Sapa II: You buy from me.

Everyone said that Sapa was beautiful and indeed it is. High mountains sculpted by rice terraces and colored by the vibrant traditional dress of the ethnic minorities, the Black Hmong, Red Dao, and Tay. But if Sapa had a tagline, it would be "You buy from me." Those colorful, basket-toting women drive a hard sales pitch and if persistance is a virtue, they have it in spades. I walked away with a bracelet, a belt, and two sets of postcards. I later met a French woman with whom I communicated in Spanish who actually bought two of their jackets so I feel like I didn't do so badly in trying to resist them.

I wanted to support businesses that directly benefited them. I asked around several places to check out the homestay options and one of my questions was always, "Do you use minority guides?" The answer was always "yes." And that answer was a bold-faced lie. I signed up for the best sounding option and who appeared as our guide but a young Vietnamese man from Halong Bay. Fantastic. But I tried to make the best of it. While that bit of it was disappointing it was actually a really nice trek. The guide was knowledgeable and gave great advice such as not buying from children so that they aren't encouraged to sell handicrafts to tourists rather than attend school. I signed on to a 2 day tour with an overnight stay in a village. The trek followed the curves up and down the dramatic scenery and over bridges and through rice terraces. The food was delicious and hearty, my favorite being the Phở rau with egg. Our village host was very kind and while spoke very little English, communicated with smiles and his own brew of rice wine. The stuff was strong but luckily the shot glasses small. We stopped as schools along the way and were given the opportunity to donate money to the schools directly.

All in all the trek was great and my trek-mates made for great company. We were a group of 6, a Kiwi couple, and English couple, a lone Belgian, and a lone me. I would meet up with the Kiwi couple serendipitously several times after the trek. If I had it to do over again, I would only change one thing: take up one of the Hmong or Red Dao ladies in Sapa on a homestay. One offered the 1st morning I arrived off the train but it was a bit too much to think about 1st thing in the morning while still trying to get my bearings on the town.

Random Stats
Amount of sales pitches heard: about 93
Items bought: 6
Kilometers walked: Around 22 I think.
Total amount of Panadol taken to help sore knees on hard hikes downhill: 1000 mg
Coolest mode of transport: Soviet jeep.