Sunny Sa Pa
Ha ha! I wish!
We arrived in Lao Cai during a torrential rainstorm and were soaked from head to toe by the time we managed to run from our train car into the station. It wasn't the great introduction that I was hoping for, but we managed. We got up to the hotel after a 40-minute ride (soaking wet and they put the air conditioner on?). Our backpacks had been soaked, so all our clothes were wet, both on and off our bodies. Some were, luckily, only slightly wet in places, but Audrey's jeans that she'd planned to wear on the hike had gotten wet right on the front fold, so that it looked like she'd peed her pants (though they'd been folded in the backpack). After waiting two hours to get into our room, only to find that we had no dry clothes and no ponchoes, we pulled out of Saturday's 12-km trek through the pouring rain.
Instead we hung around, watched the clouds roll in and out and between the mountains, then as the sun came around after noon, we took off down to Sa Pa proper. It's a cute little town, quite touristy but not to the extent of Hoi An. We spent about two hours just enjoying the view of the tiered rice paddies and gardens and people from the minority tribes dressed in traditional clothing. Very interesting little jaunt. We spent the evening in the hotel, despite my intentions to head back down to the town for the night activities. Instead, we fell asleep watching movies on HBO. Oops.
Today is clouded over, of course, but it's not raining and our jackets are almost dry. We're off on a shorter trek today and will try to post pictures soon.
We've got only 4 days left here in Viet Nam and I can't yet come to grips with it. If I don't think about it for long, I'm okay. But I can only put off the inevitable return to grieving for so long...
2 Comments:
Teresa,
I was just catching up on your blog and read that you are leaving early.
Please know this, you have accomplished more than you know in your trip. The contact with you has given me a link to my son's past that I wouldn't have had before. Lee (Quang)still smiles at the pictures of Stuart and now can say his name fairly well. The next time you see him he will actually be able to speak to you English. He is remarkable.
I know Rita has been in contact with you and she mentioned something about being able to meet you briefly in the Hanoi Airport. I am glad she will be able to meet you, I just met her for the first time a week or so ago. You don't know what you have given her, as far as the link to the children she has been longing for.
Someday you will return to Vietnam. Your blog has been read by me and a girlfriend of mine. She is so envious of what you have done with your kids and only wishes her husband would agree to do the same thing. We have agreed that we would like to return to Vietnam in 10 years with Lee and my girls so we can spend a month in the Tam Ky orphanage with GVN.
You just don't see the ripples you have caused. Not to mention those of the people you have met there and the students you taught.
My advice to you is to come home and after several weeks of comatose jet lag, you should consider publishing your blog as a way to inspire others to offer their children a different view of the world.
Your Audrey and Stuart are tough kids. Look at what they have done? I am proud of them and don't even know them.
Thanks again, for what you have accomplished, selfishly for me and the other parents out there who have a few bits of a large mystery answered through your blog.
Sincerely,
Rhissa
Rhissa, I can't thank you enough for your kind comments. There have been times lately when I have questioned the entire thing, wondering if I'd done any good at all. But your comments make me realize that perhaps it's the little things, the things that I don't see, that are more important. Thank you.
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