Sapa Northern Vietnam - mountainous area

We arrived in Sapa on Saturday 23rd April on the overnight train from Hanoi. It was a 9 hour trip. We arrived at the Summitt Hotel at 6am for breakfast. We left on a tour of the local Cat Cat Village where the Black Hmong people live. It was a walking tour with a local guide from the village. The villagers dress in traditional clothes which are very colourful and they make themselves. We saw how they weave, dye and embroider their clothes.

These pictures show the tribal women waiting outside our hotel ready for the walking tour. Many carried babies in pouches on their backs. And of course the ineviteable basket on their backs which held the handicrafts they wished to sell to us.

The next photo shows a main street in Sapa. The local girl in the forefront of the photo is Em our guide. This was the route we took on Day 2 to visit the Muog Hoa Valley, a 12 km walk along some very interesting terrain (photos to follow). We visited 3 villages, Ylinhho Village (Black Hmong tribe), Lao Chai village and finally the Ta Van village. We had lunch at Em's village, a lunch cooked by the local village women.

The 2 village women on the right helped Patricia through some very rough terrain. They were so lovely and amazingly their english was limited but we managed to communicate.

These photos show the very muddy terrain that we walked through. Thank goodness for the gumboots we hired from the hotel. They were lifesavers. One lady lost her shoe in the mud and they had to dig it out. It gave us an idea of what it must be like to work in a rice paddy.




See the basket on the village lady's back.

This shows the terraced rice paddies which covered this area, taken from a high vantage point.

This was a waterfall we visited. The bamboo in the forefront is characteristic of the area. Robert got to munch on some sugar cane as we walked.

A view of the valley from our walk on Day 2.







The view from the balcony of our hotel - The Starlight. Wow, it was fantastic. Started with cloud and mist covering the mountains on Day 1 but by the last day we had sunshine and perfect views. It was awesome!!