Luci and I took the night train from Hanoi to Lao Cai near the Chinese border. The train was comfortable although a bit screechy and we were lucky enough to have a sleeper compartment to ourselves. We arrived in Lao Cai at 6:30 and were met by a mini bus for the hour drive up into the highlands to Sapa. We were joined by a 5 member family from Belgium, another Belgian young woman on leave from the navy, two Italians and a sleepy woman from who knows where.
We arrived at Sapa O'Chau, a tour company that has been started by the ethnic minority Black Hmong people to give them some ownership in the booming tourist economy. They have various treks from 1 day to 3 day 2 night including homestays. We chose a 2 day 1 night homestay where we would visit a Black Hmong village and then stay with a Red Dzao family in another. After a nice breakfast and some "freshening up" we met our guide, a Black Hmong woman named Mo and 3 British backpackers, 2 of whom Ryan and Kristy, were on a 5 month trip through SE Asia. The 3rd Brit, Fran a friend of theirs, was on holiday from her job as an adventure guide for international schools in China (who knew there was such a job). They had taken the night bus from Hanoi and, after seeing them, I was glad we took the train.
As we prepared for our trek, the heavens opened up. We donned our raincoats, opened our umbrellas and, joined by an entourage of traditionally dressed women, ventured through the town and up into the cloud shrouded hills. The way was slippery if not overly strenuous but we were soon soaked from the knees down. The bath changed from small road to dirt path do navigating the borders between the different rice fields. We continued up at a leisurely pace,seeing rice fields and small houses along the way. We were greeted by chickens, ducks, pigs and dogs and the occasional child. You have to pay admission to enter a village but, maybe because of the rain, interaction with the inhabitants was non existent. As we got to the end of the village, our entourage showed why they were there. Shopping. The produced their wares and, if you bought from one the others would complain that you needed to buy from them, too. We bought a few items, and even with haggling probably paid "too much". Being a westerner it is very hard to bargain over a few dollars, but I did give it a try.
We had a delicious lunch at a cafe in the hills and the sky started to lighten and the clouds to dissipate. The rest of the walk would take place in the warmth of the sun.
The views were stunning. Mo explained her way of life and how Sapa O'Chau gave her options other than just subsistence farming, which most of the hill tribe members do. We spoke of her family and their educational opportunities, free primary school in the village but she must pay for secondary school in Sapa. I also learned that she was a widow with a 12 year old daughter and 10 year old son.
We arrived in the early afternoon at the homestay that was run by a Red Dzao family. I'll give our experiences in the next post.
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