Both woke up slowly this morning. I fully expected to freeze overnight but the heater works and the bed was good. We went for a walk all together round the centre of town with David explaining what was what particularly with the minority groups - the black H'moung and the red Dzou. We were followed the whole time by sellers wanting us to buy. I find this tough work - politely sending them on their way - about one every 5 feet. The weather was sleeting, but not too cold. Ian actually decided to go shopping, walked into the first shop, found what he wanted, bought it and walked out. Proper boy shopping and he now has a good Gortex jacket for a ridiculously good price. We went down to Lao Chai, a black H'moung village in the afternoon. Spectacular scenery getting there and back with terraces carved out of the hillside, worked by the people and their water buffalo. We had 'escorts' the whole way, wanting us to purchase. There are signs about Sapa (and over much of Vietnam and Cambodia) saying not to purchase from the children as it encourages them to beg rather than attend school. The power in Sapa is an intermittent thing with many places having their own generator, and while we were at tea our place lost power for a bit (and they were on generator as the town was out). Sadly ATM's don't work without power - this can be an issue!
