The Hill Tribes

Sometimes the best things just happen. Plan B -- our side trip to Sapa in northwestern Vietnam -- was a huge success. As mentioned previously, our beach plan had to be scraped, and was replaced with a forray into the mountainous region north of Hanoi, where Vietnam borders China and Laos. The journey started with the overnight sleeper train (which was kind of fun in itself) from Hanoi to the border town of Lao Cai, on the border with China. From there it was a quick 1-hr bus ride up to the mountain town of Sapa -- a beautiful town nestled in the Hoang Lieu mountains, nothing snow-capped, but in the 2 to 3 thousand metre range, and layered in bamboo forests and terraced rice paddies.

The town is quite charming and a good place to visit in itself, but the real attraction is the access to the hill tribes that inhabit the area. The "hill tribes", as they are referred to, are ethnic minority groups who live in the mountainous regions of Vietnam, since virtually all true-blue Vietnamese live in the lowland areas. Each tribe has its own language, customs, mode of dressing, and spirtual beliefs. It's amazing that villages that are walking distance apart speak totally different languages and cannot understand each other...but I'm getting ahead of myself.

The highlight of our visit was a 2-day trek (all the time we had) into the villages. Very similar to Nepal, the villages are remote and accessed only by walking trails that have been pounded into the ground over the mellinnia. We hired a guide -- a 17-yr old girl from the H'mong tribe -- and followed a route through the hills and rice paddies and stayed for the night in what they call a "homestay", which is exactly that: staying in someone's home (a rustic wooden structure with a roof, and a cooking room complete with the stone-age fire in the middle of it spewing black smoke throughout). The scenery was amazing, and the hill tribe people were wonderful -- full of life and loving to talk and laugh. The meal our guide cooked over the fire at our homestay was delicious, and definitely ranked near the top meal we had in Vietnam. All in all, a highlight of the entire trip.

So back on the night train to Hanoi last night. We weren't in the hills for a long time, but it was a good time. We're back in the big smoke right now waiting at our hotel for the breakfast guy to bring out the coffee. Once that happens, today is our last-minute shopping and organizing day. Tomorrow we fly out...(tears all around).

Stay tuned for one last good-bye Vietnam post.