Vietnam Mission Trip, 3/14/11, Raina Zeeh

Subject: Sapa

We took the all night train to Lao Cai and arrived at 6:30 AM. Most people said they were able to sleep okay on the train. It rocks a lot of people right to sleep. We laughed a lot before bed and had a great time. After arriving at the train station we went to the China border to look at China across the river. We saw an "engagement" happen on the bridge. The "bride" and several men from Vietnam met a group of other men from China at the center of the bridge. They all talked and shook hands (except the lady who stood away from the crowd) then walked back to the Vietnamese side. Binh said that it was probably an arranged marriage that was coming together. It was interesting to see. We made our way up the winding road to Sapa which is high in the mountains in the North. It is actually sunny, making it very beautiful!! They have terraced farming along the mountains with red dirt in a patchwork with green. The clouds just nestle into the valleys and hang along the mountains. Our breakfast overlooked a valley that was beautiful. We have a free day in Sapa to shop and see the sights. Many people went on tours/hikes to visit the indigenous villages and a waterfall. Everyone who did that said it was wonderful. Some of us shopped at the market and bought a few new things for the COPI fundraiser and a few things for ourselves. At the end of our shopping day the clouds have rolled in and the fog is very thick. You cannot see very far at all. Hopefully the clouds will lift for tomorrow. Tonight we will have a special dinner provided by the hotel manager. He loves the work that COPI does in Sapa. Last year when we had a change in plans for clinics he found us a new place to do a clinic. He is quite nice and very accommodating. The dinner should be wonderful. Tomorrow we will have a clinic from early morning until late in the night. We will go to a boarding school for indigenous children and see 304 students. We will stay until we're done to not leave anyone out. We will provide each student with a gift of a blanket, gloves and writing tablets. This afternoon we folded and packaged the gifts we will give out. It will be a long but rewarding day tomorrow. More later! Raina