Rice Paddy Fields in Lao Cai Village, Sapa
I’ve always heard how beautiful the sceneries are in Sapa.
I saw plenty of photos of Sapa on the Internet. Rice paddy fields on the on hill slopes, sunrise and sunsets over the hills near and far away. Not forgetting also that you can find plenty of minority people dressed in their traditional costumes everywhere.
Somehow, I was tempted to go there.
And I did, last weekend.
Train Ticket to Lao Cai
The best way to get to Sapa from Hanoi is the overnight train. It’s a 8 hour journey to Lao Cai town. The sleeper cabins were surprisingly good with air conditioning and proper beds and toilets.
It was 5am when I arrived in Lao Cai train station. The sun was about to rise.
From there, it was another 1.5 hours bus ride uphill towards Sapa town which is at 1600m above sea level. Upon arriving at the hotel, there were so many black H’mong women at the front of the hotel. Everyone was waiting to greet and welcome us.
I was greeted with the typical tourist line,
Hey how are you? Where are you from? What’s your name?
What really surprises me is that you can actually start a conversation with them!
You’d be surprised that their English is much better than the people on the streets in Hanoi (I found out from our tour guide that almost all H’mong people understand English, both young and old).
Sapa Town from Distance
After a short breakfast and rest, it was time to go for village trekking and discover more about Sapa. We trekked for about 7km from Sapa town to Lao Cai village where the H’mong people live.
Trekked up and down the hills, passed through small villages and paddy fields with our guide. There were a few H’mong women escorting our group back to their village hoping that we would buy something from them later.
Before reaching Lao Cai village, we passed through a suspension bridge suspended over Hoa Muaong river, which also indicates the border of this village.
Muong Hoa River at Lao Cai Village
Had a quick lunch at Lao Cai village. Once were done with lunch, we were swamped with tens of H’mong women, each one of them trying to sell us the same thing. They have hand made wallets, small and big bags, ear rings and pendants.
The funny thing was when I told them I’ve bought this and that, they replied, But you haven’t buy from me yet!
Duhhh.
I just smiled and walked away.
Next up was Ta Van where the Giay people live. It’s about 30 minutes of trekking away from Lao Cai village. There weren’t many people around in the village at that time so there’s nothing much to see really.
By then, it was already 2pm and the sun was right above our head. It was shining down on us with very little or no clouds at all.
But the good thing was, we’re almost at the end of our trek and the bus was waiting to bring us back to the hotel.
