Sa Pa, Wonderland of Vietnam

Sapa, Lào Cai Province, Vietnam, April, 2018, Solo Travel.

Located in the northwest of Vietnam, a hill station established by French as a resort in 1922. Today is a tourism center, even though suffered severe destroy at the end of Second World War.

The Magic Makes You Love at First Sight

Sapa is one of the spot I put on the list before this trip. Normally, I rarely plan ”where should I go” for a trip. However, Sapa is one of the spot I put on my ''must go list'' when I found this mysterious scenery on internet. The spectacular landscape among the mountain and valley attracted me. It looks like the rice terraces in Yunnan, China (where is also still on my travel list.) Moreover, the intense color and unique pattern of the Hmong’s ethnic clothes will be visual feast.

Trekking among The Amazing Rice Terrace is Harder Then I Thought

This is definitely a solid trekking tour. I imagined that I can elegantly wander on the field terrace. I was wrong. Because the pathway you can walk on the field terrace consisted of rocks and is muddy. The height of each layer is quite tall, it means you can break your leg if you fall. Our host Su took my roommates and I pass two to three different villages, and the elementary school, history museum. Su told us although the ethnicity in each village is different in diverse language, ethnic textile. They can still communicate, even get married. Oh! One small thing you should also be careful is that the cow dung is ubiquitous here. Unfortunately, I slipped in one, not in a tragedy way, but still took me some time to get rid of it.

Homestay with the Hmong: Simple and Pure

I was allocated to stay at Su’s home. Su lived with her daughter, husband, and father-in-law (or her father). Freddy, the guy from Bolivia I met this afternoon’s trekking also allocated with me. There were two Greek couples who arrived early than us. We had dinner with Su’s family at around 7 PM. Tofu, Fried spring roll, leafs form sweet potatoes, chicken and pork. These dishes are ordinary to Asian. However, the dinner is really yum and adorable. Su is a hospitable host, so humorous and kind. Kept pushing us to eat more, even we were full. Su provided rice wine, they call it “happy wine” .we played games, and drank several shots. She is really good at pushing people drink more, I guess she should own a bar.

We finished dinner at around 8 PM and went to bed, which is incredible early. The place we slept was a U-shaped mezzanine. Each side can accommodate two mattresses. Freddy, the Bolivian and I could not fall asleep. Nothing else we could do, so we chatted until 11PM. That’s one of the best parts of traveling, when you meet backpackers or travelers who are willing to share their culture, working, opinion. That night, I felt so refreshed, maybe it’s because you know you will not meet this person ever, so you can share your story without concern. It’s really funny that the range of the topic we chatted is so broad but deep, from work, education, growing backgrounds, relationship, opinion to culture. He works as arranging customized travel for guests who have disability between Sweden and Bolivia. The funny thing we found is what we mastered in university and the industry we worked is just opposite. He mastered in computer, but works in travel industry; I mastered in restaurant and hotel management, but works in computer industry. We also shared the dating culture in Taiwan and Bolivia to kill the time.

I was woken up by the cock’s crowing so early, and waited Su preparing the lovely breakfast: scrambled eggs and banana pancake. Of course, we had breakfast with the two Greek couples. They are experienced backpackers. One of them has learned Chinese for several years, not very fluent, but I can tell his passion toward Chinese culture. We actually asked Su lots of questions. “What’s the average of age people get married here?” She said women are around 16, who got married at 18 may considered late. “How do you learn English?” Most of them like Su’s generation did not have opportunities for proper education. However, these years, Sapa has been opening the door for tourism. So actually they just learned from tourists. But she told us the secret, most of the women here can speak English with tourist; however men (I guess she means her husband) are lazy to learn, so most of the time, guys just be responsible for transportation, pick up guests to the bus station and transfer the baggage.

How to Get to Sapa from Hanoi

I booked the 3 days homestay tour at via my hostel. Of course, there are thousands ways you can book in Hanoi, no matter via local travel agents on the street, internet, or night train. You just pick the tour, which is suitable for you and under the budget. The reason I decided to book via my hostel is I trust them. And normally, the hostel supervises the quality of the tour which they booked for you. Otherwise it will also harm their reputation.

The staffs of hostel usually arrange properly, I waited at the reception of hostel for the shuttle van in the morning. Basically the shuttle van pick everybody and send the guests to the sleeping bus (or train station). The sleeping bus takes about 4 hours to Sapa. I am tall, but the seat still works for me, I could curl my leg with comfortable way. Oh…of course you have to prepare that sometimes someone may wear socks with odor. Not fun at all, but that’s part of travelling. And the host of homestay will pick you up via motorcycle and take you to a restaurant have a simple meal and start your trekking adventure. Generally speaking, everything is organized so properly, you don’t have to worry too much. The only thing you should do is to remind the host your departure schedule, so that they will pick you to the bus station on time.

Tips for Homestay in Sapa

• The season is important. After the harvest, no more crops, if you want to see the spectacular green rice terrace, you should notice.

• Bring a headlamp, cause the electricity there is not stable, and the bath room is outside the house, so you will need this at night.

• Your host will not charge you extra money normally if you already paid at hostel or travel agents. Except you ordered optional beers at dinner.

• Sometimes the hot shower becomes cold after too many people’s consumption. Suggest don’t be the last one, if you really mind.

• Some women and children will try to sell you the handicrafts in restaurant, if you don’t like, just chilled, smile and say thank you.

Comments

In this trip, I was really touched by the lifestyle in Sapa. They live in a harsh environment with limited resource. But they still work hard, strive to earn a better life. You can see they live in poverty, but always smile, be patient and generous to the guests. It’s really beautiful, and makes me feel so shamed, too. Why I complain a lot of life even I own so much compared to them. Anyway, I do recommend people who want to visit Sapa to go as soon as possible, because I saw some hotel construction by conglomerate and government is processing. It means that it may be totally different, and more commercial. I hope the beautiful and pure terroir can still be preserved.