When we arrived in Sapa late on Monday clouds had rolled in quite quickly and our view of the surrounding countryside was fairly limited. I was determined that the next day would be clear and set my alarm for an early start. I was rewarded by a beautiful clear sunrise that revealed the full extent of our fabulous views. I went and woke Nick and we enjoyed the view while eating breakfast on the terrace. As we ate we watched the efforts of a group of men who carried heavy baskets of cement in their heads down a steep path. Each man only carried the basket about 20 paces then transferred it to the head of another. It looked like really hard work.
We set off at 7:00 am for a walk down to Cat Cat village. This village lies in the bottom of the valley 3 km below Sapa. The path down was steep but well paved. There were quite a few other tourists also on the walk but judging by the number of hotel rooms in Sapa (over 20,000 beds); nowhere near as many as there are during a weekend in the high season.
The path down wound through rice paddies so our progress was quite slow as we stopped to take many photographs. One of the pleasures of traveling with Nicky is that she is just as keen on photography as I am. It was great to be with someone who is not irritated by the delays that ensue in this process. Nick is am amazing photographer particularly of people. She is quick to see possibilities and often captures beautifully a moment that eludes me.
Along the path we passed groups of houses. I especially enjoyed looking at the long lengths of hand-woven cloth that were drying in the sun having been died with natural indigo. The material for the cloth and the indigo are all grown locally but they had already been harvested when we were there. The local people where clothes made of this cloth and consequently have skin stained blue from the dye.
Nick and I were both worried about our fitness level for climbing back up the hill but the problem was easily solved. A number of motorbike drivers competed for our business as we walked down. Each tried to extract from us a promise that we would use them to return to Sapa. “Maybe yes, maybe no” we replied but we were very grateful for the services of two blokes on the way back up – my sort of trekking!
The drivers took us to see another nearby village, Sin Chai, but we felt intrusive because the people there did not seem very welcoming of tourists and we did not stay long. After lunch the clouds rolled in again so we did not go far. We walked down the hill to view the Sapa township from below then climbed up to a lookout through the botanic gardens. The steps wound up through tall strangely shaped black rocks. At the top, (well named as a “cloud garden”) the views were mostly obscured by the cloud but it was an incredible place.
Sapa was developed by the French at the turn of the 20th century. This is very evident in the architecture. Looking at the old French colonial buildings perched on the steep slopes reminded me a lot of being in Switzerland – but with a Vietnamese twist. Back in town we rewarded ourselves for our efforts with a visit to Baguette and Chocolate – after six months of Vietnamese food the lemon tart we ate there was to die for.
We spent the rest of the day wandering around the town. The women and children here are very different from those we saw in Bac Ha. They are dogged salespeople who do not miss any opportunity to hawk their wares. Wherever we went they followed us entreating us to buy their beautiful handmade textiles and silver jewelry. I bought several items but this only intensified their determination. They have a good command of the English useful for sales and kept up a constant barrage of “Why you buy from her? You no buy from me. It not fair you no buy from me” etc etc. At one stage we sat down in the village square and became the targets of attention from several very cheerful groups. When we finally convinced them that we were not doing any more shopping they still stayed to talk for quite awhile. It was a real pleasure talking with these entertaining and good humored women but it was sad to see so many children selling things or acting as tourist guides rather than attending school.
As with Bac Ha there are many different ethnic minority groups in Sapa. Each have their own distinctive style of clothing. The majority of people we saw were H’mong Leng (sometimes called Black H’momg). They wear clothes made from hemp and died with blue-black indigo. The women’s dress is a tabard style that comes to just above their knees. Many had a pill-box style hat and most wore very large silver earrings and solid hoop necklaces. The Dao women were very distinctive with a variety of brilliant red headdresses. We also saw several women wearing very elaborate headdresses made of complex black coils topped with intricate silver boxes but unfortunately I do not know which group they belong to.
Almost all of the women were busy with handcrafts while they sat, walked or talked. They twisted hemp into long strings for weaving or stitched elaborate designs into pieces of fabric. I could have happily bought dozens of items but the frantic sales techniques on the streets and in the markets was a bit overwhelming. I have got some cushion covers and a bracelet that I love. I adored the brilliantly colored bedspreads but I had already bought one earlier in the year when I was in Hoi An so I resisted getting another. I wish now that I had bought one of the beautiful baby hats – it would have looked wonderful on “Wilfie”.
We set off at 7:00 am for a walk down to Cat Cat village. This village lies in the bottom of the valley 3 km below Sapa. The path down was steep but well paved. There were quite a few other tourists also on the walk but judging by the number of hotel rooms in Sapa (over 20,000 beds); nowhere near as many as there are during a weekend in the high season.
The path down wound through rice paddies so our progress was quite slow as we stopped to take many photographs. One of the pleasures of traveling with Nicky is that she is just as keen on photography as I am. It was great to be with someone who is not irritated by the delays that ensue in this process. Nick is am amazing photographer particularly of people. She is quick to see possibilities and often captures beautifully a moment that eludes me.
Along the path we passed groups of houses. I especially enjoyed looking at the long lengths of hand-woven cloth that were drying in the sun having been died with natural indigo. The material for the cloth and the indigo are all grown locally but they had already been harvested when we were there. The local people where clothes made of this cloth and consequently have skin stained blue from the dye.
Nick and I were both worried about our fitness level for climbing back up the hill but the problem was easily solved. A number of motorbike drivers competed for our business as we walked down. Each tried to extract from us a promise that we would use them to return to Sapa. “Maybe yes, maybe no” we replied but we were very grateful for the services of two blokes on the way back up – my sort of trekking!
The drivers took us to see another nearby village, Sin Chai, but we felt intrusive because the people there did not seem very welcoming of tourists and we did not stay long. After lunch the clouds rolled in again so we did not go far. We walked down the hill to view the Sapa township from below then climbed up to a lookout through the botanic gardens. The steps wound up through tall strangely shaped black rocks. At the top, (well named as a “cloud garden”) the views were mostly obscured by the cloud but it was an incredible place.
Sapa was developed by the French at the turn of the 20th century. This is very evident in the architecture. Looking at the old French colonial buildings perched on the steep slopes reminded me a lot of being in Switzerland – but with a Vietnamese twist. Back in town we rewarded ourselves for our efforts with a visit to Baguette and Chocolate – after six months of Vietnamese food the lemon tart we ate there was to die for.
We spent the rest of the day wandering around the town. The women and children here are very different from those we saw in Bac Ha. They are dogged salespeople who do not miss any opportunity to hawk their wares. Wherever we went they followed us entreating us to buy their beautiful handmade textiles and silver jewelry. I bought several items but this only intensified their determination. They have a good command of the English useful for sales and kept up a constant barrage of “Why you buy from her? You no buy from me. It not fair you no buy from me” etc etc. At one stage we sat down in the village square and became the targets of attention from several very cheerful groups. When we finally convinced them that we were not doing any more shopping they still stayed to talk for quite awhile. It was a real pleasure talking with these entertaining and good humored women but it was sad to see so many children selling things or acting as tourist guides rather than attending school.
As with Bac Ha there are many different ethnic minority groups in Sapa. Each have their own distinctive style of clothing. The majority of people we saw were H’mong Leng (sometimes called Black H’momg). They wear clothes made from hemp and died with blue-black indigo. The women’s dress is a tabard style that comes to just above their knees. Many had a pill-box style hat and most wore very large silver earrings and solid hoop necklaces. The Dao women were very distinctive with a variety of brilliant red headdresses. We also saw several women wearing very elaborate headdresses made of complex black coils topped with intricate silver boxes but unfortunately I do not know which group they belong to.
Almost all of the women were busy with handcrafts while they sat, walked or talked. They twisted hemp into long strings for weaving or stitched elaborate designs into pieces of fabric. I could have happily bought dozens of items but the frantic sales techniques on the streets and in the markets was a bit overwhelming. I have got some cushion covers and a bracelet that I love. I adored the brilliantly colored bedspreads but I had already bought one earlier in the year when I was in Hoi An so I resisted getting another. I wish now that I had bought one of the beautiful baby hats – it would have looked wonderful on “Wilfie”.
My hotel room was on the corner of the top floor. It had balconies on two sides and great views across to the mountains and down the valley.
