Sapa, Sapa, Charming Sapa

More pictures of the valley
see all photos »

The Sapa Valley, I head deep into the mountainous terrain of Northwestern Vietnam via 8 hour train and 2 hour jeep ride.

Sapa was surreal, inhabited by many hillside tribes, visited by droves of tourists, and for good reason.  I spend about 4 days here, each day visiting a different ethnic minority village from the roads (sometimes dirt) branching off from this mountaintop resort town.  The mountains are mainly unpopulated except for Sapa itself, the majority of the ethnic minority population lives in the valley below us, with their terraced farms running up the mountainside.

... tiring, yet very rewarding.

View from balcony of surrounding Sapa
see all photos »

So I do a ton of hiking, up and down hills, through wet and dirty roads, witnessing a lot of beautiful scenery.  The villages itself weren't quite as noteworthy as the people who populated them.

On my way to a village called Sin Chai one day we run into a few little local girls who decide they want to be our tour guide.  They take us through their village showing us cool little details we wouldn't have found on our own.  It was inspiring to see the happiness of these kids, who live on a mere 1 USD a day, shine through the harsh and very simple standard of living.  Inspiring was the word.  We got a chance to check out the home of one of these girls, again simple is the simpliest way to put it.

View from my bed, including feet
see all photos »

These people work during the week to converge into Sapa on Saturday and Sunday to sell their goods.  The market wasn't anything special, except for the fact that all the ethnic minority groups were in one place at the same time.  I brought home a bunch of cool trinkets and necklaces.

So I do this for a few days; it was tiring, yet very rewarding.  Unforgetable bookmark of my trip to Vietnam.  Again, the scenery was surreal.  Pictures, I have tons, heres about 25?

Shot from the hotel balcony
see all photos »

Linh