After having experienced the Old Quarter of Hanoi for a few days, we hopped onto a night train, a 10-hour excursion that would allow us to make our way to the mountainous town of Sapa in the northern region of Vietnam. Arriving the next morning bright and early in the town of Lao Cai, we hopped into a mini-van that would take us through and up the mountains in this haunted-like cloud of mist, along with spectacular views of these majestic mountain rice terraces that stretched from near the top of the mountain all the way down to the valley floor as we made our way to Sapa. One thing for certain, we were very much looking forward to getting out of the hot and humid weather and into the more cool and fresh mountain air. Sapa is also home to many hill tribe people which is certain to make a memorable and lasting impression.
Upon arriving in Sapa, we quickly discovered that the town was perched on a flat area on the edge of a large valley looking out towards yet another string of imposing mountains. As we looked down and into the valley, we could see several people attending to the green lush fields of vegetables that covered the valley like a great big blanket in an array of different shades of greens.
The town of Sapa is simply charming and full of character with all its hotels, restaurants, and shops to please any visitor’s visit to Sapa. Over the last four to five years, Sapa has seen considerable growth, as many other touristy places have, in order to meet and benefit from the ever-growing global travel boom. There is also a good chance that you’ll have an amazing view of the mountain valley from your hotel room window.
From the moment we opened the mini-van’s door on arrival, the presence of the tribe people was very apparent as they filled the streets in their very colourful traditional clothing and head dresses. The tribe people come into Sapa from their surrounding villages, sometimes as far as 12-15 kilometres, to sell their traditional crafts to visiting tourists.
So although there is a market filled with handicrafts, you never really have to go into it because the tribe people patrol up and down the streets asking you if you would like to purchase something, the popular phrase being “you buy from me”. Although they are very aggressive sellers, your experience with the local tribe people will all depend on if you can come to understand that this is their way of life and of supporting their families, as much as it may be different from how we may make our livelihood back home in our western homes with our westerns ways. Groups of several tribal ladies from these villages set up on the sidewalks of the main tourist roads with all their handicrafts spread out for sale as they sit quietly chatting away among themselves knitting away at a small purses, tuques, and blankets.
Many of the tribe people are young girls who speak very good English and who have a fascination with Westerners. It’s a common site to see a dozen of these young girls surrounding a Westerner (particularly fair, blonde ones) for an hour and socializing, but be wary, it’s all part of the “Game” to wear you down and get you to buy something at the end. Only the women and young girls come into the village. The men stay at home in the villages and work and take care of the children. The women are very sociable and also have a good command of the English language because of their constant interaction with tourists. This is not the case for the men who are quiet and reserved and have very little English if any at all. Some say that this is creating social problems among some couples, as the women are constantly being exposed and influenced by western ways through their interactions with Western tourists. Apparently some women are already beginning to waver from their costumes and traditional life.
Knowing that our new friends Anne Sophie and Yannick were in Sapa for their last day, we called them and got together at our hotel to have a little reunion of sorts and to get any helpful advice that they may have to share on Sapa. Afterwards, they brought us through the market where we met a lovely, bright, young girl from a local village who walked along with us for a while, at the end we caved in and bought some small handicraft ( that we didn’t need or want :>)) from her and everyone seemed to be happy.
We then went down to the eating area of the market to have dinner with Anne Sophie and Yannick who introduced us to Olivier, a countryman from France who has been living in Sapa for many years making a living as a trekking guide through some of these beautiful mountain valleys to some of the homestays in the local villages.
After having Olivier explain to us what a homestay excursion entailed, we agreed to acquire his services and to head out on a hike into the mountain valleys to meet with some of the local tribe people through a homestay experience the next day. With that done, we had lunch, which was a rather interesting experience.
As we set out with our personal guide Olivier on our hike to Ta Phin Village, within no more than ten minutes from the center of town, we were already surrounded by nature and enjoying the scenery with absolutely no other tourists to be seen. Our hike, which could easily be done by anyone, would take approximately three to four hours and cover 14 kilometres to reach our homestay where we would be spending the afternoon and evening.
Hiking along, we went up and around one mountain valley to the next passing through breathtaking scenery of terraced fields of rice and vegetables. Along the way we went from walking trails to narrow dirt roads, to paths in and around the rice fields, to make our way to our destination. All along the way we were surrounded by these lush green valleys and mountains, reminding us how much we loved to be amongst nature.
On a few occasions we passed through small and very simple mountain villages, giving us an appreciation for the traditional way of life of the tribal people who inhabit this region.
As we passed these villages, we were often greeted by a rather large group of young children, probably as curious about us as we were about them.
Another interesting scene that we came across on a number of occasions was the children attending to the rather large water buffalo. Some of these kids were probably no older than seven to eight years old, so it was rather surprising to see these small children almost playing with these great big giant water buffalo, well they were certainly giants in comparison to the kids anyway.
The most interesting aspect of our walk was without a doubt the interaction we were able to experience with the Hamong tribe people. Approximately 45-60 minutes into our hike, we came across four Hamong women simply sitting on the hill by the path working on their handicrafts. Olivier knew these women as he is no stranger to this part of the valley, in fact, one of the women was his girlfriend. After a short break, we continued our hike, and the women decided to come along with us. The next thing we knew they were taking care of us, as they opened their umbrellas to shade us from the sun, we felt like royalty or like a great Egyptian pharaoh being tended to. It was enjoyable to observe the interaction between the women as well as with Olivier who spoke their native language. Like any encounter with the tribe people, we felt the heat at the end of our visit to buy some of their handicrafts! And once again, we caved in but it was really our pleasure as they truly did enrich our trekking experience.
Eventually we arrived at the homestay which was purched up on a side of a hill. At first sight, it was very evident that the hill tribe people lived very simply and without most of all the comforts and conveniences that we are fortunate to have and often take for granted back in Canada.
There was no convectional oven or microwave here to prepare our meals, it was up to the old fashioned fire pit to cook things up around here, and it was going to take more than five minutes.
But we have to admit, our host prepared some “French Fries” for us, yes French fries, and they had to be the best fries we’ve eaten, it just goes to show that there is a lot to be said for simple living.
Lori Ann had a great afternoon at the homestay. She spent it hanging out with the neighbour’s eight year old daughter who was very shy and didn’t speak English, but eventually loosened up to enjoy a great afternoon of fun. Lori Ann taught her to play hopscotch and a rock game we learned from young kids in Bali. She showed her photos on our digital camera which totally facsinated her. She then took Lori Ann on a little personal guided walk where she pointed out all the different insects which she caught in her little hands so she could give Lori Ann an up close and personal look. When they arived back at the homestay, Lori Ann treated her to a few bites of her chocolate she had brought in her backpack which pretty much sealed the friendship for life right there!
Upon arriving at the homestay, we noticed that there was this rather large steel wok full of green leaves and things unknown to us boiling away. It turned out that what was boiling over the fire pit was an array of fresh herbs that had been collected from the surrounding area for our benefit. As we would discover, our host was preparing a “Herbal Bath” for us to soak our sore muscles and to get rid of any aches and pains.
But where were we going to take this bath, there was no Jacuzzi or even a bath tub in the homestay. Not to worry, our host guided us to this tiny room in the corner of the homestay where stood a large barrel, yeap, we were going to soak it all up in a barrel. May not sound to luxurious or inviting at first sight, but once you stripped and jumped into the barrel, that was all forgotten, because once in, you just didn’t want to leave, as the herbal bath felt so good and you could almost feel those aches and pains melt away.
The next morning, Olivier arranged a few motorbikes to ride us back into Sapa, but as we waited by the roadside for our drivers to arrive, we observed something somewhat out of the ordinary for us. A group of Hamong women were working away at their handicrafts and socializing, and suddenly, one of the women complained of a headache. Well, no one offered a Tylenol in this group, instead another lady started doing traditional medicine techniques that are known to relieve headache pain. Basically it consisted of pinching the body in specific areas in the back of the neck, shoulder and forehead until it was so red that it looked like red lipstick. It looked very painful, and apparently it is, but I guess it gives the desired results.
After we were once again in the town of Sapa, we laid back and took it all in one last time, as this evening we were boarding the night train back to Hanoi once again. All in all, Sapa is a charming little town with energy that is fuelled most notably by hill tribe people that fill its streets and the beautiful natural mountain environment that the town finds itself in. The cool refreshing temperature found up in the mountains was a relief from the hot and humid weather in much of the other regions of Vietnam, but this is the hot season, so what is one to expect, right? We could have done without the honking horns of the commuter vans that were transporting visitors in and out of Sapa from Lao Cai, but with streets full of tourist and hill tribe people, I guess they don’t have much of a choice in order to get their clients to their hotels or to the train on time.
Spirit Quest 