Our Night with a Hilltribe Family near Sapa

After Halong Bay we headed north to Sapa.

Sapa is a town in the mountains in northern Vietnam.  We wanted to go and see the rice terraces and the local hill tribes, so we caught a night train and arrived really early to find the weather to be pretty decent but declining.  Though we were pretty tired from the train, we decided to maximize the day and head to a hill tribe village to arrange a homestay with a local family.

We took a taxi to a hill tribe village called Ta Phin where we were greeted by a pack of women and girls, some with babies in their backs, dressed in traditional clothes and fawning over us.  They all had wares to sell, and knew a bit English, mostly "buy something from me Madame, very nice".  Um, ok, let me get my pack out of the taxi first, ok!

Some Red Dao tribeswomen walking us to our homestay through the main street of the village

We mentioned the word homestay, and they knew what to do, pointing up the hill past the village (a few small shops) to the area where the houses are.  They led/ followed us all the way up the hill to Mae's house who happened to be one of their cousins.  When they knocked, Mae wasn't home, so they just let us in.  We sat there in the dark, rather sparse home surrounded by these smiling women who would take turns saying "Later you buy something from me, ok?".

Later, Mae came in through the backdoor of her home and, after a brief conversation with the ladies, welcomed us to her home for the night.  The ladies then showed all of their wares, we bought a few small things, and they were on their way.

Waiting for Mae in Mae's house

Lucas and I checking out some wares - Lucas bought a bracelet from one of the women

Mae took us up into the hills where some of the villagers were planting corn on the terraces.  (Rice is planted at a different time of year).  We hiked quite a distance from the village, passing through little homesteads and a bamboo forest that Mae said was hers. The scenery was gorgeous, though the air was a bit smoky because they were burning the ground before planting the corn.

Mae leading us up into the mountains - in her sandals!

Lucas taking in the view

Some young bamboo in the foreground and a view over the valley

One of the people we met along the way, there were several girls hauling wood  in homemade baskets

Eventually we got to the planting place where we found an adorable little guy and his grandparents planting corn.  They were happy to let us help for awhile, it was pretty hard work and we were amazed at how the little boy was content to just watch or notice things in the dirt, no toys, no snacks, just him and his family and the hillside!

Happy little helper, bare bottom to the wind!

Lucas and a local digging holes for the corn seeds

Chris having a go

The corn seeds were from a bag and were dyed pink, we never did understand why...

We are tamping down the seeds with our shoes after putting 3 or 4 in each hole

Little guy's mom came after awhile, aren't they beautiful?

We went back to the homestay and eventually Mae's 2 children came home from school and her husband came home from where he was, he said he was studying Chinese Mandarin.  The kids played cards with us, a memory game that we could demonstrate since they didn't speak any English.

Then at one point Mae said something to them and they got up immediately from the game and went to wash dishes for dinner.  Wow!  There is no way our kids would leave mid-game without a protest! Our kids ended up helping them with the dishes (protest included) and learned that is different doing dishes with no running water and no counter top.

Kids washing dishes while Mae and her husband make dinner in the kitchen area to the right

We had a nice dinner with some strong rice wine, then Mae's husband and kids sat by the fire and practiced Mandarin while we got to have herbal baths in large wooden barrels - a definite highlight of our homestay!  Many times since then we've longed for a herbal bath - it was so hot we had to ease in slowly, but was an amazing soak for our tired muscles.  We all slept well after that.

Bliss in a barrel!

In the morning it was pretty cold in the house, Mae's mother in law hauled in a basket full of wood chips and put them in the enormous fireplace then started a fire.  The fire was tiny, but they all gathered around on little stools.  Even the cat climbed in and sat high up in the chip pile to stay warm (darn, we didn't get a picture of that!).

The mother in law then spent quite awhile chopping up greens and took them out to the backyard for the pigs.  Just another morning on the hillside!

We said goodbye after breakfast, thankful to have been able to spend a night with this family and see what life for them is like.

Our homestay host, her son and us as we are preparing to leave.  The house was pretty dark most of the time with just one small light and the embers of the fire to provide light.

Back in Sapa the weather was wet and foggy so we were unable to see the rice terraces that the area is famous for.  We planned to go into the Yunnan area of China to see those rice terraces but there was no sign of a break in the weather so we cut our losses and let that plan go.  Instead, we decided to head to the Bac Ca area to see the hilltribe market.

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