The Obligatory..."Gooood Morning Vietnam!"

We left Kunming in the evening of December the 7th on, yet another, overnight bus. Bound for the small Vietnamese village of Sapa we arrived at the border town of Hekou first thing in the morning. After going through the usual paperwork we crossed the bridge to Vietnam and took a bus up the mountain.
My first impression was that Vietnam was a lot more tropical than the parts of China I had seen. People also seemed happier...perhaps warmer weather does make you smile. On our drive up we enjoyed views of many tiered and beautifully groomed rice fields lining the hills. Amongst these rice paddies were water buffalo and farmers in straw cone-shaped hats toiling away in the fields. At the edge of each of these were tiny farm houses, each one boasting a collection of pigs, chickens and other yummy looking future dinners (just kidding).

Sapa is a small town in the Northwestern hills of Vietnam that was touched by the French in the 1920s. This was evident in the colourful colonial style houses lining the streets and French signs hanging amongst the Vietnamese ones on the faces of stores (along with a bitter anti-French sentiment among the people...hhmmmm). The side streets were lined with many tourists perusing the stalls and handmade crafts being sold by the ethnic people of the region. Although there are supposedly over 20 different ethnic minorities in the area, there were only three or four that I could distinguish.
The H'Mong, Zao and Thay women all wore beautiful, extremely colourful garments that differed primarily in their head-dresses. These women had stitched gorgeous pillowcases, blankets and other textiles that they made every attempt to sell to the hoards of tourists filling the streets.

In order to see more of the area, we signed up for an overnight tour of the surrounding hills and villages. This tour involved a homestay with a family from one of these villages and we were told that the money we paid to take the tour would be divided up to include the other members of the village.

We began our trek early one morning completely surrounded by fog...and that is how it ended. Although a little disappointed we were able to meet some helpful (and extremely strong) H'Mong woman along the way who led us along the rice fields and up and down the hillsides. When we finally arrived at a Thay village five hours later, we were met by our smiling host-family who showed us in to their simple house. The floor was concrete and there was no furniture aside from some plastic chairs. In the middle of the room was a fire pit that they used for warmth and cooking and along the thatched walls hung pots, pans and knives waiting to be used. As with other houses we'd passed along the way, I was surprised to see a satellite dish and TV in such a simple place.

The night was filled with delicious food, conversation and offers of "happy water" (rice wine). Later, techno music blared from next door as other foreigners enjoyed their 'ethnic' experience.
The following morning our guide took us for a tour of the village. The villagers were going about their business; farming, sewing, etc. and it was particularly interesting to see the rudimentary school and hospital. We ventured slightly outside of this area into the neighbouring Red Zao village and were met by children as they ran out of their houses to greet us. Each of them held up bracelets and other items that they were trying to sell. It was immediately evident from their dirty clothes and bare feet that they were not as fortunate as those in the previous village. One small girl in particular stood with torn rags and a distended stomach. I asked our tour guide if some of the money we paid went to these families and was upset to find that none of it did...

Since we left Japan we have seen many people impoverished beyond anything I'd witnessed in Canada. In this case, however, I was particularly upset. I felt sick at the thought that we had paid to be paraded past starving children. Words cannot properly describe my embarrassment, anger and sadness. Although the scenery was beautiful and I learned a lot about the area and people I would never choose to do this again. It has certainly made me even more thankful for the health and happiness of my friends and family.