LSVN Day 12: Lao Cai, Bac Ha, Sapa

We woke up this morning pretty early to get off the train in Lao Cai. We had breakfast and immediately got on a van and headed to Bac Ha for their special Sunday market time. The ride was about two hours by van. The outdoor shops were pretty interesting. There were lots of handmade items. The meat market was pretty crazy. People were skinning and chopping pigs right in front of me. I was surprised that there were many European and Japanese tourist around. It was my first time seeing so many H'mong people in one place. After shopping we had lunch together. Diem and Derrick bought a little puppy for under $10USD. They bought it so that they could save it from being eaten and set it free. After lunch, we bused back to Lao Cai, but the bus broke down twice. So we were stuck in the humid sun on the side of a mountain. The Lao Cai area is high in the mountains at the border of China. There are rice terraces all over the mountain sides; that is the style of farming. After driving for hours, we arrived in Sapa and checked into the hotel.

Sapa is a beautiful place surrounded by high mountains in a sort of valley. I've never seen a mountain range so beautiful. The city was French influenced at the time of their rule, so all of the buildings were in French style. After getting our rooms, I went for a quick swim at the hotel pool because many of us had not showered in a day or two. We had dinner together and then Frere called in a meeting about going out that night. He told us to go out and experience the city for ourselves and that their wasn't a curfew for the night. He told us to try to iind some of the native H'mong people and take them out for fun and hang out with them. Frere wanted us to see how they live because Sapa is their native land, but the Vietnamese took it away.

I went out with Hai, Paul, Tim, and Louis that night and we just went around exploring the city. We went through the market areas and talked to some of the H'mong vendors. I tried on a full traditional H'mong outfit. We walked around some more looking for souvenirs like scarfs, bags, and satchels. We ran into the one H'mong girl, her name was Sa and she was 20 years old and was carrying a baby on her back. We asked her if she wanted to hangout with us and get some food to eat. She said yes and took us to a place off the streets where we had corn, eggs, and band bao.

We talked for awhile and she told us about herself and how she lives. She was married at the age of 17 and her husband is a farmer. She lives about a kilometer or two outside of Sapa and works as a vendor to tourists. Every mornign we wakes up at 10Am and walks to town by 11AM and works until about 11PM and then walks back home. As we chatted, an elder H'mong women came up to us and we had a sort of biblical moment. She was trying to sell us all sorts of items and kept bothering us to buy from her. When they saw that we were Catholic and that we go to church, the elder lady told us that she goes to church, too. She then pointed out that Sa did not go to church and questioned why we were eating with her because she wasn't Christian, and asked us why we wouldn't buy from her because she shared the same religious values as we did. We went on to tell the women that it didn't matter if Sa was Christian or not, we would still eat with her. In the end, we bought the elder women some eggs to eat and she left. After, Sa took us to a place that sold fresh fruit so we could get some to eat. We got to see a native instrument and dance that is used for courting. Sa asked us if we wanted to go smoke with her, but we declined. The H'mong people are highly addicted tobacco and marijuana. Smoking a pipe is part of their heritage and traditions in ceremony and they need it to live.

It was soon getting time for Sa to return home so we gave her a bag of fruit to take home. We took a group picture and exchanged good byes and good lucks. She gave each of us a friendship bracelet and we gave her a small pouch with some money tucked inside as gifts. We went back to the hotel lobby, sat down, and reflected a bit on our experience. After a bit, a few of us went out to a nearby bar and just chilled. We played cards and King's Cup until about midnight. When I got back to my room a storm started. Lighting lit up the skies. IT was a pretty scary scene, but a cool sight. Soon after the lightning storm, the power went out with a blackout and the whole city went pitch black. The lightning flashes lit up the whole city. I felt like I was in Luigi's mansion. I was pretty freaked out. Nghia, Anh Giang, Louis, and I went walking around the hotel with our flashlights trying to see if anyone else was still up. I ended up sleeping around 2AM.