The train we took to Sapa
Fog coming into town. This was our view from the 5th floor at our hotel.
Sapa Church
Snack with Delicious Vietnamese Coffee
In front of the tourist office in Sapa
Two Black H'Mong women looking for tourists. View from the cafe'.It was raining and the visibility was low, but once we got closer to the village we could see the rice patty terraces.
Yesterday, I had no tolerance for the women selling things. Today was different. I heard stories that the women follow you on your trek. They did. 10 women deep. At first, I was very quiet and said no thank you when they persistently asked "What's your name?" "Where you from?" "How old are you" "How long you stay in Sapa?" ETC. Then I slowly answered and asked them the same questions. They continued with "How many brothers and sister do you have?" And I realized their English was pretty impressive. They answered all my questions and told me we were walking to their village called Lao Chải. They became human. I couldn't ignore them anymore. One woman I walked with named Lang had a baby on her back all bundled up and covered. For 1 hour I didn't even realized she had a baby she was carrying. Her baby Zao was a girl and very quiet, until she became hungry 10 minutes later. Lang has 5 daughters and sells textiles for work. The rice fields are only worked on once a year since the town is in the mountains.
After lunch I bought a wallet, little purse and scarf from Lang and her friend. Lang was so grateful she took us to her house where we met 2 of her daughters. One was sleeping and the fifth was 4 years old at "school."
Our trek was booked through Sapa Pathfinder Tours or SP tours. It was only 10USD per person and I was pleased. We began passing Ý Linh Hồ which was the foggiest part of the trek. We could not see much. We continued to Lao Chải. Lao Chải is where all the women (who were following us) were from. We saw grazing water buffalo. Families of pigs. We stopped by a primary school where 40 children were dancing for exercise. We visited the local hospital. This is where we ate lunch.
We visited a "home-stay" and watched women weaving hemp.
After lunch we continued to Tả Van Village. We saw more roosters, chickens, buffalo, rice fields, locals and another home stay house.
Such an easy trek and I am so happy with the pictures I was able to take.
The locals were so nice.
The tour:
The beautiful locals from Lao Chai and Ta Van Villages.
Our trek
First stop, a little house who's residence are making rice wine.
Kevin buying a walking stick (bamboo) from one of the local boys.
river under the bridge.
new bridge next to the old bridge.We stopped by the primary school in Lao Chai Village and they were dancing outside for exercise.
The boys weren't dancing, they were eating snacks.
The boys weren't dancing, they were eating snacks.
water buffalo hanging out by the rice terraces
We Bought souvenires from Lang and she was so appreciative she showed us her house and introduced us to her daughters:
Lang and her baby Zao
Baby Zao
Her kitchen
Lang and I.People working on the rice fields in Ta Van Village
All of these pictures are so great!! :)
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