Sapa And Around

We hired scooters to get around Sapa and to visit the surrounding rural areas and villages.  The hotel offered plenty of tours but we decided to find our own way around.  Sapa attracts plenty of tourists, both western and Vietnamese up to its mountain climes and plenty of Hmong people were walking about as guides as well as selling goods on the streets.

Tourism has given these people another income apart from rural agriculture but we wondered how detrimental the impact was on their culture and lives.  The old double-edged sword of tourism and its environmental and cultural impact versus the economic benefits.  We became accustomed to seeing Hmong people walking about the town and along the roadside carrying distinctive woven baskets on their backs.  They work alongside the local Vietnamese who also thrive off tourism, but keep their own distinct dress and language.

We rode down the main road to Lao Cai off which villages were signposted, turning down rough tracks which led through small hamlets.  Tour buses rumbled past us as we bumped along, stopping now and then to view the paddy field and mountain terracing landscapes.  There were people at work and a few rural children also at work and play.  As in many developing countries, children in rural areas here have little formal education and are put to work at young ages.

As we approached some of the larger villages, the impact of tourism was evident with ticket stations asking for entrance fees.  We declined to pay just to head further in to watch locals putting on a 'show' for the tourists spilling out of tour buses and then selling overpriced souvenirs.  Seeing people out working in their natural environment was enough for us.

The kids we encountered loved a wave and our 'hellos' were rewarded with shy smiles.  I saw a girl of about 6 years old sweeping up outside a shack with a broom she could only just manage.  I said hello and she hid, but then she shyly popped her head out again and smiled as I waved goodbye.  Other children we saw were both at play and at work, but despite the poverty and hardships of rural living, they seemed cheery.

Riding north of Sapa to view some waterfalls, we headed further up into the mountains.  Along the way we saw Hmong people working and also encountered some natural roadblocks.

We saw a roadside area of shacks with people selling food and souvenirs.  All the stalls seemed to be offering the exact same things.  We sat down at one for lunch, having rice in bamboo and pork skewers cooked on a charcoal grill which was also used to roast eggs.  Despite competing for the same custom, there was a camaraderie between the people on each stall and they obviously helped each other out.

Exploring Sapa, we found many tourist cafes and restaurants near to the main square.  We stayed away from there and found smaller places to eat used by locals.  There is a tourist market and also a local food market in town and like in most places you can find cheap and local food places near to the main market.

Walking further away from the central tourist market also helped and we found a small family-run noodle soup place where the owner sat smoking traditional Vietnamese leaf tobacco through a bamboo water filter pipe.  It looks like a giant bong and it works in the same way, only it's the strong tobacco that sends you reeling.

There was a distinct difference in the look of the children around town from that of their rural counterparts.  They were better dressed and evidently went to school, living a totally different lifestyle.  Being kids, they were just as friendly and cheeky though.