Day 5

Jackrabbits

This morning, we woke up to the most breathtaking view of the mountains up in Sapa. Sapa is in the far northern part of Vietnam, just one mile away from China, and is 1500m above sea-level. Unlike the Rocky Mountains, to which most of us are familiar with, the mountains surrounding Sapa are filled with greenery and lack snow caps. These mountains are also famous for their terraced rice fields. Students were able to enjoy the beautiful scenery while eating breakfast and mentally preparing for the 5-mile hike ahead. One student with a bad knee couldn’t join us on the hike, but luckily Karen stayed with her, and they had a hoot exploring the city of Sapa. They enjoyed the various shops around the city and even tried out some of the local drinks and goods.

Terraces

As for the rest of us, today’s adventure was one of those, “You just had to be there,” experiences. After breakfast, we all loaded up into a bus and van where we were taken just outside of Sapa. Upon arriving at our destination, we were greeted by the local Hmong villagers, eagerly waiting to sell us their handmade goods. After snapping a few pictures at the top of the mountain, we began our descent with the villager women “escorting” us. The walk down the mountain was no easy task, but the views were amazing. It was steep and slick in spots with motorbikes zooming past us. Luckily, the Hmong women were there to help guide us. They offered to hold our hands and give support when the trail got a little sketchy. They even made small talk with each of us, asking our name or where we come from before handing us a plant bent into the shape of a heart or a horse. We finally reached our destination after walking a little over a mile. 

On the walk down, we passed many terraced rice fields, but our destination led us to one at the bottom. Here, we took off our socks and shoes and got right into the rice field. The water went up to our mid-shins and was very mucky. Each of us grabbed a bundle of rice and planted a few rows of rice with the farmers. It was truly an experience none of us will ever forget!

Plowing

Planting Rice

After getting cleaned up from the muck in the rice field, we started our walk up the mountain. The walk up was a lot less steep than the walk down, but there were more slippery spots. None of us fell, luckily, but there were a few times some of us slipped and got a little extra muddy. During the hike, the Hmong women often asked if we were okay and just checked in on our wellbeing. Their intentions seemed pure until we got towards the end where they were very persistent in us buying their goods; they were very good salesmen! Many of us bought handmade items from them like scarves, bracelets, stuffed animals, and wallets. These items were colorful and demonstrated their high-quality craftsmanship!

Saleswomen

Throughout the entire hike, both down and up, it seemed that every corner held the most perfect photo opportunity. The views we experienced today were something out of a painting, and we stopped every chance we could to capture it. However, the pictures taken today will never do it justice. Like stated previously, you just had to be there. There’s a saying that goes something like, “It didn’t happen unless there’s proof,” and man, do we have a lot of proof! Whether it was planting the rice or the breathtaking scenery, these photos hold memories that will be cherished forever.

Our hike today was about 5 miles and didn’t end where it started. This was a relief since the walk down was way steeper than the walk to a village, which was our final destination. We were picked up by the bus and van and were then taken to lunch at a local restaurant in Sapa. Most of us had built quite an appetite from the hike, so we waited (im)patiently for the food. Once the food arrived, we all eagerly ate until we were full, and it was delicious!

After lunch, we loaded back onto the bus and headed to Hanoi. At the beginning of the ride, Tony, our tour guide, told us a little bit about the history of Sapa and the people that live there. Sapa started to become popular in the 1950s when it was set up as a vacation spot for French officers due to the more comfortable temperatures. Today tourism is a really big part of Sapa especially because of the many beautiful farming terraces. The rice that is planted in these terraces is not only used for personal use but also production agriculture. The rice is sold in Hanoi because it is a high quality rice. Each crop takes about four months to grow meaning only one crop of rice is grown in a single year due to dropping temperatures later in the year. In winter months it gets to be pretty cold, even to the point where they may get snow once or twice. However, in the months that rice is not being produced, pumpkins and sweet potatoes are grown.

We also talked about the Hmong people that lived in Sapa and the villages just outside. The Hmong people have extremely good pronunciation of words. We all noticed this as we walked down the trail and had conversations with them easily. The reason behind this is because they had migrated down from an area of China that had European influence at one time. We had also talked to a tour guide from another group and she was telling us that there are different groups of Hmong people and the way in which they can be distinguished is by the color of head scarves or clothing they wear. The Black Hmongs wore Items that were black while the Red Hmongs wore red. She happened to be a Red Hmong while the women walking down the mountain with us were Black Hmong.

The rest of the 5-hour ride back to Hanoi was mostly quiet because everyone was wiped out from the long hike. Once we got back, we stopped at a restaurant for supper. Although it was all pretty good, many of us stated that we could really go for a burger and fries soon. We finished eating and made our way back to the hotel for a good nights sleep.

Market Time