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Local tour guides provide an insight into real Sa Pa
It's a strange land that leaves me with different feelings whenever I come to
rediscover it.
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Steps to heaven: The familiar terraced fields in
Sa Pa
attract many domestic and foreign visitors. |
Sapa is an incredibly
picturesque town in the Hoang Lien Son Mountain Range near the Chinese border in
northwestern Viet Nam, 350km from
Ha Noi.
It can be explored almost year-round from March to early December. Vietnamese
most like to visit during June and July to escape the summer heat in other parts
of the country. Sa Pa is 1, 500m above sea level so the weather is quite mild,
and cold at night.
The best time travel Sa Pa is on a weekday, as weekenders tend to flock here.
However, the famed "love market" only takes place on Saturday nights, so
visitors often extend their tour to Saturday to experience it.
Tourists can see many hill tribe people, their villages and rice terraces. The
ethnic minority groups generally retain their lifestyles and traditional
costumes.
The area's high mountains, deep ravines and lush vegetation rise to the peak of
Mt Fansipan – the highest point in Indochina. The combination of
fresh mountain air, relaxed ambience, sweeping panoramas and fascinating hill
tribes make Sa Pa a
must-see destination.
A trek took us deep into a hill tribe region where tourists are still something
of a novelty. Staying in village homes allowed us to experience firsthand a
lifestyle that has been little touched by the modern world and a curiosity from
our hosts just as great as our own. The trekking is fairly strenuous at times
but the spectacular scenery and sense of adventure make it worth the effort.
I can't explain why all of the local tour guides are women. All are under 30 and
haven't yet married. Thao Thi Ru, a Dao ethnic woman, has guided tourists since
she was 12, after starting her career as a souvenir vendor. Sometimes, to get
tourists buy her hand-made souvenirs, she has offered herself as a guide for
free. Gradually, she has learned English from them, learned to cook dishes to
their tastes, and acquired the experience to become a professional tour guide.
"Being local, we have an advantage over tour companies, " Ru said. "Foreign
tourists prefer us to guide them because we know the ways and easily lead them
to villages and local houses. They love to understand the local customs as told
by locals like us."
Under Ru's direction, we visit Ta Van, Ta Phin and Ban Ho
communes and get a greater understanding of the H'mong and Dao people's
stone-carving, weaving, jewelry-making, metalwork and embroidery crafts.
Ta Phin Cave, at the far end of Ta Phin village, is an attractive
destination which tourists often bypass without a local guide's suggestion.
The cave requires a guide with a flashlight, and the guide will shine the torch
on a variety of stalactites.
Some of the locals invite visitors to go to their homes to show how they live
and what they have, and tell them about their families. On following them to
their houses, tourists find out how simply they live. The tour guides suggest
you to buy the merchandise you like from them as repayment for what they have
shown for you.
Local tour guides also lead the trips to the forests and mountains because they
know thoroughly the terrain.
Before starting a tour, the guides remind tourists to bring food, shoes,
sleeping bags and other necessities, said Giang Thi Co, a H'mong woman.
"I have learned from the elders folk medicines to treat stomach aches, muscle
pains and snake bite, " Co said. "Once, a Western woman couldn't walk anymore
because her legs were sore, so I picked some leaves to apply to her swollen
calves. She felt better and said ‘good, good!' to me."
City lovers may find Sa Pa is not the place for them as its rich ethnic
lifestyle is far removed from modern life. If you expect to go shopping in
malls, Sa Pa has nothing to offer. The only way to go shopping is to go to the
local market where you can find unique handicrafts, jewelry and fabrics with
colourful embroidery. While tourists don't know how to bargain or choose the
best items, the local guides are ready to help.
Sa Pa is famous for its "love market" where local young people go to show off
and find partners. It is held every Saturday night and provides a unique and
unforgettable experience.
The love market is a tradition in the culture of the Mong, Tay and Dao. All the
people around Sa Pa live in isolated villages and can only get together once a
week during the Sunday morning market. The night before, young men and women
from all around come to the love market to meet and express their emotions
through playing the khen (pan pipe) and singing according to traditional customs
of their people.
The experience of Sa Pa trip is not something that everyone can buy, but
adventurous people and those who seek to know the hidden charm of Vietnamese
hill tribes living in their old traditional mountain villages cannot miss this
place.
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