The overnighter delivered us to Lia Cia right on schedule (5 a.m.) and the van whisked up the mountain to Sapa in no time where we treated to breakfast before retreating to our room for a few hours of sleep. Our tour of Cat Cat Village is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Our three hour hike to Cat Cat Village high in the mountains of Sapa is sure to be one of the highlights of our trip. Our guide, Zhao, met us at two and we spent a few minutes getting to know one another before heading off on our trek. Zhao is an eighteen-year-old local from Cat Cat who speaks excellent English. Although she has never been to school, Pete (our Australian host and the owner of Sapa Boutique Hotel) saw her potential to be a guide. Pete’s mission in Vietnam is to train and employ the locals. Much of his profits from his business is given back to the community and he has a wide variety of programs established throughout the country. We are really sorry that he is currently in Hanoi working on yet another endeavour to empower the locals. We would have loved to have met him. Getting to know him through his staff is wonderful, however, and we feel so fortunate to be contributing by staying and eating at his hotel (and booking all our tours through him as well).
Zhao chatted proficiently while leading us to her H’mong village (she learned all of her English through talking with tourists). The scenery was absolutely stunning – mountains blanketed with bright green rice paddies, their summits enveloped in wispy clouds. We saw indigo soaking in a large vat. When the boys stuck their hands in it, they immediately turned blue. This explained why the H’mong women had bluish hands (while working on their textiles the dyes stain their hands). We saw new-born baby chicks, tiny pigs, and huge water buffaloes. The babies ran about either bare-bottomed or with holes cut into the groin area of their pants as diapers don’t exist here. We saw several craftspeople. The boys tried their hand at weaving hemp much to the amusement of the villagers. Ryan and Brendan proved to be good after a little trial and error!
Zhao took us into a rice paddy and taught us how rice is grown and harvested. She explained how the ancient water wheels served to pound and hulls from the rice after which they to are separated through sifting.
We visited a local house where Zhao demonstrated how a bachelors play a flute-like instrument to woo young women. At a very young age (typically around the age of fourteen or fifteen) the mating ritual begins. The young boy goes to the girl’s house late in the evening and plays a tune on the flute. This alerts the girl to meet him after her parents are sleeping. Though the girls think that their parents are unaware of the drama unfolding, the elders are very much a part of the ritual. They promptly pretend to fall asleep and the young girl slips out to meet her suitor. The young girl sneaks back in later under the impression that her parents are no more the wiser. This ‘dance’ has been unfolding for generations. Zhao said that she has yet to have a boyfriend and doesn’t intend to have one any time soon – she seems wise beyond her years.
Towards the end of our hike we approached a thundering waterfall. Zhao took a family picture and instructed us to rest for ten minutes. We so greatly enjoyed sitting and watching the children play. Despite huge precipices all around, the children ran around with abandon.
Our three hour hike to Cat Cat Village high in the mountains of Sapa is sure to be one of the highlights of our trip. Our guide, Zhao, met us at two and we spent a few minutes getting to know one another before heading off on our trek. Zhao is an eighteen-year-old local from Cat Cat who speaks excellent English. Although she has never been to school, Pete (our Australian host and the owner of Sapa Boutique Hotel) saw her potential to be a guide. Pete’s mission in Vietnam is to train and employ the locals. Much of his profits from his business is given back to the community and he has a wide variety of programs established throughout the country. We are really sorry that he is currently in Hanoi working on yet another endeavour to empower the locals. We would have loved to have met him. Getting to know him through his staff is wonderful, however, and we feel so fortunate to be contributing by staying and eating at his hotel (and booking all our tours through him as well).
Zhao chatted proficiently while leading us to her H’mong village (she learned all of her English through talking with tourists). The scenery was absolutely stunning – mountains blanketed with bright green rice paddies, their summits enveloped in wispy clouds. We saw indigo soaking in a large vat. When the boys stuck their hands in it, they immediately turned blue. This explained why the H’mong women had bluish hands (while working on their textiles the dyes stain their hands). We saw new-born baby chicks, tiny pigs, and huge water buffaloes. The babies ran about either bare-bottomed or with holes cut into the groin area of their pants as diapers don’t exist here. We saw several craftspeople. The boys tried their hand at weaving hemp much to the amusement of the villagers. Ryan and Brendan proved to be good after a little trial and error!
Zhao took us into a rice paddy and taught us how rice is grown and harvested. She explained how the ancient water wheels served to pound and hulls from the rice after which they to are separated through sifting.
We visited a local house where Zhao demonstrated how a bachelors play a flute-like instrument to woo young women. At a very young age (typically around the age of fourteen or fifteen) the mating ritual begins. The young boy goes to the girl’s house late in the evening and plays a tune on the flute. This alerts the girl to meet him after her parents are sleeping. Though the girls think that their parents are unaware of the drama unfolding, the elders are very much a part of the ritual. They promptly pretend to fall asleep and the young girl slips out to meet her suitor. The young girl sneaks back in later under the impression that her parents are no more the wiser. This ‘dance’ has been unfolding for generations. Zhao said that she has yet to have a boyfriend and doesn’t intend to have one any time soon – she seems wise beyond her years.
Towards the end of our hike we approached a thundering waterfall. Zhao took a family picture and instructed us to rest for ten minutes. We so greatly enjoyed sitting and watching the children play. Despite huge precipices all around, the children ran around with abandon.
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