July 5 Rainy Sapa Vietnam watching Wimbledon Final

We decided to have a ‘rest day’ today where we could all do anything that we wanted to do. I got talking to a group of twenty-year-olds and was telling them about our trek the first day to Cat Cat Village. As I knew the way I offered to ‘guide’ them. As I’m not much one for resting I was glad to have an excuse to go on another trek. We had a great day despite hiking in the pouring rain.

I stopped on my way back for a massage at a hotel not far from ours (and named similarly to ours, the Sapa Boutique Hotel – our hotel is named the Sapa Rooms Boutique Hotel, top 3 by tripadvisor. This is quite common in Vietnam, to duplicate the name of a successful business. There are more than 30 Sinhcafe travel agencies (none of whom are affiliated with the highly-rated Sinh Café, 5 Hanoi Elegance hotels, even a Trip Advisor tourist information shop. The list goes on and on). When I walked in I saw three familiar coats hanging up – the boys were there playing pool! We shared stories about our day and then I went into the massage room. The boys were to continue playing pool for another hour in the room next door until I was finished. I couldn’t wait to get those sore muscles rubbed after four days of trekking. Little did I know what I was in for… now, I‘ve had some interesting massages in my travels. The ‘traditional Thai massage’ was quite an experience – having my legs placed behind my head and being rocked back and forth in all sorts of awkward positions. But everyone goes for one just to experience it. This time in Thailand, though we stayed away from ‘traditional massage’, we had almost daily full-body and foot massages (at $5 an hour we all indulged as often as we could!). All were wonderful! But I digress. We are in Vietnam. It seemed promising at the start. The room looked serene and welcoming. A young Thai man (likely mid-twenties) was to be my masseur. After the door was shut, however, you could smell the mustiness in the room and I don’t do well with mould. Then the oil he was using was putrid. His hands were cold and his nails were long. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough!

Joe: Before heading out, Ryan and Brendan finished their schoolwork – no summer vacation for them ;) Then, Brendan learned how to sew by watching Joe mend Deb’s torn dress and Ryan’s shorts. This is a hidden skill that Joe learned from his mom, Nana Bea! In no time Bren had the skill aced and went to work on his mp3 case. Bea would be so proud!

Joe: The boys and I had an interesting experience at that hotel that deb mentioned as well, leaving something of a bad taste. Although playing poker pool was 10 out of 10, even the high price of drinks was fine. We were playing pool for free, after all. We had a bunch of games. Problem: When we went to pay, they had doubled the quantity of our consumption, doubled the price of Deb’s massage and argued about it, too! Flashback to yesterday when Deb had popped by to see if they had a TV so that we could enjoy Wimbledon’s final between Roddick and Federer. The desk clerk/manager was sharp and focused and genuinely disappointed that we were staying elsewhere – especially at the highly rated Sapa Rooms Boutique Hotel. “How come you stay there and not here? We better, we cheaper”. Well if only we could be honest and tell her the obvious answer – that people hate to be cheated. Seems strange though, that she wouldn’t know that! Guess they don’t teach that in Vietnam Hotel Management 101. Oh, wait a sec, in Vietnam, people get jobs in the tourism industry because of their ability to speak English, not because of any education, experience nor training! Perhaps, her question was only rhetorical!
Anyway, that night we had the time of lives at yet another bar watching the tennis match – the Royal Pub and Hotel. A large plasma, in HD, with beers sold in quart bottles. My kind of place. The best part was that the beers were 2 for $1 (yes, that’s 2 quarts). We couldn’t have found a better place to watch a 4:20 tennis match. Ryan was definitely the only one cheering for Federer. His win after a 30-game final set definitely validated Ryan’s choice!