Nov. 16/Day 47: Trekking in Sapa
About 10 hours outside of Hanoi is Sapa, a hillside town characterized by its terraced rice patties. It is a former French hill station located near China. The food is more French than Vietnamese and the local villagers look different from the Vietnamese in Hanoi. Due to fighting, the area was abandoned for years before it was later repopulated. In 1993, the area was opened to international tourists, which secured the area's financial stability. Virtually all the tourists in Sapa arrive in Lao Cai via overnight train from Hanoi, then hop on a bus for the hour drive to Sapa.
Through my hotel in Hanoi, I booked a two-day trek with an overnight homestay in a local village. There were 15 people in my group--the majority were a little younger than I was but there were about 4 people around my age. I could keep up when it came to trekking, but I didn't even try and keep up with their ability to drink alcohol. We arrived in Sapa around 7 a.m., showered, walked around town, then headed out for a trek around 9:30 a.m.
The town of Sapa is cute but very small. In my opinion, its tourism value pales in comparison to that of the local villages.
The main street through Sapa.
The French-influenced buildings in downtown Sapa. I was told that many of the nicer buildings and pretty villas were destroyed during the fighting in Tonkin.
The Black Hmong and the Dzao ethnic minorities heavily populate the local villages. The head dresses indicate their minority. The woman on the left is Hmong and the woman on the right is Dzao. To earn money for their family, the women make handicrafts and sell them to the tourists. The bags worn by both of these women are typical of what they sell. The women are very nice, but they can be persistent in their efforts to sell their goods.
I walked through town before I met up with the group at 9:30. Of course, my first stop was the local market.
They have a large market on the weekends. The local villagers come to sell their handmade crafts. Unfortunately I arrived on a Wednesday, so I didn't get to see the large market. The daily market was still interesting to walk through.
Gecko and seahorse liquor. You can see the spotted gecko curving around the right side of the bottle. I didn't sample it, nor was I offered a taste, but I think cobra wine is my limit.
They sold a wide variety of dried mushrooms.
Dried bamboo--some serious fiber.
Bottles of fermenting garlic.
Roots.
A wide variety of herbal medicines and teas.
Appropriately, they sell great French bread.
Fried dough, prepared like munchkins, is also popular.
Most of the clothing stores sold either silk or "North Face" products. A basic North Face jacket sold for around $40.
We started our trek by walking past Fanxipan, the highest peak in Indochina. It forms the eastern edge of the Himalayas and can be seen towering over Sapa. I'm told that if you are very fit, you can climb to the top in one day.
Off we went, with bamboo overarching the street.
The valley near Fanxipan.
Before we were outside of town, a group of Hmong ladies joined our group. It was pretty clear that their game plan was to eventually sell us their handmade crafts. I embraced the inevitable sales pitch and enjoyed their company. This is Su, a Hmong woman. She was my favorite and I would say, my new friend. She speaks English very well, possibly better than my official guide. We walked and talked about life in the village and life in NYC.
Su is 42 and has three children. Both of her parents died in their early 70s. Her mother was killed in a motorbike accident in Sapa. She died minutes after she arrived to the hospital. Her father died from stomach problems. Her grandfather, in his mid 90s, is still alive. She said most people in her village live until their mid 70s and a very small number live until their 100s.
Su made me a head piece from ferns. I like to think she made me an honorary Hmong by giving me the head piece, but I'm pretty sure it just cemented my tourist look.
It didn't have a sun visor, but it held my scarf in place.
We trekked for about 2 hours before stopping for a rest near this suspension bridge. All the bridges we crossed were very similar to this one.
For the most part, the wooden planks were still intact.
A small home near the village where we stopped to rest.
The kids running around were adorable. The girl in maroon couldn't be more than 5 and was carrying around her younger sister on her back, along with a basket of goods for sale. Her younger brother, lacking pants, was close by. Throughout Asia, it seems parents choose to put their kids in shirts rather than pants if they are only putting one item of clothes on them. In the US, pants or a diaper without a shirt is much more common. I haven't seen a child wearing a diaper in the two months I have been traveling.
Another cutie.
Virtually every piece of land is used to grow rice. The climate only permits one rice crop per year, so they maximize each crop. The growing season lasts about 4 months. They finished harvesting the 2011 crops a few months ago, so the hills are not as green as they are in the rainy season. November is the dry season, so the patties were mostly a brownish color. Although I'm sure the rice patties are much more spectacular when the rice is growing, the landscape was still very beautiful. Looking at the terraced lands, you also gain a deep appreciation for the amount of work that goes into maintaining the fields.
Most of the terraces are formed just from dirt, but some have bamboo support inside of them. The dirt feels more like a clay and becomes very hard when it dries. The terraced land looks fragile, but water buffalo were walking on the terraced land and were not causing any damage.
The ducks liked to hang out in the fields as well.
To irrigate the patties, they pipe mountain water down the mountain in pieces of bamboo. Above, you can see the piece of exposed bamboo flowing underground and another exposed piece across the trail.
We ate lunch in this hut. French bread with one piece of laughing cow cheese was their specialty and our only option. The Hmong women were milling about, hoping to sell their goods. Su headed home before lunch. Before she left, I broke down and bought a change purse from her for about $5. I'm sure I could have paid half the price, but I didn't have the heart to bargain. She dyed the fabric by hand (her hands were bright blue from the indigo) and then needlepointed the colors onto the fabric.
Oh the joys of the squat toilet....
There was a nice motorbike parked out front the hut where we ate lunch. Surprisingly, a few locals manage to use their motorbikes on the mountain trails.
After about 5 hours of trekking, we reached Ta Van village, where we spent the night in a family's home. All 15 of us slept in the same house, making it a cozy visit.
We slept on mats in the attic surrounded by mosquito nets.
They had a side patio where we spent most of our time.
There was a pool table in the far corner of the patio.
The living room.
The kitchen.
This was the view out the back gate of the house.
The family we stayed with was nice but didn't speak much English. They made some great tasting but simple meals using fresh chicken. I felt bad for the chicken. Based on the level of his squawking, he knew his fate.
After we reached our homestay, we put our bags down and set out to explore the town and go for a quick swim in the river before dinner.
We passed through the heart of Ta Van village.
On my way to swim in the river, I heard "remember me?" It was Su. By coincidence, she lives in the same village where we were spending the night. She invited me to see her house and meet her family.
A bad picture of Su's home. Yes, she has satellite television.
Su's daughter and son.
Her living room. They didn't have any furniture.
Her cooking area. She mostly cooks rice but has meat on special occasions.
One of the best things about running into Su again was finding her wearing t-shirts rather than her traditional Hmong clothing. I guess everyone likes to put on comfortable clothes after work. She led me on a "short cut" through the rice patties (which you can see behind her) to catch up with my group. It was very slippery walking along the edge of the patties. Su had a death grip on my hand to make sure I didn't fall.
More adorable Hmong children.
From the bridge, I met up with the rest of my group swimming down below.
The water was freezing!
We headed back for our chicken dinner then hung out on the porch playing different games until late in the night. I was the only American. Our group included 4 people from New Zealand, 2 from Canada, 4 from Australia, 2 Germans, and a couple from England.
Tomorrow we trek to a waterfall then head back into town.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
About 10 hours outside of Hanoi is Sapa, a hillside town characterized by its terraced rice patties. It is a former French hill station located near China. The food is more French than Vietnamese and the local villagers look different from the Vietnamese in Hanoi. Due to fighting, the area was abandoned for years before it was later repopulated. In 1993, the area was opened to international tourists, which secured the area's financial stability. Virtually all the tourists in Sapa arrive in Lao Cai via overnight train from Hanoi, then hop on a bus for the hour drive to Sapa.
Through my hotel in Hanoi, I booked a two-day trek with an overnight homestay in a local village. There were 15 people in my group--the majority were a little younger than I was but there were about 4 people around my age. I could keep up when it came to trekking, but I didn't even try and keep up with their ability to drink alcohol. We arrived in Sapa around 7 a.m., showered, walked around town, then headed out for a trek around 9:30 a.m.
The town of Sapa is cute but very small. In my opinion, its tourism value pales in comparison to that of the local villages.
The main street through Sapa.
The French-influenced buildings in downtown Sapa. I was told that many of the nicer buildings and pretty villas were destroyed during the fighting in Tonkin.
The Black Hmong and the Dzao ethnic minorities heavily populate the local villages. The head dresses indicate their minority. The woman on the left is Hmong and the woman on the right is Dzao. To earn money for their family, the women make handicrafts and sell them to the tourists. The bags worn by both of these women are typical of what they sell. The women are very nice, but they can be persistent in their efforts to sell their goods.
I walked through town before I met up with the group at 9:30. Of course, my first stop was the local market.
They have a large market on the weekends. The local villagers come to sell their handmade crafts. Unfortunately I arrived on a Wednesday, so I didn't get to see the large market. The daily market was still interesting to walk through.
Gecko and seahorse liquor. You can see the spotted gecko curving around the right side of the bottle. I didn't sample it, nor was I offered a taste, but I think cobra wine is my limit.
They sold a wide variety of dried mushrooms.
Dried bamboo--some serious fiber.
Bottles of fermenting garlic.
Roots.
A wide variety of herbal medicines and teas.
Appropriately, they sell great French bread.
Fried dough, prepared like munchkins, is also popular.
Most of the clothing stores sold either silk or "North Face" products. A basic North Face jacket sold for around $40.
We started our trek by walking past Fanxipan, the highest peak in Indochina. It forms the eastern edge of the Himalayas and can be seen towering over Sapa. I'm told that if you are very fit, you can climb to the top in one day.
Off we went, with bamboo overarching the street.
The valley near Fanxipan.
Before we were outside of town, a group of Hmong ladies joined our group. It was pretty clear that their game plan was to eventually sell us their handmade crafts. I embraced the inevitable sales pitch and enjoyed their company. This is Su, a Hmong woman. She was my favorite and I would say, my new friend. She speaks English very well, possibly better than my official guide. We walked and talked about life in the village and life in NYC.
Su is 42 and has three children. Both of her parents died in their early 70s. Her mother was killed in a motorbike accident in Sapa. She died minutes after she arrived to the hospital. Her father died from stomach problems. Her grandfather, in his mid 90s, is still alive. She said most people in her village live until their mid 70s and a very small number live until their 100s.
Su made me a head piece from ferns. I like to think she made me an honorary Hmong by giving me the head piece, but I'm pretty sure it just cemented my tourist look.
It didn't have a sun visor, but it held my scarf in place.
We trekked for about 2 hours before stopping for a rest near this suspension bridge. All the bridges we crossed were very similar to this one.
For the most part, the wooden planks were still intact.
A small home near the village where we stopped to rest.
The kids running around were adorable. The girl in maroon couldn't be more than 5 and was carrying around her younger sister on her back, along with a basket of goods for sale. Her younger brother, lacking pants, was close by. Throughout Asia, it seems parents choose to put their kids in shirts rather than pants if they are only putting one item of clothes on them. In the US, pants or a diaper without a shirt is much more common. I haven't seen a child wearing a diaper in the two months I have been traveling.
Another cutie.
Virtually every piece of land is used to grow rice. The climate only permits one rice crop per year, so they maximize each crop. The growing season lasts about 4 months. They finished harvesting the 2011 crops a few months ago, so the hills are not as green as they are in the rainy season. November is the dry season, so the patties were mostly a brownish color. Although I'm sure the rice patties are much more spectacular when the rice is growing, the landscape was still very beautiful. Looking at the terraced lands, you also gain a deep appreciation for the amount of work that goes into maintaining the fields.
Most of the terraces are formed just from dirt, but some have bamboo support inside of them. The dirt feels more like a clay and becomes very hard when it dries. The terraced land looks fragile, but water buffalo were walking on the terraced land and were not causing any damage.
The ducks liked to hang out in the fields as well.
To irrigate the patties, they pipe mountain water down the mountain in pieces of bamboo. Above, you can see the piece of exposed bamboo flowing underground and another exposed piece across the trail.
We ate lunch in this hut. French bread with one piece of laughing cow cheese was their specialty and our only option. The Hmong women were milling about, hoping to sell their goods. Su headed home before lunch. Before she left, I broke down and bought a change purse from her for about $5. I'm sure I could have paid half the price, but I didn't have the heart to bargain. She dyed the fabric by hand (her hands were bright blue from the indigo) and then needlepointed the colors onto the fabric.
Oh the joys of the squat toilet....
There was a nice motorbike parked out front the hut where we ate lunch. Surprisingly, a few locals manage to use their motorbikes on the mountain trails.
After about 5 hours of trekking, we reached Ta Van village, where we spent the night in a family's home. All 15 of us slept in the same house, making it a cozy visit.
We slept on mats in the attic surrounded by mosquito nets.
They had a side patio where we spent most of our time.
There was a pool table in the far corner of the patio.
The living room.
The kitchen.
This was the view out the back gate of the house.
The family we stayed with was nice but didn't speak much English. They made some great tasting but simple meals using fresh chicken. I felt bad for the chicken. Based on the level of his squawking, he knew his fate.
After we reached our homestay, we put our bags down and set out to explore the town and go for a quick swim in the river before dinner.
We passed through the heart of Ta Van village.
On my way to swim in the river, I heard "remember me?" It was Su. By coincidence, she lives in the same village where we were spending the night. She invited me to see her house and meet her family.
A bad picture of Su's home. Yes, she has satellite television.
Su's daughter and son.
Her living room. They didn't have any furniture.
Her cooking area. She mostly cooks rice but has meat on special occasions.
One of the best things about running into Su again was finding her wearing t-shirts rather than her traditional Hmong clothing. I guess everyone likes to put on comfortable clothes after work. She led me on a "short cut" through the rice patties (which you can see behind her) to catch up with my group. It was very slippery walking along the edge of the patties. Su had a death grip on my hand to make sure I didn't fall.
More adorable Hmong children.
From the bridge, I met up with the rest of my group swimming down below.
The water was freezing!
We headed back for our chicken dinner then hung out on the porch playing different games until late in the night. I was the only American. Our group included 4 people from New Zealand, 2 from Canada, 4 from Australia, 2 Germans, and a couple from England.
Tomorrow we trek to a waterfall then head back into town.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Sapa, Vietnam
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