It's a small world

I am very excited to be working with the CBT Vietnam team again, and cannot wait to show the world what a group of five girls can do. This year I am lucky enough to be chosen to actually travel to SaPa and work with the communities. All the memories from Vietnam are rushing in again like someone opened a floodgate!

Last year I wrote a blog about these memories (click here to view) and included some photos. One of the photos was my brother and me standing with some of the Red Dao women. I knew that this photo was full of people CBT Vietnam still work with today.

This semester, I learned that this picture hit closer to home than I thought. I took a class with Chris and was fortunate enough to meet Lo May, as she was also in the class. I showed her this picture and she was shocked to see her mom standing right behind me! This picture was taken when I was seven, and today I am a nineteen year old meeting the daughter of one of the women in this picture. 

Every day stories of a ‘small world’ experience come to light, yet it still shocks me just how small our world is. I believe there is a connection between everyone. All one must do is ask.  

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Sapa is one for the books!

A new book “The Lost Girls”, written by three friends, chronicling their yearlong adventure around the globe, brings readers into the region of Sapa, and a guide name Tsu, a young Hmong woman.

The Lost Girls (I immediately fell in love, realizing I myself may be a lost girl) are from New York and tired of their careers and lack of adventure pack up their lives and take off on a year long adventure around the globe. Nearing the end of their trip they travel to Sapa via Hanoi and instantly fall in love…(albeit not with the February weather that is)…and take off on a three-night trek into a few villages.

Mastering the Sapa Slide, a dance created by their lack of skill during their trek through rain torn trails, the girls arrive in a homestay, and following dinner, are served “one part lighter fluid, two parts rubbing alcohol” (aka homemade rice wine). As part of our interview, Chris asked us how we would handle being served the local specialty at an early hour. Needless to say I may be a bit hesitant, but look forward to experiencing the local favourite.

Our last meeting coincidentally landed on the day in which I read the chapter dedicated to Sapa. I shared the pages with the team and after talking with not only our current team, but also past CBT Vietnam volunteers Caitlin and Nic, we realized the importance of the project, building sustainable tourism, and the value the training brings to the local communities.

These woman make us even more excited to travel with the team to Sapa and about the opportunity all of us have to work with these truly remarkable communities. We are all nervous; will we be able to do enough? The more and more we think about it we realize we are not the only one educating, but rather the locals will be educating us.

This week's mission: Eat some more Vietnamese food, start our Vietnamese language tutorials, 

and make sure our passports are current.

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Anyone up for a train ride?

Have you ever been on an overnight train through beautiful, exotic countryside?

Have you ever wanted to travel this way?

Well I most definitely have.

This is one of those things I've dreamed of my whole life, like many people, and in just a few short weeks it's finally going to happen. If you’ve read Nic’s recent blog post you’ll know that we will be travelling from Hanoi to Lao Cai by overnight train and then on to Sapa for the Capilano U / PATA Foundation tourism training project.

We'll be buying our tickets from Footprint Vietnam Travel, an amazing company who was started in 1999, by two entrepreneurial students from Hanoi Open University.  Footprint has become known for taking you “off the beaten path” to truly experience the culture and what Vietnam is all about. They have also been touted as a leader in responsible tourism What ever type of trip you're looking for they offer; cruise tours, trekking tours, cycling tours, community based tours, volunteer tours and so much more! 

Maybe Footprint Vietnam Travel can make your travelling dreams come true too?

Thanks Footprint for your continued support of the project and in the villages! 

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