A Safari

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Have you ever been on safari?

Up until today, I had not. But I signed up for a one-day trek through the hill tribe region around Sa Pa, and a human safari was what I got.

They keep them in their "natural" habitat, but Black H'mong and Red Dao minority tribes have become tainted by tourism and conditioned to respond to the influx of dumb foreigners with too much money (I include myself in that category).

As we got off our minibus at the trailhead, we were surrounded by tribal women (literally, this must be what it feels like to be a rock star) hawking bracelets and purses. Some of them followed us a good kilometer downhill before giving up.

In the villages, Ta Van in particular, they offer "homestays." These are essentially buildings made expressly to house foreigners and there is nothing "home"-ey about it.

Mind you, there are still some authentic touches, such as men and women working in the rice paddies, vats of indigo dye sitting about, farm animals pecking through the streets, and the pants-free children that frolic around until their mothers thrust them, genitalia first, in your face to try and help their cause in selling bracelets.

One small girl followed me for a really long time, whining incessantly the chant that I've come to know so well around Sa Pa: "You buy from me, you buy from me, you buy from me."

Anyone who knows how uncomfortable I am around children (with one or two exceptions!) would probably have laughed at me. Either way, stalking and waving child pee-pees does not really make me want to buy anything. Nor am I inclined to encourage child labor; if they see that it works, then all the kids will be forced out to sell stuff to tourists.

One woman climbed alongside us during the most difficult portion of our trek. It was basically a path between rice paddies carved out by the water buffalo - treacherous, narrow, and slippery. As she was repeatedly asking me my name, my age, my favorite pasta dish, and all about my stock options, I made the mistake of trying to outrun her.

"I've got long legs, and pretty sure footing," I thought. "She's short and carrying a big basket on her back. I can do this."

Yeah, right. These people are born and raised in precarious positions, so she just jumped and skipped along ahead of me, just in time to help me across a stream when I slipped. After that I answered her questions and fended off her sales tactics without complaint.

This truly was a trek. Although it started out easily enough, we ended up wading across streams, perching on the edge of rice paddies, and clambering up and down the terraces over and over again. Time stops for no one, and neither did our guide.

(I'm going to brag for a minute about how I not only kept up with but actually outdid the 20-year-old girls on the trek.)

Once again confirming my opinion that nearly everyone in Vietnam is out to rip you off, there was "lunch."

"Lunch" was included on the tour. It consisted of loaves of bread, a single wheel of laughing cow cheese, a bunch of bananas, a bowl of eggs, and some fruit. For eight people, most of them guys.

Meanwhile, all the men of the village clambered over to the "homestay" where we were eating and helped themselves to huge bowls of nice-looking chicken, rice, and noodles. I'm thinking we financed "lunch" for the village.

But I'm guessing our guide could have bought the meal and then some from his moonlighting job as a drug dealer. He sold pot to everyone on the tour except for me.

I'm starting to depress myself with the negativity - don't let me give you the wrong idea! It was a totally great experience, it was a fantastiac way to see the region, and the villages were actually very interesting. I guess the main complaint is - well, us, the tourists, who tend to ruin it all by raising expectations in the villagers.

If you get the chance to do it, by all means don't let it pass you by. Just try to remember that your interactions with the locals, particularly the children, will form their opinions and attitudes towards foreigners in the future.

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Photos

Which Is More Lovely?
Me, or the scenery? ;)

Comments

[Neomi]

Hang in there
I can completely understand why the constant harassment from the locals is getting you down. I hope things start to look up once you leave Vietnam, but I suspect things (the begging) will be similar all over Asia. It looks lovely, though. Hope you are meeting some nice, somewhat mature traveling companions. :)