Travel Dates: March 2018 for 3 days, 2 nights
Travel Buddies: Ben + Stacey
Sapa is a hill town in the Hoàng Liên Son Mountains of NW Vietnam, near the China border. While the town itself has seen much tourism-focused development over the years, it is most commonly used as a base for trekking throughout the region. Due to its remote location, getting to Sapa is a trek of its own. Like most, our journey started in Hanoi. We took the night train from Hanoi to Lao Cai. The train has a whimsical feel that made it a fun experience. The sleeping cars are rooms of 4 and the beds aren’t terribly uncomfortable. Don’t expect a good night’s sleep though as the train makes many turns and stops throughout the night. Once in Lao Cai, we boarded minivans for the 1 hour windy drive up through the hills to Sapa.
The areas surrounding Sapa are home to several hill tribe ethnic minority groups such as the Black Hmong, Red Dao, Tay, Muong, Thai, Giay, Hoa and Xa Pho. Each has their own language and distinctive clothing. Their lifestyles are very primitive and generally center around farming. The men work the fields while the women tend to their many children and make clothing. Many cannot read or write, and few speak English. However this is more than made up for in their entrepreneurial nature and eternally optimistic attitudes. Recognizing the tourism draw to Sapa’s breathtaking scenery, many of these women have taught themselves English so they can lead trekking tours through the hills and villages.
We arranged our trek through Lily’s Travel Agency in Hanoi. They partner with a Hmong lady named Mao, who along with her sisters and cousins, lead treks around Sapa. When we arrived in Sapa we were paired with Mao’s cousin, Moo. Moo, at the time was 42, a grandmother of 5, and an all around amazing women. More about her in a bit.
Being mountainous, the area of Sapa can see dramatic shifts in weather. When we arrived it was pouring rain and our spirits were a bit down at the prospect of hiking in the rain. But within an hour while we had breakfast, the rain had reduced to mist and we were on our way! Our hike started with Moo and a few other Hmong girls. Moo immediately asked about us as couples and we established we were couples, not married yet, but getting married in a few months. Moo replied in a deadpan voice “oh ok…we will marry you tonight and have nice Hmong wedding and celebration”. It took us a few seconds to realise she was joking, but then laughed and understood she has an awesome sense of humor. As we climbed up out of Sapa, it was very steep and muddy. Within 30 minutes we were up at a vantage point, the sun came out, and the layers of clothing started coming off.
As we made our way through hills, valleys and farms, other Hmong girls joined our group seemingly out of nowhere. Only a few talked to us but they were all nice. As we walked they would weave long grasses into toy animals and hearts to give to us. We arrived for lunch at a roadside spot in the hills which was apparently the spot for all hiking groups to stop. Once we were seating, the quiet Hmong girls from our group turned on their sales pitches and bombarded us with their various handicrafts to sell. As a side note, if you search for other blog posts on trekking in Sapa, you will find countless people complaining about the various groups “stalking” them and constantly pestering to sell their crafts on trail. Oh how annoying right?! Well, I think it’s important to remember that by being way up in the hills of these villages, you are essentially in their homes. The crafts they sell are one of the few ways for them to make honest money. I’m certainly not saying buy a bunch of things to make them feel good. But definitely smile, be respectful and at least look at what they have to offer. It shows interest in what they have spent hours crafting and you never know, there might be a few things you are interested in. At the very least, a polite “thank you but no thank you” will suffice.
With bellies full of fried noodles, we left the chaotic restaurant to keep on hiking. We realized that the other Hmong girls were no longer following us since they’d made their sales pitch, so it was just five of us hiking now. With just the sounds of birds, livestock and our shoes on the ground, it became easier to let our minds wander and soak in the scenery. At times the trails go right through the backyards of people’s homes. For the most part their houses are primitive rough timber shacks with no windows, and dirt or concrete floors. There are little pigs, chickens, goats, dogs and cows everywhere. Landscape is dense and there are countless beautiful flowers mixed amongst vibrant green plants. We arrived at a house for a break, and Moo then told us it was her home! She brought out special embroidered clothing to show us that they make for celebrations. They are navy blue (dyed from indigo), and have ornate embroidery. She had us try them on for a picture. As you can see by how the clothes fit, the Hmong are smaller people in general.
A bit more hiking and our tired legs made it to our first homestay. We honestly expected it to be more of a “homestay” but it was actually more of a hostel in the hills with probably 15 other hikers. Which ended up being fine as several of them were nice couples our age who were on extended travel years from all over the world. We all shared a big communal dinner with the travelers and the other two Hmong guides, Mao and Mama Shu. Then the “happy water” came out (rice whiskey of questionable ABV). The instigators, Mao and Mama Shu, have what I call offensive hospitality. Don’t finish your shot of happy water unless you want them to fill it immediately. It’s a big game and pretty hilarious. Thoroughly tuckered out from the day, we all went to bed early.
It’s very serene waking up in the misty hills. There’s a calm that permeates the air. The five of us set off on our longer hike (20km) accompanied by a stray dog that followed us the whole way. The mist lingered much of the day, but it was very meditative hiking through endless rice patties and down gravel roads. Day 2 takes you even further away from Sapa and you see less of other trekkers which was nice. The quiet allowed more time to chat with Moo and get to know her. We noticed she referred to so many things as “happy”. Whether it’s her limited english or not, it seemed that she has such a positive outlook on life and things in her life were just “happy”. In today’s age when you meet someone you can trade phone numbers or find them online. Moo and her people do not have smartphones or computers. Realizing that our time spent with her here and now would likely be our last encounter, it made us feel very engaged in the “now”. Live for the moment.
We stopped for lunch at the market and home of a Red Dao lady. She made us noodles then walked with us for a while. The scenery kept getting more incredible and after a long day’s hike, we made it our second homestay in a small village. This homestay was the same setup, but was at the actual home of a family and there were no other travelers there that night. We ate a delicious dinner with the large family. No one spoke english but there is plenty of sign language to convey “delicious food” and “thank you”. Plus we had Moo to translate for us if needed. More happy water then off to bed!
Day 3, our travel buddies woke up not feeling good, so they stayed at the homestay while Monica and I did a half day hike with just Moo. The sun came out and the hike took us through some of the most breathtaking rice patties and landscape of the whole trek. We jokingly told Moo that we don’t want to go home and we’d stay and work with her. She, in her deadpan voice, said “yes of course, Shane will work the fields with my husband and Monica can carry the babies, teach english and guide treks”. We knew she was joking too…but only a little.
After returning to our homestay, some rowdy Vietnamese guys picked us up in a minivan and blasted EDM through the hills, taking us back to Sapa. There was a minor delay of a small truck in a ditch. But fun to watch a crane lift it out.
In Sapa, we said our sad goodbyes to Moo, Mao and Mama Shu. We boarded a night bus for the 6 hour drive back to Hanoi. Feels great to sit in a reclined comfy seat after 45 km of hiking up and down hills over 3 days. This is the only face to muster!
The bus had Wifi which we were able to check 4 days worth of texts and emails. It was wonderful time to reflect on how consumed we are with our phones and technology. Spending 3 days with the Hmong women taught us about enjoying the present, and living in the now. How less is more, and we all get to choose how we see the world. It taught us to be like Moo….be happy.
