Vietnam

Sapa - enchanting paddy fields in the mountains

3056

30/10/2015

During our first visit in Southeast Asia it rained a lot but the weather became stable soon. It was perfect timing to go to Sapa. We don’t do it often but we decided to buy a tour in Hanoi. We paid 1 068 000 VND/person (cca 48 USD) for 3 nights and 2 days including trekking in paddy fields. 2 nights we slept in the sleeper bus and 1 night we spent in homestay. We do not regret it but next time we will explore it there on our own and take more time because North Vietnam is very nice and well accessible.

Tribe of Hmong People

In the morning after we arrived to Sapa by the night bus we were given a breakfast to refresh. Shortly we met our people from our tribe called Black Hmong, specifically women who call themselves Tao. Women of the Black Hmong wear traditional clothing of black color made of cotton. Originally they sewed the dresses from traditional hemp. This tribe has many sub-groups. Tao women differentiate themselves from the others by having a large combs embedded in the hair and they never wear hats. Together with these local women we also met our tour guide Pam who spoke really good English and of course belonged to Black Hmong People.

Sapa and hiking in paddy fields

The whole group of women took us hiking in paddy fields. At the beginning we were wondering why there are so many people going with but in the end we were happy. Terrain in the fields was really muddy so it was quite difficult to walk down the steep slopes and descend. At that moment we were so happy we did not believe to travel agents and took our hiking boots. Other people in our group looked at us like we were crazy but after their few first falls they envied. 😉 Our cute accompaniment was home there so these Tao women knew where to step and were always willing to help us in order we did not fall down. It was a lot easier making steps with them. The biggest fun was that these woman were really small so observing them how they help Pavel was so hilarious because he had to bend down to them. 😉 After several hours of walking in the fields we reached a small village in the middle of the mountains and rice fields where we had our lunch. We spent night in a home stay in Lao Chải village from where we took another pleasant walk in the morning. On the way we met other tribes. We had lunch together with people from our group and returned to Sapa in the afternoon. The only wrinkle on the entire experience were persistent vendors. We are used to it from South America but they did not have to be only 4 or 5 years old…

Rice fields everywhere you look

No matter where you are in Sapa region everywhere you will be offered unbelievably charming views. The green color mesmerized us, calmed our minds and took away all thoughts that blocked us from enjoying this place fully. It was grazing for eyes, soul and body. Everywhere we turned we saw beautiful fields and rice terraces. There were people from local tribes working on these fields, most of them still harvest and look after rice in traditional way. Water buffalos lying in the mud around the paddy fields or children who had fun riding them. Everything like this together it is so idyllic and nice. And even though local people do not have easy life it is still worth travelling here within our trip around the world and get to know Sapa with one’s own eyes. Pleasantly tired but paradoxically relax we came back to Hanoi to manage a few things before we set out exploring Vietnam properly.