Sa Pa very nice, Mum come and gone, just one week left in Ha Noi :-(

So yes, Sa Pa and Lao Cai district in general were fabulous-- the hallmark being the overnight trek to Ban Ho village about 30km from Sa Pa, an ethnic Tay village (Tay being the largest ethnic minority in Vietnam). See the photo album for the play-by-play and many many photos of the beautiful scenery. So mum left this morning after 8 days in Viet Nam (and her first time outside the "West") and from what I can discern she had a very nice time ;-) She left with my large suitcase that I didn't want to schlep around Cambodia and Thailand so I only have to haul my big backpack (in the spirit of being a true cheesy Western backpacker as opposed to Caro who still has a suitcase) which is actually Olga's hah.

Full day of teaching today-- was cool. Had some tiny 5 year olds who I don't normally teach which was nice cos they're so cute! We also saw the Guardian (Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher) at the cinema over our long lunch though the machine stopped working in the middle and we had to leave early to make it back to school on time. Stopped by the Pacific Airlines office to buy tickets to Saigon-- we have just one more week in Ha Noi!! Very sad ;-( I'll be back in NY in just 3 and a half weeks!! I'm not ready to weather below 80 F / 25 C yet!! And I'm especially not ready for this crazy "work" thing either!

Yesterday we went to the Museum of Ethnology (with mom) which was great-- its all about the 54 ethnic minorities living in VN and had a special exhibit of life in Vietnam under the "subsidy economy" of 1975 (reunification) to 1986 (when doi moi, i.e. market economy was introduced). Afterwards mum saw the Water Puppets at the Thang Long theatre and lived it up at the Sofitel Metropole while Caro and I taught (we only teach in the evenings on Fridays). For dinner we all (me, caro, mum, benny) went to the Hoa Sua training restaurant-- this charity that trains disadvantaged Vietnamese to be waiters and make a decent living, which has great food and this really good cocktail of Havana club rum and wheatgrass (!) Photos of the day will be posted shortly in the Hanoi part 2 album.

So need to hit the hay soon since didn't sleep much last night as I was packing the suitcase for mommy to take back this morning to NY so will try to post again soon!