The Noodle Tour: Northern Vietnam: Sapa and the Hill Tribes

Sisters

A young girl playing while her parents build a house.

Local girl selling bookmarks and taking care of her baby brother.

Chantra and two Black Hmong girls.

Adorable little Vietnamese girl.

Sapa is a frontier town that lies near the Chinese border and it is nestled within Vietnam’s rugged mountainous northwest. The slopes of these mountains are covered by lush green terraced rice fields that seem to be perpetually shrouded in mist. Yet the mist does not conceal the natural beauty of this place, but rather enhances it. I never knew that such a place existed in Vietnam. It is such a contradiction. Here in the mountains of a tropical country, it’s actually cold. The locals tell me that in the winter they sometimes get snow. Snow?! In Vietnam? That’s crazy. Never the less, Sapa is a picturesque and charming corner of Vietnam.

Another little girl caring for her baby brother.

Vietnam has 54 different ethnic groups and this region of the country is home of several of them. The tribes that populate the Sapa area are the Black Hmong, Red Dzao, and the Tay. The Black Hmong are by far the most common and a whole swarm of them were waiting for me and Chantra as we stepped off the overnight train from Hanoi. As usual they were plying their trade and trying to sell us little knick knacks and trinkets. None of which we wanted or needed, but the kids were so cute that we couldn’t help but buy a few souvenirs. A few of the Red Dzao, who can be identified by the bright red cloths they use to cover their heads, could also be seen selling things but, they were few and far between. The Tay, who wear a Chinese style green or blue tunic, did not interact with the tourists very much and were the most reserved of the three major tribes.

One of the local girls made a horse out of a
tiny bamboo sapling for Chantra.

Me and Chantra did a two day trek and homestay with a Tay family. A caravan of Hmong kids and old women followed us while we hiked through the gorgeous countryside. As we stomped through muddy rice paddies, trying to avoid the leeches, yes I said leeches, we were able to watch the mist advance and recede in an ethereal dance that left us in a state of awe. However, as beautiful as the countryside is my favorite part of the whole experience was meeting the locals. They told us the stories of their lives and spoke to us about the harsh realities of life in the mountains. Yet there were no complaints and the smiles never left their faces. When they tired of hanging with us we contentedly sat in a small café and watched as the children ran around underfoot without a care in the world.