Sapa, cont.

We spent the day hiking through rice paddies to Hmong villages outside of the northern town of Sapa. It was quite the day! We arrived here early yesterday morning on an overnight train from Hanoi, and although it is super foggy, chilly, and wet, it is wonderful to be in a quiet, small town. Strangely enough, this trip has made us realize that we generally prefer smaller cities and the friendly people that inhabit them! Upon arriving into town we met several local Hmong women who lived in villages nearby and walked 3 hours into town every morning (many carrying their babies on their backs) to sell their hand-dyed, embroidered fabric and jewelry. They have gorgeous skin, beautiful smiles, and speak English better than most Vietnamese. Although most of them can't read or write, they speak Hmong, Vietnamese, English, and some French. It's pretty amazing. The women use indigo, which they grow and harvest, to dye their handwoven clothes (mostly made from hemp that they grow and harvest, make into yarn, weave on a hand loom and then dye in indigo baths for about 2 months.) They also do the most amazing embroidery. Everything they make comes directly from the earth, and they communally plant and harvest the rice paddies and vegetable gardens. It is amazing and inspiring to witness this kind of lifestyle, and especially interesting because we have such a large Hmong population in Minnesota and Wisconsin (besides California, the largest outside of SE Asia). And although I am in contact, albeit brief, with the Hmong farmers at the St. Paul Farmers Market every Sunday, I know very little about their community and culture. I recently read "The Latehomecomer," a Hmong family memoir that chronicles a family's journey from Laos during the Secret War to the refugee camps of Thailand to St.Paul, MN. It is a beautiful story and a good introduction to Hmong culture and the Hmong diaspora. I would highly recommend it. We feel extremely fortunate to be able to meet these people and observe their lifestyle when so many Hmong abroad are unable to return.

We were wandering around town looking for a recommended tour operator to do some trekking and coincidentally met Sae, baby in tow, and she offered to take us around the next day to the villages and to her home for lunch. Perfect! Much better than taking a packaged trekking tour around, and we'd much rather give her the money directly anyway. So she led us on a muddy, slippery (rather treacherous at times!) tour through rice terraces and villages to her home. It was breathtaking! Because it is so foggy in Sapa you can hardly see 20 feet in front of you, let alone the apparently phenomenal view from our guesthouse balcony (it's like living in a cloud, although it does give the place a certain mystique). So once we descended on the path, the sky opened up a bit and the beautiful terraces came into view. Incredible! The villages are extremely basic, as is her home. I mean as basic as it gets, but the warmth and laughter of her family and friends brighten and fill the dark, cold space. Strangely enough, they have a television and cell phones but a dirt floor and no plumbing!! We had lunch of rice, greens, pork, tomatoes and tofu, buffalo, and home brewed rice wine. (Very interesting....) Let's just say that it wasn't our favorite meal thus far, but made with so much love and generosity that we grinned through it all! Jon was a real sport! We sat around their fire and played with the kids on the dirt floor, but after four hours of some difficult trekking we were spent. So we found a sauna and some hot chocolate and tomorrow she's taking us to a waterfall. :) As a tourist, it is always difficult to know if your presence is helping or hurting, but she was quick to tell us that tourism has greatly improved their lives. The villages were extremely poor when she was growing up and didn't have schools, shoes, or much food, but now they are doing much much better. There are schools in the villages, the children can all read and write and all are seemingly well fed. I hope that's true! I am sure in the future they might stop wearing their traditional dress as many other minority groups have (although they are such beautiful and intricate garments!) but I just hope that their traditional crafts aren't lost.

Photos: villages and rice paddies wind their way around the hills