a strong association between Mandarin characters and food. This has resulted in me thinking I have found a restaurant any time there are big characters out the front of almost any shop. Yes, like I said, embarrassing!

*We eventually found food but it took a minor hike!

We did find a lot of mannequins!

Getting stuck in a disabled bathroom!

I managed to get stuck in a disabled bathroom at Guangzhou train station. I had forgotten my personal supply of toilet paper tissues and upon seeing it wasn’t provided in the female toilet (the norm), I ventured into the disabled toilet. The light didn’t work and apparently the lock was faulty. I completely panicked with images of an IT Crowd episode flashing in my mind (the one where Roy gets caught using a disabled toilet in the cinema and pretends someone stole his wheelchair!) I tried the lock a dozen times, banged on the door and yelled lots before remembering that disabled toilets often have a panic button. Feeling my way around the bathroom I found the toilet and a button. On the other end was woman speaking Chinese…and luckily a tiny bit of English! Relieved, I spent a long time explaining I was stuck. Unfortunately I did not know if I was in the south toilet block or not. She told me to wait. This was of course when I tried the door again and, easy as you like, it opened. I’m still not sure if the gaping cleaner outside had let me out or if I was losing my mind. Luckily we had lots of time to make our train still and when I found Rob again, he wasn’t the least bit concerned!

Urgent bush toilet situation in the rice terraces*

During our time in Ping’An I had an unfortunate run in with an upset stomach. Around the half way mark of a 1.5 hours walk to one of the rice terrace viewpoints it struck. The need for a bush toilet was urgent and this was not one I will forget; there aren’t many places to go when you are amongst rice terraces. I will spare you the rest of the details, except to say it is not an experience I wish to repeat!

*Unrelated to language challenges but a challenge nonetheless! 

Lost in communication?

*Asking for tea at a random village between Dao Zhai and Ping An and receiving puffed rice in soup.

*Singing a line of a Mandarin song I learnt in primary school in the hope that a child nearby would know the song and teach me the rest of it.

*Potentially sitting in the restaurant car of a 21 hour train ride when we were meant to be at our own cabin. (Clue: the conductors were eating their meals there.)
*Fooling our ten year old neighbour into thinking I spoke Mandarin for the first few hours of a 21 hour train ride. Playing UNO to overcome all language barriers.

*Communicating with waitresses at a tiny café dedicated to mangoes via a smart phone translation application.

Puffed rice soup thingo with my little friend

Rob and our 10 year old neighbour - our most enthusiastic UNO special rules player yet

Tiny mango shop in the middle of a shopping strip in Guilin

SaPa and surrounds (Travel Dream!)

Seven years ago I first heard about SaPa from a fellow traveller in Hanoi. I researched the place and was sad to conclude I could not do it justice with the remaining time I had left in Vietnam. Since then I had hoped to come back to visit the rice terraces and people of SaPa. In fact, it was one of my main travel dreams for our big 2015 trip. We decided to spend 5 days hiking and relaxing in the area.

A view from the top

The views in and around SaPa were spectacular and it was fantastic to be outside hiking in fresh air again, even in the extremes of weather we experienced. Our first day hiking along and up rice terraces was extremely hot. Then at one point on the second day you could not see more than 5 metres in front of you due to the fog. After that, the weather was decidedly chilly but our time was still enjoyable.

Rice terraces filled with water

We decided to hike what is a fairly typical route to the south-east of SaPa. Hoping to avoid some of the crowds we often opted for the “hard way” over the “easy way.” It really wasn’t so busy, however, and I think even in peak season the crowds would not spoil the view.

Living the dream!

Rob balancing along

Slippery slope

Though the scenery is what draws many people to SaPa, for us, the best part was finding out about our guide, Chai, SaPa Sisters and the H’mong people. Only slightly before we arrived in SaPa I had found out about a trekking company called SaPa Sisters. They were linked with the hostel we stayed at and turned out to be an excellent organisation. It became very clear to us that becoming a trekking guide with SaPa Sisters is a great means for a woman to find independence. Though many H’mong women act as guides for treks around SaPa they often see little of the tourist dollar, with it instead going to tour companies in Hanoi. SaPa Sisters is run out of SaPa and the guides are paid directly by the customers and are entitled to maternity and sick leave and generally see more of the profits than they would at another organisation. Chai had worked with the company for five years, learning English from tourists and was very independent.

Our wonderful guide Chai

In SaPa we visited a museum which told us a bit about H’mong culture. If a man wants to marry a woman he will “kidnap” her. During this process she stays with him and his family and both parties decide if the marriage will go ahead. Chai told us about her views on the process. In addition to the fact that she was trekking on a day when women traditionally get “kidnapped”, she said she didn’t like the method and if a man had tried, she would not have considered marrying him. She said her husband was a good man and together they had a young toddler. I found it incredible she was 7 months pregnant with her second child during our trek! She said with her first child she had wanted to stop at 8 months but her Mum told her it was good for the pregnancy to walk. Perhaps the proof was in the pudding, so to speak, as her labour period was very short.

On the first night of our trek our homestay host was Ms Thanh in Lao Chai. Also there was a Newfoundland guest, Aimee, and her guide, May. It was great to talk to them and hear May’s perspectives on life. May actually worked for another company were the pay was not as good but she filled in with Sapa Sisters when they needed her. H’mong women are expected to marry and start a family young. May was about 19 years old. She and Chai told us that at 21 a woman is considered to be getting to old to marry. Chai originally did not want to marry and was 21 herself when she eventually did.

Ms Thanh, May, Chai and Kat

During our hike Chai pointed our some plants that were unique to the area. I was very excited when she showed us a plant whose leaves closed up when you touched it. It was an interesting defence mechanism and we couldn’t stop trialling it! In fact, I think it is so great that I have started to use the leaves folding in as a way to indicate when I feel sad or defeated. We also tried some berries and grass that Chai gave us. She warned us against a particular plant’s poisonous leaves because if you eat it you would need your stomach pumped or it will kill you.

You can eat these berries

On our second night we stayed at a larger family-run homestay in Ban Ho. A group of Americans and a couple of French were also guests that night. The duck I said hello to on the way into the house turned out to be dinner. I chose not to watch it being killed. As with the first night, we tried some of the local rice wine. This time it came paired with a confusing card game that no one really had a good handle on. (It was no UNO special rules!)

The family we stayed with in Ban Ho were Tay people and the village was made up with H’Mong and Dao people as well. There are seven minority groups in the surrounding areas of SaPa. I find it incredible that they so many groups living so close to each other that have each kept there culture so strong. It is hard to know exactly which ways the Vietnamese government and the Vietnamese influences their lives but Chai gave us a few indications. For one thing, generally the H’mong do not consider themselves Vietnamese.

A Red Dao woman at work

Little person at our Ban Ho homestay

Chai told us many more things about the lifestyles and traditions of the people in and around SaPa. When a woman marries they must move to live with their husband and his family, leaving their own community behind. This means many changes for the woman, especially if they are marrying into a different minority group and have to give up their culture.

This travel dream certainly turned into a memorable experience. It made me reflect on how lucky I am to have such opportunity in my life. I find the stories of Chai and the SaPa sisters inspiring and in a world where there is still much inequity between men and women (see recent UN Women report), they provide me with hope for the future.

Kat and Chai

Tips for visiting SaPa and surrounds:

*TREKKING: SapaSisters: we cannot recommend them enough. Chai was an excellent, knowledgeable guide and we liked their business model! 

*ACCOMMODATION: Graceful hotel was good value for a double (USD $16) and a nice home base.

*FOOD: BBQ on the street near the market for a tasty and cheap meal. We loved the deep-fried, pumpkin balls.

*GETTING THERE: In my opinion the relatively comfortable overnight train between Hanoi and Lao Cai is superior to the awkward day-time sleeper bus between SaPa to Hanoi. It doesn't waste your day time and the extra money can be considered your accommodation.

It is not too difficult to get in a mini-bus from Lao Cai to SaPa but make sure you have an idea of the costs before you get there as they will try to capitalise otherwise. 

Transport costs:
Train Hanoi to Lao Cai: ~ 600,000 dong per person
Mini-bus Lao Cai to Sapa: 100,000 dong per person
Bus SaPa to Hanoi: 294,000 dong per person

2 Months On: Packing Review

We thought it was about time to review our packing decisions. For a breakdown of what we initially brought see our post: "Packing hand sanitiser for a year?" Here are our thoughts, two months and three countries on:

Verdicts on the items of contention:

Sleeping bags (used many times)


Bottle opener (not yet used!)


Yoga mats (Used more times than I can count on my fingers)


Hair dryer (Brilliant in Malaysia and Nepal, less used in Vietnam)

Things we could NOT have lived without:

Sleeping bags/thermals (probably saved us from hypothermia at least a few nights)

Beanies (ditto above)

UNO (only a slight exaggeration, was great whilst hiking)

Muktinath: At around -15 degrees Celsius sleeping bags, thermals and beanies were essential

Not yet used!

Expandable bowls, utensils & bottle opener haven't yet seen the light of day. 

Thing we are glad we did not bring:

Tent

Rob's tigers

Leggings (still not pants)

Thing we could have done with:

Tiny stove (we probably wouldn't have used it yet but we are likely to ask a fairy to bring it to either Beijing or Dublin for us!)

Thing we could have done without:

Less underwear (Rob)

All in all, I think we packed okay. Though we have added a few things on the way, and lost a few things too:

New things

Day/hiking pack 

T-shirt for Rob and shirt for Kat (time to swap out some clothes)

Thongs x2 (Rob’s broke. Kat needed some)

Warm gear for Nepal (Proper jackets)
Gifts we have received (a certain 'China fairy' may help us here)

New t-shirt!

Wearing my new scarf and jacket outside 'Yac donald's' in Kagbeni

Lost things

Rob’s hat (left on a flight)

Our backpack rain cover (wanted to stay near the Himalayas, who could blame it?)

Rob’s mobile (Worst. Left in a dodgy taxi)