May's brother had a son. That son had a son and he got married. The wedding party was yesterday.
May and I walked to the house. It took 2 hours and was all downhill. Slippery as it had been raining.
We each fell at least twice on the way there. The house we had been to many years ago and now there
are 3 houses all together and the old one has been rebuilt. May's brother died but the family lives on.
The family rented tables and chairs for the party and those were trucked in and then had to be carried
to the house from where the road ends. I'm glad I wasn't part of that. We got there early enough to watch
the chopping of meat and the massive cooking operation. At one point maybe 25 people were involved
in the food prep which started way before the party. began and before we arrived.
There was a shitload of rice wine and after dinner there was lots of drinking and eventually lots of wasted
men...the women do not get wrecked like the men as they have responsibilities like staying alive to take
care of their offspring, etc. I brought my wig at that point and that thing looked horrible on the straight haired
people there plus the drunks went bonkers. There was a good rain during the party and the river in the valley
below went up and turned brown from the mud. May stayed overnight and I hiked out with Steffen and his
daughter.
May and I had come in a different way but the 3 of us went another way where we could get a taxi back to town.
It was steep going down and we were on a concrete path. Steffen and his daughter were ahead of me, and they fell.
Then we had to take our shoes off to cross a side stream that was now a muddy mess.
Cicada picture: this one was about 8 feet away. Lots of them are singing and the sound is unbelievably loud. Song lasts
a couple of minutes. The first part is a clicking and a buzz that eventually turns into an unbelievably loud noise
that is more like a siren. Even at the distance I was at it hurts your ears There was one even louder they call Can Go.
One was singing but they are way up high in the trees and that one you can hear for a half mile easily. That one
sounds exactly like a one cylinder motor with no muffler.
All the blood and guts were from a pig they slaughtered...it was living at the house but was now dinner. An amazing amount of meat,
guts and blubber. Lots of people are involved in cutting, chopping, and cleaning. Much too fatty for me but I grilled over charcoal
some that was not entirely riddled with fat. I mostly ate the veggie stuff. After the first day we hitched rides in taxis as the 4
Aussie guests were taking taxis in and out, so we went along. The last day it was just May and me back to Sapa. We headed out for the taxi
and it started raining just before it got dark. We headed up the valley to the main highway to Sapa. More rain and very heavy.
Now the road turned into a river as it is a steep climb back to Sapa. Visibility was maybe 20 feet. I see waves coming up off rocks on the road.
Then lots of rocks and the driver slowed way down. We bottomed out in the taxi as it had low clearance while some pickups
went past us. Waterfalls were coming off the mountain on our right. The water got deeper. Eventually traffic stopped in from of us.
The driver and I got out and walked up to see why nobody was moving.
There was a mudslide about at least 100 feet long there. I thought I'd try to see how deep it was. I didn't get too far, and it was over a foot
deep and getting much deeper with parts of trees in there too. So back to the taxi and managed to turn around. Went back down to a
hotel we had stayed at over a month ago along the river in the valley. It was running big time and noisy. We had dinner there and breakfast too.
We got word the road was now cleared. In the morning the owner and the 2 of us took a taxi back to Sapa. Lots of rocks on the road and parts
were damaged. Another adventure and another big-time rain here....have seen it before.
All the money from the gifts of the guests to the newly married couple was tallied up in the morning on a table in front of the house.
Itemized were who and how much they contributed. Lots of people looking on and helping the tally. There were over 300 entries in the
ledger book. So easily the total number of people that attended might have been 400 since each entry was often more than one person.
Lots of drunks by afternoon as there was lots of rice wine. I had none. No fights or anyone barfing. It was loud and fun to see all these people
together.
All the tables, metal stools, dishes, etc. were mostly rented. Big problem getting them there and back as it is impossible to drive up to the house.
You can get close to it but the last maybe quarter of a mile has to be packed on motorbikes as the path is way too narrow for a vehicle. It took
lots of trips to get it there and back.
https://photos.google.com/u/1/share/AF1QipPcGWFvmnQU6xa2OhUZcaktzaLlLPyNCmkETzYElMAKQAJkIbcXVfq7reqh74r4gA?hl=en&key=T01xaXRpU1d2WjdUcE40QWNNWVhnckJCcE9VYmp3
