23rd May 2013 - Sapa and native village homestay

After 9 hours of train-sleeping, I reached LaoCai at 5:30am. Saying goodbye the mates I met on the train then I was off to join my tour. Boarding the bus and I first met all the backpackers that I will spend one night in the homestay with. All of them are white people and for sure I felt a bit alienated. Although there were these  two NUS exchange students, Charlotte and Elina to be in the same tour with me (how lucky is that, meeting NUS people everywhere in Vietnam), that didn't really ease the situation much. So here is just a few photos to how you guys who they are. :D (we never really took group picture though, how wasted is that, ahhhh). 

From left: Greg (English), Tobin (Australian), Dave (English), Ewan (English), Jack (English)

From left: Elina (German), Charlotte (German), Ingo (German), Jon (English), Anna (English)

So, back to the awkward story, I did talk a bit in the beginning with Anna and Tobin but the topic died quite fast and silence just took over (btw, the combination is that Jon and Anna are couple, Tobin is alone, Ingo is alone, Dave and Greg, Ewan and Jack, Charlotte and Elina). But luckily I read about silence somewhere in a book which has the same meaning as this quote:

"The quieter you become, the more you can hear." - Baba Ram Das

So I know I shouldn't afraid of silence: instead, I was trying to listen more and understand what they were talking about. It's all about fine arts of small talk if you guys are interested. It is a book. :D

I just kept silent along the bus journey to Sapa and we started our jungle trekking and homestay tour around 10am. The trekking was pretty much the same like what I did for 10years - hashing if you guys know what it is. So, it's a pretty easy piece of cake for me. hahahaha

The terrace "paddy field" in the village - now it's off season. It should be green and yellow when paddy is there

Route less traveled

The trek we were walking through for around 4-5 hours in total. The scenery is pretty same as the villages that I have been to in my hometown; thus, it doesn't really appeal to me much but it's fun to see the white people enjoyed it so much, which made me realize that we do have different cultures, backgrounds and beliefs that I must ponder more in the future. 

Ewan was getting harrased by little local kids (you can easily tell from his face)

We all were getting harrased by the little native kids who were selling handicrafts along the way. But only Ewan and I never bought anything. So we were like ally and Ewan will always look up to me and asked for help (I am not being cheap or cruel, just learning how to say no and I know deep down inside that I won't be wearing or using the handicrafts after this trip, lesson learnt from Cambodia). Fyi, Ewan couldn't resist the temptation and in the end, he bought a hat. Suit you though, Ewan! haha

Bamboo jungle that we walked pass

Bamboo trek is really beautiful and serene. Oh, it was pretty muddy because of the rain and they were just surprised why my shoes could be so clean and theirs were like, full of mud. I have to admit that, the 10 years of training I had was not a waste! *grin*

Pretty little cute girl that I will kidnap back home. See how innocent she is and she must be wondering who we are and why we are there in her village

Black Monk lady who accompanied us throughout the journey just wanted to sell their handicrafts. I felt bad not buying anything from them but for a budget trip like this, that's the only way to go. Sorry!

So after few hours of trekking, we reached the homestay place. Frankly, I was disappointed by a bit with the homestay because it wasn't what I expected to be and it even has a pool table. But, I have to say thank you to the pool table because that's where I really get to be connected and closer to them. Greg is really a great pool player and he will always tease me by saying I am as good as him. I am nowhere to his standard but I think I was pretty lucky to hit some of the tricky shots.

Playing cars is like a must for backpackers. It's the easiest way to pass the time and also bonding

Random shot and the one in blue is our tour guide for the trekking

So, that's pretty much what we did in the homestay. Nothing is really special about there but I did get to know a few friends. I must say the closest friend I have in that one night would go to Ewan. He is just so nice and good to talk and we will make fun of each other in playing pool, playing cards and even eating (he can't use the chopsticks!). Oh, I found him looks like Sheldon in Big Bang Theory! probably not as smart though. hahahaha

A few findings of this homestay,

1. Westerners do like to eat spicy food a lot which I didn't know before this. Their taste are so strong that they have to add soya sauce to everything. They just litterally pour the soya sauce into rice, soup, cabbage and I was like wth? haha

2. Westerners have a great sense of belonging to their countries. For instance, people from England and Germany will talk about soccer for ages and discuss every single details of the players, the clubs and stuff; whereas Australian will talk about AFL (Australian Football League), it's something like rugby and it's quite different from rugby. What am I talking about, same same but different, it was so funny when Greg said this sentence to tease our our guide. hahahahaha, if you guys are interested, can google AFL. :D Other than that, they will talk about politics in their countries, and even the population numbers! Through the conversation, I feel pretty shameful and embarrased to realize that I know so little about my own country and I don't really have a sense of belonging, a sense of pride for Malaysia. I think it's time for us to know more about our own countries and be proud of it. 

3. Silence is a great art to learn. It seems pretty easy, yet it is hard to master. You just have to force yourself to bear the awkwardness which most people can't do it. I am trying my best to learn this and I bet I still have a long way to go. It doesn't mean keeping silence, bearing the awkwardness and you are good to go, it's about listening to others, trying your best to understand what they are trying to convey and then finding the sweetspot where you can converse your idea simply, easily and most importantly, clearly. 

That's all for the homestay post and I will spend one more night in Sapa town to experience the French culture of the town and probably, riding a motorcycle. haha :D

Thank you for reading my blog and I am sorry if there are any mistakes in my writting. Bear with me some time and I will assure you I will get improved pretty fast. :3

Lastly, just a little footage of the homestay!