Sapa

Sapa is based in the North of Vietnam which is perched on a steep slope overlooking a valley of rice terraces with mountains overlooking the village. It’s usually colder, wetter and foggier there then the rest of the country. The area is home for many minorities who is still living their cultural life however many of the younger generation doing get proper education and move out of the hill tribe to explore other options than farm life in the hills. There are  7 minorities  in Sapa;  H'mong black, H'mong red, blue and flower,  Day, Tay, Dao and during our 3 day home stay tour I saw a couple of the different minorities.

We were met by our guide for the trip Joe who is from the H'mong tribe. He wasn't dressed in traditional clothing but more looked like a boy band member incl red/black glittery cap.

After some faffing around to sort out some money for the trip and picking up the other 3 members we finally set off. And with we I mean guide Chao, Paul, me, Aussie family; Niary, Stevie and Ray. Soon 4 H'mong tribe ladies joined us and decided to accompany us to our home stay 8 km away.

So we started along a busy road with beautiful mountain scenery, followed by off road bumpy lanes, muddy hills and watery rivers. For lunch we stopped at an eatery near a bridge and suddenly a lot of kids and more tribe ladies showed up to sell us, scarves, silverware, bags, hats, bracelets and ivory combe’s. It was all a bit too much as you couldn't move or talk to people. The next half hour the crowd tripled and the tribe ladies quadrupled! We continued after lunch with a bigger following of 5 ladies (they were from the Hn'ong tribe from our homestay village). Personally I wasn't sure if I liked the crowd or not, they were very kind and helpful but we all know what that meant; buying a gift later on.

On our way we past children working on the field or collecting wood for the fire. After the final up and down hill treks we've reached our home stay. This is a very simple place from wood with concrete floors. The tribe ladies were indeed trying to sell their stuff but only the Aussie family were topping up their Xmas presents. 

It was only 3pm so still a long time till dinner. After a shower I walked around and ended up at the local nursery. I watched the children sing and donated some colouring pencils. After that I've watched a group of boys play with wooden spinning tops and girls with marbles. A boy digged a hole into the ground for a pee and he and his friend filled it up afterwards with some sand..

They seem to have much fun and looking after their little siblings who were strapped on their backs. It was nice seeing kids being kids and I was pleased I've experienced unfortunately the authentic was wearing off during the day with the tribe ladies using her mobile phone and my 10 yr old 'female' friends returning to my home stay with their mum to sell me some bracelets! 

The rest of the afternoon we had some more 'visitors' at our home stay till we went inside.

We ate with the family; mum, dad and son. They prepared; Vietnamese spring rolls (yummy), stir fried veg with chicken or pork, rice, fish in bamboo sauce, runner beans and Happy Water! The 'water' is homemade sake and quite strong but it helped me to get warm. The rest of the evening we played cards, chatted and our guide Chao kept us entertained. He's a married 22 yr old man with a child but in London I'm sure he would have more fun on Old Compton Street.

By 9pm everyone incl the family was tucked up in bed to stay warm and have a good rest for tomorrow's walk. 

Day 2; I woke up to thick fog and chilly weather after a lovely pancake (Dutch style) breakfast, Aussie family, guide Chao and I set off on our trip. This time without any tribe ladies company, after two hour of gentle walking we reached a small authentic village where we had a bowl of noodle soup. In the kitchen was a small fire with a big pot preparing Happy Water (Ruoi Gao) it looks so easy just boil rice long enough and the steam gets fermented into the juice.

Another hour later we arrived at a valley with a bigger village which would be our home for the night. We explored the village which was called Ban Ho and rested the rest of the afternoon, followed by dinner in the kitchen and early night to stay warm.

After our cold adventure in Sapa we were looking for sun and the stunning views of Halong Bay. Most of you seen the well-known pictures featured in magazines from this bay so our expectations were high.  Unfortunately, the expectations weren’t reached maybe due to the 4 hour journey long drive to Halong Bay Harbour from Hanoi, the cloudy and wet weather and traveling for almost a week non-stop. I’m glad I’ve visited the Bay but it won’t show up in my top 3 of destinations.

the H'mong ladies 

TEAM SAPA

SAPA VALLEY

DINNER

HOME STAY DINNER

KIDS BEING KIDS?

STUNNING VIEWS