Into the Mist with Sapa’s Authentic Hill Tribe Culture

French Indochina conjures images of rubber plantations, palm trees, tranquil lakes, French cafes and other aspects of colonial life. Yes, it is charming to be sure. There are teal green rice terraces that seem to tumble down the mountains like an errant child. There’s the mist which plays a game of peek-a-boo with visitors, who might catch a glimpse of a valley or rice terraces, only to have it seemingly fade away again into the ethereal mist. There’s also a Gothic church. French missionaries were surely active here at one time. Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris were the main pioneers, who were working en masse around Sapa in the 1880’s.

The French built a hill station here that was completed by 1909. Back then, those missionaries could not have known that Vietnam would, in the coming decades, find itself fighting off the Japanese, the French, United States and even Mainland China, who invaded through Sapa in 1979 because Vietnam had in turn invaded Cambodia to overthrow Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. The border here had always been disputed and a formal agreement was established between 1894 and 1896. The French moved many such borders in this part of the world with the aplomb of a king tossing aside a drumstick at a Thanksgiving banquet.

 

Through all of this carnage Sapa lost its luster if not its glitter. But the Vietnamese always endure. They are the resilient. Some of the heartiest people in this gorgeous part of northwest Vietnam are the hill tribes. The hill tribes are quite varied in the former Indochine.  In Vietnam there are various mountain people known by the French as the Montagnards. The Montagnards have experienced a renaissance because of increased tourism. Better restaurants, food and new hotels dot the landscape.

 

 

Sapa or “Sa Pa,” is situated near the border with China in Lao Cai province. It’s a difficult place to reach — the most popular way in is by overnight train. It is also possible to drive. For some Remote Lands clients it is even possible to charter a helicopter and fly in to this place, which has a medieval feel to it. What will they find?

 

If you’d like to go by train, well, the best rail ride to Sapa is the Victoria Express. The trip is made over night, and takes approximately 10 hours. The ride was quite comfortable and short of flying in by helicopter, it is the best way to get to Sapa. Because of the close proximity to the China border, Sapa is a sensitive area, so chartered helicopter flights are frequently postponed due to the military or to foggy weather.

 

The Chinese called Sapa “Xa Pa” meaning “The Sandy Place.” Only God knows why. The French military liked to host parties here, and the French Foreign Legion’s tales of grand adventure were discussed and toasted, no doubt, at such gatherings. The French Army erected a hospital for injured officers in Sapa. An entire garrison was stationed here by 1912. Sapa was always an isolated enclave. Lowland Vietnamese could not invade and hold ground here, even in ancient times. Perhaps they were deterred by the mist: there are over 160 days per year of mist here each year on average.

 

As is per usual for me, I was on a very quick inspection trip. I spent two nights on the train back and forth from Hanoi, and only one night in the hotel during two full days of touring. It was a very tiring but personally and professionally fulfilling trip. It is advisable to stay in Sapa longer, at least two nights in my opinion. Sapa is well worth the trouble involved in getting there as it is one of the few places left on the planet where it is possible to see tribal culture in an almost undisturbed state — if you go to the right areas. (Certain areas of Northern Laos and Kengtung and/or Chin in Myanmar come close).

 

The people have been here for a long time. The petroglyphs they’ve left behind date back to the time of Magellan and even Columbus, back through the 1400’s. The highest peak in all of Vietnam, Phan-Xi-Pǎng (3,143 meters high) can be found here. (A meter is a little more than three feet by the way, for Americans whose involvement with the metric system is limited to drinking 2 liter bottles of Coca-Cola). The decision to permanently and fully open Sapa to the outside world was made in 1993. The Dao villages of Ta Van and Ta Phin are popular destinations. But there are so many other excellent destinations.

 

The Victoria hotel in Sapa is a pleasant surprise for example — it is a Four Star property in a place where you’d expect one or two stars. This makes it a great base for exploring the surrounding area. Trains depart from Hanoi in the evening and arrive in Lao Cai in the early morning just after sunrise. After arrival, I drove approximately an hour to the Victoria Hotel where I checked in, and although very tired, showered and headed directly out with my guide for some tribal exploration.

 

On this day I did a half day walk through a variety of tribal villages, through stunning scenery of mountains and rice terraces. During the first part of my walk, I passed through Black Hmong villages, encountering villagers on the road and working in their fields. I visited a school, and the kids went crazy to see a foreigner there.

 

They said things like, “He’s so white,” “He has a big nose,” “He’s going to take us [away]” were some of the things my guide translated for me. Yet their fear quickly dissipated when they saw my camera, and about 20 kids clustered around me, grabbing my legs and laughing.

 

Further down the path we met a few Black Hmong women who were working in their rice field. They invited us into their home, where I met their 102-year old mother who was still very much full of life and happy to have me come inside. We were offered tea and spent a few minutes talking about their lifestyle (I noticed that she had some sort of animist altar).

 

We continued on through even more stunning scenery, and eventually came into Ta Phin village, which is Red Dao  country. Dao is also spelled “Dzao.”

 

A small group of Red Dao latched onto us and were trying to sell some crafts they had made. Not content to take “no” for an answer, they proceeded to follow us for the remaining two hours of our trek, something that became increasing annoying as time went by. They are quite photogenic people to be sure, but there is nothing I hate more than people aggressively trying to sell me something, so I wasn’t very happy about it. Still, the scenery was breathtaking, so it didn’t deter me too much.

 

On day two of my trip, I wanted to see a Flower Hmong market, as this is the most colorful tribe in the area.  An overwhelming majority of tourists to Sapa visit the “famous” Bac Ha market, however this has turned into an extremely touristy event. Given my experience the previous day with the Red Dao, I was determined to avoid that sort of thing at all costs. In my heart I knew that going as far away from the hotel as possible this outing was most likely to take me as far from other tourists as possible.

I had heard that the road between Sapa and Dien Bien Phu (where the French colonialists and militarists fell in the 1950’s in a valiant last stand) had the largest variety of untouched tribes in all of Vietnam, as well as a stunning landscapes. So with my limited amount of time I was set to get as far in that direction as possible. My guide hesitated, but I insisted. And I’m glad I did because it resulted in an amazing day…

 

We drove a couple hours west past “Heaven’s Gate,” the highest point in Vietnam  to a Flower Hmong village named Tam Duong. Luckily for me, there was a market happening on this day, and there were dozens and dozens of Flower Hmong in attendance.  However, these people were not used to seeing tourists and as a result they were quite shy. At the first sign of a camera being pointed in their direction, backs would turn.

 

However, I am not the sort of photographer that takes photos from a distance. I knew that to get very good shots I would have to make the effort to talk to people and make them comfortable with my presence. I met one group of four Flower Hmong women and they were happy to talk with me, but wouldn’t let me take any photos. After talking for 20 minutes and buying some fruit their guard was down however, and they smiled and let me take as many photos as I wanted. I met a teenage girl cutting sugarcane, and I talked to many others carrying out their transactions for the day. It was exactly the sort of travel experience I crave. I learned a few things about their way of life and I got to see things not many people get to see.

 

Since we were quite far away, we started heading back in the direction of my hotel. This was tribal country though, so opportunities to meet people came every few minutes down the road. We passed and young Flower Hmong husband and wife coming back from another market and exchanged a few words with them. A bit farther down the road we passed a Black Yao village, with three generations of women in the field harvesting rice. I asked if they could show me how to harvest rice, and they were thrilled that I was interested to try. Harvesting rice is very labor intensive.

 

Further down the road we saw a charismatic Black Hmong woman selling various wares to a Flower Hmong women — cross tribal trade at its best. We visited a Black Thai village, had a cup of tea inside one of the homes and talked in detail about their lifestyle. This was one of my most detailed conversations in the area. But the Black Thai were not the most interesting of the tribes for me. Perhaps they seemed more assimilated into modern culture?

 

The final stop was over some rough roads and to a Lu village. We were invited inside to meet a Lu woman. We were invited for yet another cup of tea. The house was dirty. For example, the toilet was a hole in the kitchen floor, going straight below the house which was inhabited by pigs. But this woman was so genuinely nice and hospitable that it was impossible to decline for fear of offending her. The tea was cold, and I knew it wasn’t a good idea, but I sat and drank it while talking to this woman through my translator. (The next day, after arriving back home in Bangkok, I was very ill from this experience).

 

Lu women dye their teeth black using vegetable dyes. This is actually considered a sign of beauty for the females. They believe that white teeth are a sign of demonism or of beasts from the animal kingdom. Dark teeth are considered attractive. Such revelations make Vietnam magical.

 

 

Email us at info@remotelands.com about how you can make the mists of Sapa one of your stops on a multi-nation Southeast Asia tour.  Or visit our website for more information on Vietnam.