The train arrived around 5am and our guide took us to our hotel in Sapa and we had a few hours for breakfast and a shower.
We then hiked down through the mountains to the Cat Cat Village where many H'Mong people live. Stacy bought a hiking stick from a child. Joe SHOULD have bought one because he slipped & fell into a terrace. Stacy had the privilege of cleaning his only pair of jeans that night. We got to see how they live and work. Their fields are set up on terraces in order to be able to farm in the mountains and was very peaceful there. At the end of the tour we walked down to a local waterfall before hiking back up to Sapa.
This terrace is full of a plant used to dye clothing red...
The second day in Sapa, we hiked down to 3 villages. Just before we left Sapa, there were several H’Mong women waiting outside of our travel agency’s office. We thought they were there to sell us some goods like they had the day before, but they were actually there to help escort the tourists through the mountains and to their village of Lao Cai. This was kind of a nuisance at first, but we soon realized that the terrain was very slippery and in some parts hard to maneuver. Both of us had a few spots that we nearly slipped, but the H’Mong were right there to help guide us to the more stable spots. In fact, there were times when they were taking the rough spots themselves (wearing rubber shoes with a baby on their back) and holding our lunch in order to help get us along safely. We were very thankful they were there and ended up buying some goods from them when we arrived at their village.
When we arrived in their village, there was a funeral ceremony going on. This was very rare and they celebrate this very differently than we do. It lasts for 3 days and the 3rd day, they sacrifice a Buffalo and celebrate the individual’s life. Each year afterwards, they meet on the anniversary of the death and all the family members from the surrounding villages will meet where the individual died to celebrate. On the 3rd, anniversary, they sacrifice another buffalo in celebration. We snapped this picture before we knew it was a funeral (and weren't supposed to photograph it).
From there we went on to another village that had a different ethnic minority – The Dzao. They are the women in the pictures wearing the red hats. They were having a wedding celebration in their village, which was interesting as well. All the men were inside celebrating and drinking rice wine and the women all gathered outside as they are not permitted to drink as the men do.
At the end of the day, we went back up to Sapa for a few hours before we had to take another overnight train back to Hanoi.
No comments:
Post a Comment