| SAPA |
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| I entered Vietnam through its northern border with China on July 4th, 2002. Kind of ironic, huh? :-) My first stop was Sapa. A quiet, mountain retreat. This community is accustomed to travelers. When I first entered the city I had barkers trying to take me to their hotel. I managed to weave my way through them to one place I'd heard good reports of on the outskirts of town. I wasn't disappointed. Just check out that view!! The next day, I began wandering around and a hill tribe tour guide found me and "adopted" me into her tour group. |
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| Bahn, our guide, is on the far right. She was taking us on a tour of her village. some of her children and their friends came along as well. She asked that we not photograph their village or villagers because many believed the camera would steal their soul. |
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| This interesting contraption is called a Cha Du. This device is a simple, labor saving creation. As the water flows down the piece of split bamboo (left side middle) it fills a large spoon that is anchored in such a way to make it a lever. When the spoon fills, it tips over and the water pours out, as seen here. Inside the hut, attached to the handle of the spoon is a large mallet. The mallet is positioned over a large pit filed with rice. Once the spoon has emptied, it repositions itself on the lever, the mallet strikes the rice, breaking the hulls around the rice. The hulled rice is then collected and ready to be cooked. |
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