Selfies and jianzi

Today John and I visited a large park which ran along the side of a mountain, in search of a geocache. While we sat down to rest, a young girl in a white dress sat down on our bench next to John and smiled. John smiled back awkwardly and the girl then inched closer. Then I noticed her mother smiling with a camera in hand. She took a picture of the two of them together, and then the girl put her arm around John for another photo. After a few more photos the girl sat next to me for another shot, and then the father replaced the girl for a final picture. Catheleen was touring the nearby town of Cat Cat at the time with Elizabeth, and they had a similar experience when two girls each took selfies with Elizabeth. I find it very strange to be a tourist attraction when we ourselves are tourists, but most of the tourists are Asians so I suppose we are an oddity around here.

I find it exasperating that there are no price tags for most items in the stores I visit. It appears that the price for just about everything is arbitrary and subject to bargaining. Sometimes I end up bargaining for a bottle of water. I suspect this bargaining is partly cultural but also partly the mismatch between tourist and local incomes, whereby tourists may earn ten times or more than local incomes. In this environment I think it's not surprising that tourists are quoted prices for small items that may be double or quadruple what locals pay. Because the item is still reasonably priced by Western standards, this price discrimination still usually leads to a sale, at least with me. It does bother me nonetheless to be spending so much more for the same item than the person next to me. But I would be just as bothered if I learned that the person sitting next to me on the plane payed half the price I did for their plane ticket, even though I understand why this is often the case. I think it has to do with perceived fairness.

Last night there was a performance in the local square not far from our hotel to celebrate Vietnam's Independence Day on September 2nd. Plastic chairs were set up for some officials in military uniform to watch the singing and dancing, and a small crowd gathered behind. We arrived just as the performance was finishing, but what I liked about this place were the teenagers ignoring the performance to play jianzi, known in English as Chinese hacky sack. We saw pairs of people playing this game in Laos, but around here groups of five or ten kids will form a circle to play. The shuttlecock, called a jianzi, has feathers fixed into plastic disks. During play, kids keep it off the ground with their feet primarily, but also use other parts of their body except their hands. It's a nightly occurrence to see half a dozen groups of teenagers out playing the game, and it's fun to watch. Even some hill tribe kids were taking time to play a game with each other, once they had finished with their street performance.

While this was all going on, younger kids were wandering around near their parents and launching neon-lit projectiles high into the air with strong elastic bands, and then watching them float down on propellers. It was a nice time to sit around for a while in the cool evening breeze and watch the local kids having fun and laughing.

Here's a sign that caught my eye on Independence Day with its iconic Soviet style art. No idea what it says though. Feel free to translate.

Sa Pa and the TPP

We took an overnight train north from Hanoi to Lao Cai, which is just on the border with China, and then took a bus up into the mountains to Sa Pa, a small mountain town about 1,500 meters above sea level. We are here for a few days to enjoy the scenery and weather mainly. Yesterday's high was 22 Celsius with sunny skies. Considering how hot it's been on our trip so far, this is a welcome reprieve.

The bus ride up through the mountains was spectacular, with views of terraced rice fields on the mountain slopes. Some of the slopes looked to be on 45 degree angles, with each terrace only a few feet wide. Harvest time is in a couple of weeks, so the rice fields have long green grass stalks.

Since it was cool here this morning, I had no excuse and went for a run around the town, something I haven't done since we left Vang Vieng in Laos a while back. I was reminded I do need to stay aware of my surroundings around here. Case in point, I was running along a walking path around a small lake in town when I heard a constant beeping behind me. I stepped aside to allow two guys on a motorcycle to ride by; the guy on the back was resting a few 20 foot pieces of re-bar on his shoulder. Catheleen and I were joking that like the movie "A million way to die in the West", you never know when you're going to get it.

One of the oddest things in this place is the constant presence of some very short women dressed in hill tribe outfits trying to sell their wares. They can be very relentless if you show any interest in their handicrafts. I often see tourists walking down the street with half a dozen hill tribe people following. It's the strangest thing. Some of them speak English fairly well and usually start off by asking us our names and where we are from, and they then try to sell us a hand woven scarf or perhaps a purse. Sometimes they travel as a family, with young children walking next to mother in similar dress, with mother carrying a baby on her back, or with a child carrying their baby sister or brother on their back. It all seems a little sad to me. The local tribes are quite poor, even by Vietnamese standards. The government and international aid agencies have tried to improve their lot over the years, but it takes time.

I spoke with the hotel manager, who has been living in Sa Pa for the last 17 years, and prefers the weather and easy pace of Sa Pa to hot hectic Hanoi. He said the traffic will likely get worse in Hanoi in the next couple of years. I asked why and he said that when the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) comes into effect, import tax on vehicles, along other items, will drop from close to 100% to zero, making imported cars less expensive. I didn't know anything about the TPP, but learnt it's a free trade deal under negotiation among 12 countries, including the U.S, Japan, Canada, Vietnam and some other countries. Funny that he would be speaking about a trade deal currently under negotiations in our home town in Ottawa, Canada. I have no idea if there will be an agreement; I understand negotiations have been going on for years.

Here is a mother and daughter, presumably hill tribe people.