Sa Pa is high in the mountains on the Chinese Boarder (the train station is 2 km from the border) and the area is home to several of the 54 ethnic minorities recognized in Vietnam.
Our two days in Sa Pa (before our long overnight train ride back to Hanoi) consisted primarily of hiking to several villages. This is the primary activity as there were probably 15 similar groups as ours on the same path. The Muong women (dressed in hand-woven black hemp clothing) walk up to Sa Pa in the early morning and walk back with the tourists using their English to befriend and hopefully, sell something. One of the more interesting sights was a woman whose 5 year old daughter was carrying her infant brother on her back while the mother carried other items.
It is harvest time for rice now and the methods date back hundreds of years. Cutting, drying, beating the stocks against a box to release the kernels, and smashing the kernels to break the husks. All of the local rice is for the farmer’s individual consumption.
Off to Halong Bay for a 2 day cruise.
