Sapa to H'mong Villages

Despite listening to the rain all night we woke up to sunshine and a spectacular view from our room. Patti does her research and gets the best bang for the Dong (remember, 1 Dollar = 20,000 Dong).

I was pleasantly surprised to see in the shower this morning a shampoo and body gel dispenser on the wall. The body gel had a very distinct smell. After using it as a cleaning agent all over my body I finally figured it out...Honey Baked Ham! Patti and I now smelled like our Easter best.

After breakfast we took a quick walk around town when the streets were still relatively quiet but were filled with bird song which is a continual companion in Sa Pa. Many of the stores hang birdcages outside. That also explains all of the bird sales a the Bac Ha market.

Today we hiked from Sa Pa down to The H'mong village. We had a local guide who we called Zoom-Zoom. He said that he got his nickname when his dad was rushing to the hospital with his pregnant mother. After an emergency roadside delivery, his father zoomed up the hill on his moped, newborn in one hand, handlebar grip in the other to get him to the hospital in Sa Pa. Around every corner we were greeted with spectacular view albeit a little limited by the weather.

Two girls from the Black H'mong tribe accompanied us down the hill with our guide and were a very great help to the kids and us old folk as we slip slided away down the hill on the wet clay. They were more adept at slick trail navigation than Patti and I were and they were only wearing cheap plastic slippers. One was 20 and had 2 children, she was married when she was 16. Her friend was 15 and would marry soon. This accompanying was what they did to earn money. We enjoyed talking to them and learning about their countryside and they enjoyed our girls as well. We repaid them for their efforts by purchasing very over-priced items and not haggling as we handed over half a million Dong.

When the girls asked Patti and I how old we were their comment was 'oh, so old'. I suppose given that this one girl had here first child at 17, in a a few years Patti could be a great grandmother in their culture. I then teased with them by saying "jow ba" (phonetically spelled) to Patti, which means hello grandmother. They got a big kick out of that, Patti not so much.

Schools for each village dotted the hillside. These are government run and bear the same colors as all government buildings, gold walls and a red roof. On our visit to one we just walked in, wandered around, took some pictures, chatted with kids and wandered out. No need for any security apparently. Only half of the kids attend school and this is at the discretion of their parents. We poked our heads into one room where the kids were singing Karaoke, instructional lyrics of course.

Our guide packed us a do it yourself picnic lunch which was actually pretty tasty, but I think they buy mass quantities for us western giants. We only ate about a quarter if it and you know how my kids can eat. So he had me pack it up and walk out with it as the restaurant area that we ate in would not let him take it. He was glad to get the food. We also had some canine party crashers looking for a snack. Riley tried to use the 'Squirrel, Squirrel' trick on them to no avail.

You can see echos of the French Colonialists still in the culture, architecture and apparently bathroom amenities. You may have noticed the lack of prominence the toilet has played in this trip when compared to China. In Vietnam the 'Civilization Toilet' rules the day. However, we did find this one sweet hold old from the good times.

We stopped by a hotel lobby on the way back into town this afternoon and the paparazzi was in full force again. There was a tour group from China in and they were sneaking and stealing pictures and video of the girls.

Tomorrow we may hike down to Cat Cat village and explore Sa Pa town a little more.

More pics have been loaded into the 2014 Bac ha & Sa Pa folder linked on the right.