The day we arrived we cruised the little main street to find a tour company for a three day trek. At the first cafe we came to I thought I saw one of those big black hairy Vietnamese pigs standing out front, although getting closer we realised that it was actually a pregnant black dog... munching lustily on a shit-filled nappy that she'd pulled out of the bin! Yummy. We decided not to have lunch there.
Anyway we found a decent place to book the tour and the next morning hiked into the valley with our tiny (but wiry) Vietnamese guide. Cute little guy and damn informative, he told us all about the Hill Tribe customs and we peppered him with questions so he was basically talking for three days solid. After 2 months in China where the most thorough English explanation we ever got of Chinese culture was a museum with the illuminating translation of "blue pot" next to, funnily enough, a blue pot, we were desperate to have some sort of knowledge about the customs of the people we were seeing.
There's a whole bunch of different tribes living in the hills and valleys around Sapa, all with different traditional dress, house-styles, farming methods etc. There's the Black Hmong, White Hmong, Flower Hmong, Red Zao, Yellow Zao, Tay, Zay and a whole bunch of others. Rarest of all however is the Asphyxia tribe which we were lucky enough to stumble upon the first day. Two little girls playing on the track with green plastic bags firmly pulled down over their heads. I couldn't even begin to explain to our guide what was wrong with that picture.
Anyway no time for a blow by blow account of the trip. It was incredible, end of story. Just the highlights then.
Walking through tiny tracks far above the river valley, past rice paddies being plowed by recalcitrant buffalo (often being beaten with twigs by the farmer to keep moving, although the buffalo never appeared to notice). There were all kinds of crops at different levels: corn, cassava, peanuts and some strange bright green plantations that smelled quite strongly of skunk.
At the end of first day we settled into a family home in a Zay village, where they had bunged a couple of mattresses on the floor under mosquito netting to make a few extra bucks from tourists. They were lovely folks, really sweet. The Black Hmong people from the nearby village are a little more commercially aware however - coming into the Zay village we were collared by Hmong ladies from the village next-door trying to flog their exquisitely embroidered pillowcases, purses, belts and bracelets. Beautiful stuff, but their attentions were just too stifling. First we copped the spiel. Not once, but about ten times. "What is your name? Oh that's a beauuuuutiful name! How old are you? Oh so young!!!" (which I found a little unsettling coming from a ten year old girl). Mum, Dad and Tim - the whole time we were there I couldn't shake an uncanny feeling that the next line would be "You look...like a film star!" But no, instead the next line was always "You buy from me? Buy from me? BUY FROM ME?!?"
But two young girls and a middle-aged lady were really persistent. We just couldn't shake em. We went inside our family's house and they stood on the threshold and crooned "Buy from meeeee". When it became too stifling inside, we went down to the river for a swim and they trotted behind us and then sat on the rocks waiting patiently while embroidering new garments for our buying pleasure. As soon as we got out, they started up again. "Buy from meeee". Back at the house we wanted to take a wander around the village without our little entourage, so we snuck out the side door through the kitchen and had a lovely stroll around at sunset. Luckily the elderly Hmong ladies lurking by the side of the dirt track that passed through the village were way too slow for our fast-walking leg muscles which had been finely honed from months of mountain climbing in China (see Sarah - I told you all that torture would come in handy one day!)
When we got back though, there was trouble. The trio milling about in our family's courtyard was restless. It was dark and hot in the house so I went outside to read in the fresh evening breeze and bask in the last rays of the glorious sunset. Sarah was much wiser and stayed inside.
"Where you go?"
"Uh, we just went for a walk round the village"
"No! You sneak out! You buy from other people! Now you buy from me! Buy from me. BUY FROM MEEEE!!!"
The three of them pressed in around my low plastic stool, even the ten-year olds looming above me. I had harsh visions of the movie Lord of the Flies as they chanted "BUY FROM ME! BUY FROM ME!" and grabbed my arms and clothes and tried to press their wares into my hands and in front of my face.
I'd like to tell you I wasn't scared of two small girls and a tiny middle-aged woman. Yes I'd really like to tell you that.
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