In October my daughter, BT and one of my oldest friends, GB, and her daughter, IP came to visit us in Singapore. We had decided some weeks earlier that whilst they were in the region we would have a mother and daughter's trip to North Vietnam.
After a few days sightseeing in Singapore we flew to Hanoi and went first to the office of the local travel agent that I had booked our trek with. I hadn't admitted to my friends that I had become worried that this company really existed as soon after booking and paying a 50% deposit I read about fake tour companies operating in Hanoi! I was very relieved to find that not only did Ethnic Travel exist but they were absolutely lovely, very organised and exceeded our expectations
We were shown on a map the area where we would be trekking
The waiting area was packed with other travellers, it was airless and the nearby toilets stank so it was a relief when the time came to cross the railway tracks to find our sleeper car
We hadn't been sure what to expect so were delighted to find we had a sleeper car for the 4of us. The beds had clean sheets, a pillow, there was a bottle of water for each of us and there was A/C and even the train toilet facilities were clean-bliss.
There was also very loud Vietnamese music blaring both in our carriage and in the corridor, I managed to find the volume control and turned it down and was thanked by the travellers in the next door bunks.
The train set off at 10pm and rocked, rattled and rolled throughout the night, I don't think any of us got much sleep but it was still a fun journey. At about 6.30am we arrived at Lao Cai station, which is only 3 kms from the border with China, and were taken by mini bus to Sapa an hour further on. Here we had a quick shower, change and breakfast.
We also met our fellow trekkers, a father and son from Sicily and our guide for the next 2 days; Lan a local Hmong woman
Lan spoke good english and over the next few days told us a lot about herself. She comes from the black Hmong tribe, an ethnic group from the mountainous area of China, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. She learnt english when as a young girl she started selling her crafts to trekkers, later a tour company invited her to start guiding which brought her a much higher income.
Almost as soon as we set off through Sapa a small entourage of women attached themselves to us. Initially I wasn't sure why as they didn't seem to be trying to sell anything or even talk to us, but it soon became clear..
.. .10 minutes later Lan turned off the road and took us down a tiny, very steep and slippery path, thankfully the local women each took one of us in hand and helped us down the track. Throughout the day they continued to help us when ever we needed a hand
The weather was fairly cloudy and misty so we only had glimpses of the nearby hills and rice paddies, even so the scenery was spectacular
As we reached the lower fields the air cleared and we could see the beautiful rice terraces, darker where the rice had been harvested, bright yellow where the young rice was still growing
the peace was shattered briefly with the roar of motor bikes. We had to quickly step off the path as 2 bikes rushed toward us, negotiating the tricky route with bags of rice on the back off to market maybe?
several times we walked past fields with young boys minding the buffalo
Whilst walking it was possible to observe our 'helpers', they were all wearing traditional clothing. Lan explained that they make clothes from hemp and cotton and dye it a deep indigo blue using the indigo flower grown locally
Some of the women had turban like head bands covering their long hair
some had coloured head scarves and most of the older women had multiple silver earrings and silver choker type necklaces
I had noticed that all the guides and helpers were women and Lan confirmed this and said that in her tribe women are respected and seen as equal to men. The boys and men generally do the house building and farm work, girls and women make clothes for the family and crafts to sell and guide trekkers. When we stopped to rest our helpers also stopped but kept busy
They took the opportunity to comb their very long hair. Their combs seemed to be kept in their hair when not in use
they also worked on their handicrafts, here one woman is separating the hemp fibres and rubbing them between her hands to soften it the other is embroidering some fabric
After our break we carried on up and down hills,
through bamboo forests
over suspended bridges
and through tiny hamlets
It was all fascinating
Outside one home there were strips of indigo dyed cloth set to to dry with the vat of dye nearby
After several hours walking we arrived at a small bamboo house which turned out to be our lunch stop. The roof, walls and table were all made from bamboo. We had a tasty lunch of fried rice and noodles with vegetables
Corn was hung up to dry in the eaves
BT was not desperately keen on the simple toilet but "needs must"!
After lunch each of our 'helper's approached us to sell their crafts. It was a pleasure to see what they had made and seemed a very fair deal that we buy some of their wares in exchange for their help whilst walking.
It became clear that we should each buy from the individual that had helped us, it was lovely to laugh with them as we negotiated
we bought embroidered bags and cloths and bangles
Lan set off again with us following, we walked past a group of men building a house. Lan explained that all the men from the village will help a neighbour built a house and as thanks the new home owner will feed everyone who has helped
and sure enough just down the track a recently slaughtered pig was being butchered. A dog was enjoying the blood trickling down from the table, a young boy watched what was going on.
We were all becoming much more familiar with the local way of life, and even comfortable walking past buffalo
I had noticed that children often seemed to be 'home alone', looking after themselves and their younger siblings, I presumed Mum was out guiding and dad minding the rice paddies and animals
They all appeared happy and were playing with whatever came to hand, this lot had paper aeroplanes
later on we passed by a local school, some of the boys were having a game of marbles
it seemed to cause much debate as whose marble was nearest!
Lan told us that education is not compulsory in Vietnam nor government funded and many hill tribe families can only afford to send 1 child to school and often they do not complete their education. Lan said she could not read or write herself but hoped that she would be able to afford to send all 3 of her children to school. She is keen for her daughter to be a teacher
In one village there was a house with a display of some of the equipment used in farming.
Below is a rice mil, you push the handle forwards to make the heavy stone turn crushing grains of rice
The rice pounder below is water driven. Water fills the container at the end of the arm on the right lifting up the 'pestle', the water tips out dropping the pestle down into the bowl
There was beautiful indigo dyed cloth, some also embroidered. I bought one of the ones with the cloth bordered by hemp with brass discs hanging down and have it now in the sitting room as a reminder of Sapa
There were also some stonemasons crafting the most intricate pieces
It was starting to get late and we were all feeling a bit weary so Lan took us on a short-cut across some rice paddies. It was quite tricky balancing on the narrow mud walls
particularly when the buffalo refused to give way!
We passed by another river where these boys were fishing. As one boy used a pole to prize up a rock the other boy held his fish trip to catch the exposed fish
At last we reached our destination. We had booked into a 'Homestay', it was only when we arrived that Lan told us this was her home. She showed us upstairs where the 6 of us would sleep, 4 mattress on the floor on one side of the large room for us girls and 2 on the other side for the 2 chaps.
while we showered and rested our weary legs, Lan was working still, this time preparing supper with her daughter and eldest sons help
Having showered I offered my help and was given the job of preparing the vegetables, Lan's daughter Ve showed me what to do, her little brother watched us whilst eating his Orio's
The kitchen was quite simple, there was electricity for a kettle but the cooking mainly took place over a wood fire
As the saying goes all the best parties happen in the kitchen so we all gathered there and Lan taught us how to make spring rolls, Ve kept laughing at our efforts
We all sat down for a lovely meal with Lan and her family
Lan's husband was still at the farm so his brother joined us, he spoke no english but it didn't matter. He insisted on us all trying the local home brew, a very potent rice wine, after 3 bottles were consumed, much laughter and joking it was definitely time for bed!
I didn't sleep particularly well despite feeling tired and the rice wine. Earlier I had noticed a hole in the wall just behind the head end of my mattress and sure enough during the night there were scratching sounds, I presumed rats or mice but didn't want to look, I was glad to have the mosquito net tucked around my mattress!
After breakfast we prepared to set off again, Lan was wrapping indigo dyed cloths around her legs. I had seen most of the local women wearing these and Lan explained it was to protect their legs from scratches and leeches
It was raining and misty again. There was a small troop of women waiting for us, we had new helpers for the day
The rain eased off after a while but the mud paths were extremely slippery
We stopped to view a huge sloping rock, the water was gushing down it. It was just like a water slide but it would have been very painful falling down it
There were more opportunities to buy local crafts
We came to a village inhabited mainly by the Red Dao tribe
these young Dao women were singing as they walked to their task
In spite of the weather we felt pretty happy too, day 2 and we were really getting into our stride
I was surprised to see this strange tree, maybe a type of Euphobia? Sorry GB not the best photo of you but also indicates how tired we were all feeling after that steep hike up from the valley below
We also saw Hemp growing. It is a variety of cannabis plant, although with little of the 'special' ingredient so does not have the same medicinal effect
Flooded rice paddies are a great way of cultivating another crop-ducks
At the end of a rather wet day we ended up in Sapa for the night this time in a local hotel. The town has lots of outdoor clothing shops selling well know brands at amazing prices, the quality seemed good but surely at those prices they must have been fakes?
The following morning unfortunately IP wasn't feeling well so she and GB opted to have the day resting in Sapa. BT and I met our new guide for the day and set off, once again in the rain for Cat Cat village
the village is set on a very steep hillside and the main 'street' is lined with shops selling local handicrafts
Our guide told us about the local custom of "pulling wife". A man will ask his friends to lure a girl he likes to his house and he keeps her there for three days. If the girl agrees to become his wife, a wedding will be held. However, the girl can happily go home after three days if she does not like him.
In the valley floor we could see an enormous water wheel
When close to the water wheel we could see the bamboo pipes funnelling the water from it to the rice paddies
Back in Sapa at the end of the day we had time for a massage on our achey legs and time to watch the world go by.
Although I had said 'no more shopping' I couldn't resist buying something from this lovely lady
We were driven bak to Lao Cai station in time for the 9pm train back to Hanoi
We all felt rather sad leaving Sapa and the beautiful hills, we had loved trekking there but we were looking forward to the next part of our adventure
No comments:
Post a Comment