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Sa Pa

The Northern Jewel of Vietnam

By Stories She Saw

August 27^th, 2019

Sa Pa, in the north of Vietnam, can be reached by a rickety overnight train from Hanoi, then a climbing drive south from Lao Cai on the the Chinese border back towards Mt Fanispan (the highest mountain in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia), which lies just beyond the city. The town of Sa Pa is just a base - and a rather ugly one - from which to explore the seemingly endless rice paddies and hills that lie beyond.

SA PA VILLAGE

An uneasy mix of old and new, Sa Pa city was full of traditionally dressed Hmong and Dao women and kids jostling for the attention and coins of tourists who came and went into the cheap Chinese North Face outlets. I didn't spend more than 24 hours there, as the real sights were just beyond the city's edge.

Rice Paddies

When I hiked around Sa Pa in 2016, it was late August and there was endless rain, but the slippery footing and wet clothes were worth it for the raging rivers and green rice shoots.

Houses dotted the landscape, with adults and children alike tending to buffalo and monitoring the rice growth. I hiked for a few days - well away from the city - and spent a couple of evenings in the warm company of local Hmong families.

Though the hiking was sometimes gruelling, the stunning vistas never ceased to look amazing.

A special shout out, though, is deserved for Shu, a local H'mong woman (and her friends), who helped guide us down the muddy, steep, hillside. While we were falling and slipping all day (despite my sturdy hiking boots), they were deftly navigating the mudslides in their gumboots as though they walked on air. I understand that there are problems with locals hassling tourists, but Shu and her friends were nothing but saints, and I wouldn't have been able to hike down into the valley without her.

Footnotes

All photos taken by my on my Olympus OMD em10ii (and the last one on my iPhone7)

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FootNotes

All photos taken by my on my Olympus OMD em10ii (and the last one on my iPhone7)