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Published: October 3rd 2007
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Hello Hello! Well Patrick and I are in great spirits as we returned yesterday morning (at 4 am!) from a 3 day trek in the province of Sapa. Sapa is province (as well as a town) in Northwest Vietnam, and contains many ethnic minorities/hill tribes. The town itself is situated on top of one of the many mountains in the area, and overlooks a landscape of terraced rice paddies, rivers, and more mountains, including Fansipan mtn, Vietnam's highest at 3000 m. The area is a beautiful green colour, mixed with yellow as the rice paddies encompass most of the region.
We booked a 3 day trek, including 2 nights home stay, through Sapa, with a local H'mong girl as our guide. The H'mong are one of the largest ethnic minority groups in Sapa, and are known for their embroidery and silver-smith skills. Upon arrival in Sapa (an 8 hr train ride from Hanoi), we were more than welcomed by H'mong girls and women who were in the city for the weekend market. As most Vietnamese, they were very eager to sell us their ware, but they had the best selling skills we have seen yet. First they asked the 4
main questions in vietnam (what's your name, where are you from, how old are you, and are you married), chatted us up, went and wandered off, then came back a while later to sell us earrings, bracelets, and blankets. They are such kind, happy, and beautiful people, that we never felt put off by their selling tactics, and truly enjoyed their conversation. We were very impressed by the english skills of the H'mong and Dao (another tribe group); they spoke even better english than the Vietnamese in the cities! It must be because as children they come in constant contact with tourists, and indeed, their economy relies heavily on tourism. Now a note on the H'mong appearance: they wear black clothing covered in detailed embroidery, of many beautiful colours, with silver earrings, bracelets, and rings. They make all their clothing from hemp, of which they are always winding in their hands, preparing for the loom. After creating the fabric, they dye the colour in indigo, of which you see numerous vats in the local villages. The men's clothing is just as beautiful, with almost no embroidery, but the style of it is very flattering and they have delightful little black
jackets which only an asian man would wear well. We have noticed all throughout Vietnam how the people take great pride in their personal appearance, and although they may be poor, their clothes are always clean and well kept. Plus, they have a great sense of style.
The local minorities speak mainly their own ethnic language (which differs from Vietnamese), and English. They are taught Vietnamese in school, but as they only attend school 4 hrs a day, and only until roughly the age of 13, they are not very fluent in it. Their own languages are much softer than vietnamese, and pretty poetic; i guess if they were english speaking I would compare their language to the Irish, very lilting yet lively. I made friends with one girl named Mango (or at least pronounced as that), who was 12, and very lively and smart individual. She was almost fluent in English, and gave me great insight into her culture. The children go to school 5 days a week, and after lunch they go to the fields and work in the rice paddies with their parents. Unfortunately, it also seems that drinking seems to be a problem in the
villages, as rice wine (aka moonshine) is very popular, and she let me know that her father was often drunk. A whole group of H'mong women accompanied our group (which consisted of two australians, patrick and I, and our guide Chee), down to their village of Lau Chai where we stopped for lunch. There were a couple of women with 6 month old babies walking down with us, and I would say their average age was 20. The children barely ever complained and seemed quite content carried on their mothers' backs. The mothers would hand them peices of sugar cane to eat from time to time and they seemed quite happy with this. The ladies made gifts made out of grass to us, with shapes such as horses and wreaths. They are very skillfull with their hands!
The walk down to the valleys was one of the most naturally beautiful sights that we have yet seen. We wandered down throuch terraced rice paddies, which were glowing in the sun as the rice was ready for harvest. On our treck we weaved along creeks, walked past water buffalos cooling off in the mud, and soaked up the warm sun. The
scenes were amazing as there was not a cloud in the sky and it was the first time in a month of vietnam that we didn't see smog - a rare sight! Chee took us to her family home for a quick visit, and the four of us sat on some little benches on a dirt floor while she chatted to her family and handed out her latest paycheque. It was an eye-opening experience because we saw first-hand the poverty in which the people led their daily lives. The house was quite small, with dirt floors, and the children were dirty and sounded sick. We really realized how a simple purchase of 30 000 Dong for earrings ($2) went a long way, and when it came our turn to buy gifts we barely even bartered. An embroidered blanket for example might take 2 months to make, and sold for around $12. There is so much competition in the region for selling goods that I'm sure the women don't often make many sales.
We spent two nights in homestays in minority villages, which was really fun as we could wander at will through the villages and see village life first
hand. On our second night Chee led us to a local waterfall, not far from Ban Ho village, where we went swimming and just relaxed and took in all the sights.
Chee was quite the character, about 17 yrs old, and loved to have a laugh (usually at our expense). However, she was a very informative guide and it felt strange to leave her company when our trip was over. As any teen though, she loved her cell phone and spent a fair amount of time on the internet at our homestays. It rather felt odd being in the villages, soaking up 'traditional' life, and then seeing villagers using cell phones, watching tv, and using the internet. The world is always evolving!
We left Sapa with fond memories, great pictures, and embroidered souvenirs to remind us of the glorious 3 days we spent with the H'mong people.
This three day trek was our final adventure in Vietnam. We had planned to go to Halong Bay in our final two days here but once again we were thwarted by a tropical storm. Too bad, but there isnt much we can do about the weather. Instead we are spending
these days catching up on our sleep and preparing ourselves for the next stage of our journey.... Laos!!!
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