Sapa ….trek with Sapa Sisters & Overnight at Zoa’s Homestay

November 20th

The day dawns grey and foggy, we pound back breakfast, stow our luggage at the hotel and with our overnight packs head out to the Sapa Sisters Trekking Adventures office ….

….where we meet our guide. Interestingly, this is the only female and Hmong-owned trekking company in Sapa and in their own words “We’re Hmong trekking guides from Mung Hoa Valley, near the town Sapa. We grew up in these mountains and know the trails inside out. Our work is to guide people around this beautiful landscape and give them a good time. We prefer working independently and we’re very experienced when it comes to guiding people. All of us speak English.”

The first order of business once we have been introduced to Lan is to discuss our trek: where, how long, difficulty etc. ……we decide on the hard version. We set off in a light drizzle and find ourselves near our hotel when Lan says we need to start climbing up an embankment…..more goat trail than a trail, with very slippery conditions underfoot…..we each fall once or twice.

Continuing on we climb higher and hope to break through the fog, but it is persistent though the drizzle has stopped….

…after about an hour we start descending a ravine and it turns into a gong show, as we join other trekkers in slithering down the wet red clay …..even with the helping hands of Lan and her “assistants” > more on that later, we each fall a few more times, before reaching the bottom.

The trail improves and we intersect with the main road….the next kilometre is like a walk through Dante’s inferno: mud pools, gaping holes, excavators, diesel fog and burning trash fires….another day in paradise. We stop at another trail intersection and confer agreeing to change the game plan to follow a medium-hard trail, otherwise, we will be faced with incredibly slippery conditions and with no let up in the fog, there will be no reward for our efforts view-wise.

This is a good decision as even with this altered plan there are some treacherous sections but visibility improves as do our spirits. We are now on a cart track going through some Hmong hamlets in the Mung Hoa Valley. There is not much waste here as virtually every inch of arable land seems to be planted. Crossing the river we reach a village above which we will have lunch at one of Lan’s extended family….keep in mind she has dozens if not hundreds of cousins

….about these helpers: these are local ladies often older who after completing their morning chores place themselves strategically where trekkers will be coming and then latch on, they have a very limited English vocabulary but are friendly and try to help you through the nasty, muddy sections. Of course, this is not a charitable action but intended to have you bond with them and do your “shopping” with them….the baskets on their backs are full of “handicrafts”. In our case when we were close to our lunch spot…they ramped up the sales pitch to dissuade us from buying from the village salesladies or shops. They were very helpful and after all, they did walk about 8 kilometres with us…..so we purchased a few trinkets (bargaining is in order as they of course set the price point rather high) but all was sorted out > they got some Dongs and we are now 2 purses richer.

Passing through the village we stopped in a handicraft shop and Lan demonstrated the use of a hand-powered flour grinder (still in use in some homes/villages) and a water-driven rice husker now largely replaced by machines.

 

After about a 20-minute climb we reached our lunch spot high above the village which was served al fresco in the courtyard,  5 dishes: pork/chicken/mushrooms and several greens with rice > very tasty…..here the “kitchen” is separate from the main house and lunch was cooked over an open fire in the kitchen…the key is not to get too stressed about hygiene !!

Before we got too relaxed it was time to hit the trail….btw those chairs/stools you see in the pics are sized for locals….so one feels like a “giganticus” when sitting on them!!

Re-energized we set off with vigor going up/down the slope of the valley but staying well above the valley floor so we could still get good views whilst staying on decent paths some even made of concrete, passing through hamlets and at times even people’s homesites..

Lan knows everyone so there is a fair bit of chatter as we saunter along. She often stops to point out and explain things like plants, land ownership, and the art of dyeing hemp. As she walks she “hand spins” raw hemp into a continuous length…

…and also shared a lot about her life: she has 4 children, learned English from tourists, has been guiding for 10 years, when she gave birth to her last child she guided a trip that very day…she feels emancipated and seems to be the main wage earner in the family > her husband tends the family farm and she does not wear traditional garb as she feels she has the right to make her own choices…..an interesting, intrepid woman.

Reaching Ta Van Village there are several homestays here but ours is outside of the village so we are faced with our final climb of the day…

….by 15:00 we arrive at Zao’s House with some 15 kilometers completed. Built in 2018 it is partially owned and run by Zao and her husband. It is a step up from the “normal” homestay with hot water showers and both a dormitory and 3 private rooms (…. yes we went for the private room) housing about 15 visitors and their complement of guides. Everyone is muddy and boots are left outside with slippers issued to everyone. Some pics of the inside…

There is a deck where you can enjoy some well-earned brewskies and look over the valley below…..sadly no distant views of the valley and mountains nor sunset…

It is a full house and with fire roaring and beers being consumed, lively conversations breakout as dinner is served family style, our fellow travellers are from Italy, the U.S., and the U.K. Once again we take the “oldest” traveler award, haha. Dinner is a hearty meal with pork, chicken legumes and spring rolls all very tasty and I must say I certainly ate my fill…

 

The hostess comes around distributing shot glasses to everyone, filling them to the brim with “happy water” and leads us in a Hmong toast leaving the bottle (which looked suspiciously like homemade hooch) for those interested in 2nd or 3rd shots….well, I couldn’t let down the elders and stayed with the young guns. By 21:00 everyone calls it a day as tomorrow will be a full trekking day.

November 21st

We had a reasonable night’s sleep but once again we are not so lucky with the weather as it is overcast and foggy, but no rain, so that’s a plus. Nice breakfast crepes with bananas. Gather up our gear and by 9:00 we are keen to be on our way…

 

The plan is to take some mid-hard paths….lots of up and down but with a minimum of slippery descents.

The paths are a little drier today and we make good progress passing through rice terraces, fields of corn and truck vegetables over some bridges while passing people as they go about their daily routines….

 

Houses are often built communally and for those interested in post & beam techniques they seem to be doing an excellent job……although I’m not so sure there is a “safety first” mindset:

 

We head up and through a bamboo forest before making one more slippery descent as we head toward the river and the end of our trek…

 

After crossing the river we take a bit of a circular route affording great views of the ridges we have just traversed…

…then onwards to lunch at a small resto. Fried rice or fried noodles with chicken or pork are the choices and as usual, it is tasty. More of our “friends” from the homestay arrive and Lan having had a tete-a-tete with some of the other sisters, comes over to brag that we were faster than most of the younger set, one for the good guys!

After lunch a short walk to the main road where a taxi awaits and we head back to Sapa on a seriously crappy road, no chance for a pic as we were being violently thrown side to side and up and down…the road is to be finished this year…in your dreams. By 14:00 we arrive back in Sapa and bid farewell to Lan. Yours truly washes our boots while Annie checks us in at My Boutique Hotel  >>>> time for a nice bath/shower and some refreshments.

It has been a good experience, the first couple of hours sucked, but all is well that ends. If the weather would have been better it would have been super, but that’s the mountains for you. Also, it probably makes sense to come here in July > rice terraces are a vibrant green, or, in August > golden yellow, harvest time.

Dinner at Yummy and although the resto owner sounded like a used car salesman it was yummy and the heater…. well, it heated the general area…

an early night ….tomorrow an early start as we head back to Hanoi.