Day 8 - Sapa

12th March 2011
The weather the next day was still cold, damp, and foggy. I left early at 6am from the homestay to go back to the main town in Sapa. But first we had to do an hour trek to another village where the motorbikes where waiting for us. It was a very bumpy ride. The muddy trail was uneven with so many rocks and there was no guard rails so it was quite scary going down the mountains. After about an hour, we finally arrived at our destination. I paid Shua the money and said our goodbyes.

Soon after I found a hotel at the end of the main street of town called Royal Sapa Hotel. It had a pretty decent room with double bed, heater and overlooking some amazing scenery of the Sapa hills and rice paddies. And it only cost $14 a night. I used the bathroom, enjoyed my first hot shower in ages and then had a short rest before heading out again.

A brief history of the town...

"Sapa came into existence as a hill station during the French occupation. Previously a Black H’mong village, it was ‘discovered’ early in the twentieth century and developed as a resort for French military officers, civil servants and business people. Its marked similarity to alpine areas in France and its temperate climate made it a havenfrom Hanoi's clammy winter dampness and sultry humid summer. By 1940, it was a sizeable town populated almost entirely by French citizens.

As France’s grip on the country weakened, the buildings emptied. After their victory at Dien Bien Phu, the Viet Minh demolished most of thebuildings. One that escaped was the summer residence of the Governor General of Indochina, which was commandeered by theSecretary General of the Vietnamese Communist Party as his holiday retreat. That was also flattened during the 1979 Chinese invasion."

So as you can see, history has not always been kind to Sapa. While most of the old buildings have been destroyed or gone into disrepair, what really makes the place special are the hill tribes. Sapa is such a colourful town thanks to the H'mong and Dzao people who head into the town's market every day to trade their produce.

The Black Hmong are the largest group and they dress in indigo-dyed blackand blue costumes. Their sleeves are decorated in stripes of embroidery and patterned fabric. They usually wear large quantities of silver necklaces, earrings and bangles.

It's a common sight to see local women from the hill tribes pursuing tourist down the main street trying to sell colourful clothing, jewellery and souvenirs. They were very persistent and would follow me around down the street, shoving items into my hands and saying "you buy from me", "buy something" and "why you no buy from me?" And when I finally do buy something, I'll hear them say "you bought from her, you buy from me?"

For the afternoon, I decided to head to Cat Cat Village, a popular tourist walking trail located only 1 km from town. To visit the village, you have to walk through Sapa Market and down the valley. There is an entrance fee which cost 20,000 Dongs or $1. The trek starts off going downhill and you can see mountains and the green rice terraces dropping nearly 1000m below with H'mong houses scattered in the valley below.

The first part of the trek was not very authentic at all. Most of the path were paved and there were shops along the way selling anything from food, postcards to dolls to tourist. However further along the trek, I did see traditional farmers ploughing throught the rice terraces with buffalos and old ladies in their houses weaving colourful fabrics.

I walked pass the bushes of bamboo and wild flowers and soon arrived at a valley. I took the steep, uneven steps down where I discovered a suspension bridge and waterfall below. And there was a rocky stream weaving its way through boulders, hills and mountains. It was a nice location for viewing and taking photos.

Soon I made my way up another set of stairs of the hilly terrain into the rice terrences. The mist and fog have descended upon the region. All the mountains that I admired when coming into Sapa were completely cloaked from view. It was a bit disappointing as the views there were meant to be amazing! Nevertheless I still enjoyed the trek. All up, it took me about 2 hours to do the 3km trek.

It was quite chilly by the time I arrived back from the trek. The fog had rolled into town making it almost impossible to see. So I decided it will be enough trekking for the day. I spent the rest of the day exploring the town and just having a good rest.