Sapa 31st December.

Wake up to a valley shrouded in mist so the much-vaunted views of the valleys are non-existant.
After lovely breakfast we are met at hotel by Long, our guide for the trek into the mountains and outerlying villages. As soon as we step out of the hotel we are surrounded by villagers,mainly from thr Hmong minority ethnic group. 3 of the villagers tag onto us as we set off on our trip. After walking out of Sapa for about 500 metres we realise that Long is expecting us to do only a day trek and return to Sapa in the evening. We explainn that we are in fact booked on a two day trek with an overnight stay in one of the villages. A quick phone call to Long's office sorts all of this out, one of a number of problems which we are to encounter along the way with regard to the Sapa travel arrangements.
We leave Sapa and gradually descend into the river valley cursing our luck with the weather and accompanied  by the three Hmong villagers, ranging in age from 17 to 47. the 17 year old hasa 5 month old baby and we are informed by Long that the girls in the villages get married as young as 14 and start a family very early.
Some explanation on the system in operation with regard to the omni-present 'hangers-on'.
The villagers leave their homes at about 3.00 am to walk to Sapa and tag onto a guide with tourists in tow.
They then accompany the group back to their village, helping the trekkers when necessary on the at times slippery tracks. The unstated agreement is that the tourists will than purchase from them some of their locally handcrafted items such as purses, handbags cushion covers etc, often hemp dyed. The purple dye is there for all to see on the hands of the villagers.
The quality of the items is variable and some prices charged do not really represent the best value-for-money. Nevertheless, it is a way of putting some money back into the local community.
There are ,however, some pitfalls - firstly on reaching the first village at lunchtime it is not easy to identify among the sea of faces the villagers who have in fact accompanied us along the trail. Secondly, as we leave the village a second shift of the Red Dao minority group takes over to be with us to the village where we will spend the night. Fortunately, we manage to get the message through that our budget has been spent for the day and the taggers drift off.
Arrive late afternoon at village of Ta Van ( Giay minority group ) and 'check into' our very basic homestay. This consists of a ground floor where we will eat our meals, a veranda from which to enjoy the still elusive vistas and an upstairs with up to 30 mattresses laid out on the floor.
Fortunately, we are only sharing this with 4 very pleasant Thai girls so we are each  able to to use numerous quilts and pillows to keep out the the bitter cold. ( there is no heating in the place )
The New Year's Eve meal prepared by the landlord, an assistant and our guide comes as a very pleasant surprise with a huge array of superb Vietnamese food,washed down by some rice wine. Much frivolity as the wine takes effect even if by now Gail's cold has taken a real turn for the worse.
Into bed before 2011 arrives ( a sign of old age ).
The Obese Ferret.