Monday 3 May 2004, 9am
By Angelica Cameron

Visiting Vietnam: The mountains of Sapa

A little H'mong girl in the mountains of Lao Cai, Vietnam. (Photo: Angelica Cameron)

Before boarding our night train, on our first day in Vietnam, we had dinner in a training restaurant for student chefs.

It was called Hoa Sua. I think Elsa Martin -my primary school teacher- recommended it to me, but I only realised it was the same place afterwards. After dinner and a lovely desert we enjoyed the walk back to the Real Darling Café to pick up our bags and take a taxi to Hanoi station.

March 28,

I can hardly keep my eyes open now, because I am exhausted -jet lag must be getting to me- but when I woke up this morning I looked out of the train window and as the sun rose I caught my first glimpses of the beautiful country scenery. Little houses, with a few pigs, goats or cows sitting by the dusty doorways… Grubby little children watching as the train goes by…

Rice paddies and dams, fences made of bamboo and small sticks…

The breathtaking landscape of Lao Cai, Vietnam, provides a stunning view for a H'mong woman. (Photo: Angelica Cameron)

We got off the train in Lao Cai, (on the boarder to China) and took a minibus ride up into the mountains, to a village called Sapa. The bus ride was amazing, I began to see the breathtakingly beautiful mountains as their high peaks rise dramatically from green valleys where rivers rumble and rice paddies flourish. We saw shepherd children leading cows down the mountain road, and we began to see the H'mong people. When we reached Sapa, we were completely surrounded by them. The air is fresh here, and it is so quiet compared to the city.

The H'mong people migrated from China in the 19th century, and have grown to become one of the largest and most underprivileged of the ethnic groups in Vietnam. They live at high altitudes and cultivate dry rice, vegetables, fruit and medicinal plants. They raise pigs, cows, chickens and horses. The ones around Sapa are part of the group called the black H'mong; they wear indigo-dyed linen clothing. The women wear skirts, aprons, wrap-on leggings and cylindrical hats. They adorn themselves with handmade silver jewellery. They were all very beautiful to me, especially the babies, which I watched as they clung onto the backs of their mothers or sisters in the busy market place.

That afternoon we went with one of the local girls called Mimi-Za to a little nearby village and a waterfall. We liked Mimi so much that we asked her if she would be our guide the next day too and she agreed.

Click on the above photos to view larger images. (Photos: Angelica Cameron)

March 29,

Today we got ready for a long walk down into the valley to another village, but as we were setting off a jeep came along the road and Mimi asked the driver, who was a friend of hers, to give us a lift as far as he was going. This was a great help, because it can be hard to cover distances with Neha and her little legs. The scenery was much the same as yesterday, and we were still surrounded by the H'mong people, who try to sell their embroidered cloth and silverware to us. We saw many bare bottomed children running around playing in the rice paddies. In one village we had a look at the little school, where the Vietnamese flag danced proudly in the wind on a pole in front of the humble schoolhouse. We had our lunch on the outskirts of this tiny village, sitting in a bamboo shelter. As we ate, one little girl after another came and watched us. Neha played with them, and I took some nice photos.

We kept walking until we found the sort of guesthouse where we are to spend the night. it was a bit more sturdily built than the other houses, and it had a western style toilet, but apart from that it was like the other dwellings we had seen. This is where we all feel most happy…here as far “off the beaten track” as we will get. It is so beautiful,I love it here.

That night Mimi cooked us a very good meal, one of the best I had in Vietnam, I think Miho and Neha enjoyed it too. I went to bed upstairs on a mattress on the floor, happy, and with a full stomach.

 

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