Sapa

Marg snoozing on the Sapa Express

Today, we flew out of Luang Prabang in Laos, heading eastward to Vietnam.

Vietnam is a Communist state of around 93.5 million people.

After three decades of war, Vietnam is now a unified country showing off its beautiful rain forests, beaches, lovely villages, and interesting cuisine. 

Workers and rice fields en-route to Sapa

We were really looking forward to spending some time there.

We arrived in Hanoi at around 8:00 pm and headed straight to our accommodation.

But we were only staying in Hanoi for one night, as we had purchased bus tickets to take us into the mountains of Sapa for a few nights.

Rice terraces and water buffalo near Sapa

Sapa is in the far north of Vietnam in the Tonkinese Alps, not far from the Chinese border.

So, the next morning, we left Hanoi very, very early on a 6 hour bus trip north to Sapa.

The drive was really interesting.

Our assertive and diminutive Sapa porters

We passed people working in rice fields, farmers with their cattle, roof shingles drying, women carrying goods on poles, and heaps of other day to day activities that are the same, but different to home.

Our arrival in Sapa, was an exercise in constraint!

The bus stopped and about a gazillion guides and porters, all in traditional clothing, buzzed about the bus, tapping on windows and yelling, hoping to get us to buy their services.

Sapa township-foggy in the high altitude

Getting off the bus, two small women grabbed our cases and took off, leaving us no choice but to follow. 

They stopped after a while to ask for the name of our hotel, then carried on at a brisk pace.

We had forgotten that Sapa is at a high altitude and we were puffing along behind them.

Sapa market-every type of meat you could imagine

Fortunately, they were very good, waited for us, and got us to the hotel ok.

Payment for this service, was a tip for the main porter, and buying something that the second porter had made. No problem.

The next morning, we walked to the local information centre seeking a guide who would take us through the local hill villages and paddy fields that Sapa is known for.

Mimi our guide and us with foggy valley behind

We wanted to hire a local guide so that our money would benefit a local family, rather than booking an organised tour where our money would go to a global or Vietnam-wide organisation.

Trip booked for the next day, we headed out to see Sapa city.

Hill tribe village on rice terraces

The houses and shops are mostly two-storey and colourful. 

But it was so foggy in the high altitude, that it was difficult to get a real overview.

Our first stop was the market. Now that was really interesting.

The market sold all sorts of different meat, including dog, and many herbs and vegetables.

Rice paddy fields on every hill

We noticed that a lot of Sapa women had blue-stained fingers. Apparently, its from the indigo dye they use to colour the material that they weave and work with.

Overall, we found Sapa very easy to walk around as it is quite compact.

The next morning, we headed off to the information centre to meet our guide, and were introduced to Mimi.

Women from the Hmong, Dao, and Giay hill tribes  

Mimi turned out to be a real gem. She had a new baby, so bought along two of her friends. 

Their job was to look after the baby while she was guiding, and help us out if necessary. 

And what a fantastic day we had.

At that time of the year, the rice paddies were full of water and there was mud everywhere.

Marg in the mist overlooking the terraced valley

Mimi and her team cajoled us, held us up, helped empty our shoes of mud, and generally slid around in the mud with us.

We slipped and slid so much that the whole time was spent laughing at, and with each other.

 We had such a great time.

Mimi in her cooking area

The area is absolutely covered in rice fields. They cascade down the many hills, and fill the lush Muong Valley that sits between Sapa and Fanispan Mountain.

Fanispan is the highest mountain in Vietnam (and in Laos and Cambodia as well) at 3,147 metres, so its foothills are pretty steep.

Mimi explained the importance of the terraced fields and how they were constructed.

She also outlined the various cultures of the different hill tribes, whose villages we were passing through.

Mimi's food preparation and washing up area

The main tribes of Hmong, Giay, Dao, Tay, and Xa Pho, grow rice, corn and vegetables on these paddy terraces.

The terraces, water, cloud cover, and colourful locals, combined to present a mystical picture of life in the mountains.

It is very beautiful.

Then, at about the time we should have been dropped off at the local tourist centre for lunch, Mimi invited us to eat at her house instead of with the dozens of other busloads of tourists.

Sharing a meal with a delicious ruou can

Of course, we said yes, and what a good decision that turned out to be.

Mimi’s house is wooden, with an earthen floor. 

On one side was a fire pit, with lengths of bamboo constantly being fed into the flame to keep it burning. 

This was the cooking area.

On the other side, her husband has diverted the local stream so that they had running water in an open pipe through the house. 

This was used for washing, preparing food etc.

In the middle was an open space, with a low table and chairs where we sat for our meal.

As we sat there, we became a little concerned about what we were eating.

But we needn’t have worried. The food was fresh, beautifully prepared by Mimi, and very delicious.

We, Mimi and friends enjoyed ourselves so much that the meal went on and on.

Eventually, Mimi bought out the cherished Ruou Can.

This is a wine traditionally made by Vietnam’s hilltribes and used for special occasions.

It uses black or sticky rice, tree bark and natural flavourings, packed in a ceramic jar and allowed to ferment for several weeks.

It was sweet, valuable, and very much appreciated.

After a few hours around the table, it was time to catch the local bus back to Sapa and then the big bus to Hanoi.

Mimi walked us to the bus stop, we exchanged hugs, and jumped on the bus – what a fabulous day.

Our next stop is back in Hanoi.