Ok, so now that I have regained feeling in my fingers and have arrived at my hostel at 6.30 in the morning I thought no better time to fill in the blanks in my blog. Caught the night train up to SaPa from Hanoi and spent 3 days 2 nights up there before catching the night train back again. Each time I get on a night train my cabin is full of Vietnamese men just chating, it is a little off putting entering a cabin full of men. However, when I enter they soon disapate. I was really fortunate with the weather up in SaPa as the previous couple of days before my arrive had been terrible, and at an elevation of 1600m there is not a lot to do when the weather packs in. From the moment you arrive in Sapa you are befriended by several almost a gaggle of local minority people (Black H'mong) whose line of questioning follows this sequence...
Whats you name?
Where are you from?
How old are you?
You married?
You have boyfriend?
Why not? Whats wrong with you?
They are lovely people who want to learn about your life and tell you about theirs. The girls I spoke to went to school until the age of 16 and then were marrying age - the local boys selected them and then it was time form children. It is not uncommon to meet young girls of around 24 with 4 children. I can see why they think something is wrong with me if i have managed to make it this far without children!!! They have mastered the fine art of selling you something... They follow you wherever you are going just talking to you and will seize any opportunity to offer there hand made products. Their hands are blue from the dye used on the garments and I know the money goes directly to them so I must say that I purchased a few things that will now need to be sent home. However, if you do not want to buy anything they are polite, the key is not to say later or I will think about it as they will find you.
A lady from the Red Dao tribe
Making incense sticks
The cultivated rice terraces - stunning and such a work of hard as well as a tribute to the hard labour gone into carving these into the landscape.
The cultivated rice terraces - stunning and such a work of hard as well as a tribute to the hard labour gone into carving these into the landscape.
Me being a poser
There are several distinct tribes in Sapa each with their own dialect and costume, this got me confused as they live so close together surely they would have more things in common. The only explanation I have would be that each group moved to this area seperatly with an already strong identity and hence has been preserved.
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