Reaching Vietnam’s northern mountain town of Sapa was like taking a much needed breath of fresh air, literally. No more of Hanoi’s exhaust and pollution, just clean mountain air surrounded by a place of immaculate beauty. I had originally planned on staying for 3 days in lovely Sapa and ended up lingering for 8, soaking up the relaxing life of the hill tribes.
My days were filled with wonderfully strenuous hikes through the most stunning countryside I have seen in Southeast Asia. I loved watching the small tribal boys, that couldn’t have been more than 9-years-old, herd enormous water buffalo around their land, the massive beasts obeying their tiny masters dutifully. Or observing the women, knee deep in mud, working the rice paddies flooded in golden sunlight and carrying impossibly heavy loads on their backs up the steep trails slick with red clay. Each day I would stumbling upon breathtaking views, as I got lost on several occasions, looking for remote villages to explore.
Visiting the town’s popular street market was a routine excursion and always entertaining. Livestock would be herded down the main street while women tried to sell their handmade goods decorated with colorful, intricate designs. There are about 8 different tribes that reside in the mountains surrounding Sapa and the people I spent the most time with were from the H-Mong tribe. Women from this tribe wear huge, heavy necklaces, several large hoop earrings in each ear and they wrap their waist length hair around their heads, wearing it like a crown. Their arms and hands are often stained indigo from dying their handmade clothes, something that looked almost like a uniform because everyone wore the same exact thing, and they are tiny! For the first time in my life I felt tall, like a giant actually, walking next to these fiercely strong, little women who barely reached the shoulders of my far from imposing 5’3” frame.
One wonderful afternoon I befriended a pint-sized girl from the this tribe who took me to her home a mere 8 miles away. 10-year-old Maya walked with ease, never once slowed down or took a break and carried a basket on her back that had to have weighed about 20 pounds. When we reached her home, a wooden shack nested into a cluster of bamboo trees with a million dollar view, I couldn’t wait to sit down and rest my weary legs while she proceeded to race around the house cooking me lunch!
It was so nice to end my time in Vietnam in the town of Sapa. Everyday, walking through such breathtaking scenery and among these peaceful people was an invigorating experience. I am always so amazed, well, more like impressed, when I come across people who have the modern world knocking on their door and they refuse to answer. They appear perfectly content to live the way their great grandmothers did and although through our eyes they may appear primitive I can’t help but feel a little envious of their cultures’ undying pride.
