Sapa In the Northwest Mountains near the Chinese Border

Tuesday evening we took the 300 mile overnite train ride from Hanoi up into the northwest mountains to Sapa near the Chinese border.

Sapa is a small town at about 5,000 feet of altitude that is in sight of Fansipan which is the highest moiuntain in South Asia at about 10,300 feet. It is a market center for the local minority hilltribes and now serves as a tourist center for backpackers and trekking in the hills and mountains. It is rather primitive in that it has only one bank and NO ATMs! The temperatures are pleasant during the day and rather chilly at night.

We hired a 4-wheel drive Ford vehicle with leather seats and driver for our explorations into the nearby hills and overnited in a 4-star hotel------not much roughing it for me.

We visited the surrounding countryside which contains multiple villages of minority groups…..mostly Red Dzao and Black H’Mong. By the way, there are 54 minority groups in Vietnam as distinguished by language. The hilltribes have been traditionally difficult to control by the central government and have maintained much of their distinct culture. Their economy is primarily agriculture and selling cultural souvenirs to tourists. They have an astonishing command of English and are very friendly and charming. Their main profitable agricultural plant used to be opium, but since that was outlawed by the government rice is the main crop along with some corn.

On Wednesday afternoon we went to 2 villages named Lao Chai and Ta Van which are situated in a beautiful valley filled with terraced rice fields. The day started foggy when arrived off the train at 630am but was sunny but hazy by the time the afternoon rolled around. We walked down into the valley then along the valley floor for an hour and a half where our driver picked us up. We passed numerous animals such as water buffalo, pigs, & dogs; as well as numerous people from the tribes many of which were dressed in their daily colorful dress.

Some villagers wandering down the trail into the valley:

Water buffalo in the rice terraces:

Me and a new friend:

A young man playing with his knife in the valley:

On Thursday we went to the village called Ta Phin in another valley. We were met by a group of 6 women and their 3 children who walked with us for the next hour politely asking us to buy some souvenirs and joking and questioning us. Their english and understanding the subtleties of teasing and joking was quite amazing and entertaining.

The group of women who followed us from our car invited us into their house:

A couple of photos of some parents with their kids: