Trekking with Sapa Sisters

July 5-7, 2016

The Sapa Sisters are an ethnic minority Hmong trekking group based in the beautiful northern mountainous highlands of Sapa, Vietnam. They are one of the few Hmong businesses that exist in this region – and one that is entirely owned and run by women. This is a significant achievement because Hmong highlanders face much higher levels of poverty and many barriers to accessing capital and business connections. Tourism to the area has provided them with vital new opportunities to earn sustainable incomes, helping their families and communities prosper.

Right from the start the Sapa Sisters were an amazing outfit. They answered all our questions promptly and assisted with booking train tickets. The whole process was efficient and hassle free.

What was to follow, was one of the most eye opening and incredible experiences we have ever had. We spent 3 days and two nights walking with our guide, Pen, and other Hmong women learning about their culture and way of life. We stayed with local families and got to see how they live and cook. We walked along rice paddies, down slippery muddy slopes, on hilltops and in valleys. Around every corner were STUNNING views and scenery.

Balancing on the rice terraces.

A group of women walked with us every day.  Their main objective was to sell us some of their handmade goods such as embroidered purses, pillowcases, headbands, etc. and therefore make some money to support their families.  They had some beautiful things, and we did buy a few pieces over the course of the three days, but it was impossible to buy from everyone we met. As we were travelling with children and the terrain did get quite challenging at some points - especially after the rain, the women and girls travelling with us also helped a great deal with assisting us all - especially the kids down some tricky trails.  Especially Eva - an the second day, one of the girls piggy backed her down some especially muddy, slippery and steep terrain, where we were all sliding down and falling (noone was spared, we were all streaked with mud, but it added to the fun and sense of adventure...right?!)  It was actually fascinating to see these girls and women walking through the mud in these plastic flipflops and never losing their footing.  Caked with mud, they would dip their shoes in feet in streams and be clean...just like that.  Us tourists, wearing running shoes, did not have it so easy...

Beautiful heart one of the women made for Eva.

Learning about indigo. This plant is grown in Sapa and is used as a dye for the handwoven hemp fabrics produced by the women.

Some of the girls walking with us and selling their goods were as young as 13 years old.  They carried their things in baskets on their backs and were dressed in traditional Hmong clothing.  Each of the tribes in Sapa has a very distinct style of dress that varies not only in design, but also in colour.

Admiring the rice fields.

We had a beautiful day on our first day.  

The rice terraces are the most beautiful shades of green I have ever seen.

We walked through several villages.

Eva with Pen (holding the black sunbrella) and two other girls.

Stop for lunch at a restaurant in the valley overlooking the river.

Stepan loves to chat, and as soon as he started talking to these girls, they became determined to make a sale...it was so amusing to watch their back and forth banter.  Their English is phenomenal.  We asked Pen how they learn English, and she informed us that they learn from tourists. So just from conversations on their walks and interactions with visitors.  I am so impressed by the level of English that they are able to acquire.  They are fluent.  Oh, and they did make a sale, as Stepan bought Veronika and Eva some beautiful embroidered headbands.

An animal made by one of the women from a fern while on our morning trek.

Traditional costumes and handicrafts sold in the Hmong village. 

We stopped in the village to learn about the process of making hemp thread.

This is a machine, powered by the flow of the river.  As the water flows it raises the arm and pounds the rice. If I remember correctly, it was to separate the rice grain from the husk.

Beautiful dyed and embroidered skirts and cloths.  This Hmong woman is weaving the hemp thread into fabric.

This is a man powered mill, used to grind the rice into flour.  The kids had a chance to try it, and it was not an easy task to work.

First night at our homestay.  It was much cooler at nights so the warm blankets were comfy and appreciated.

Eva, helping cook dinner in the kitchen.  Dinner was cooked over a fire. Very basic, but many houses did have electricity and wifi.

Chilling with our new friends and trekmates Jasper and Femke from the Netherlands, and Alex, Suzie, and Ruth from England.

Eva loving the warmth of the kitchen.

Day 2 was a little wet and a very muddy in sections...but this added to the adventure and fun!

The slippery slopes...we all ended up on our butts on more than one occasion - covered in mud.  In some sections the terrain was so slippery,muddy and tricky that the women walking with us would point out where to place our feet at each step.  This is one of the sections that Eva was carried down by a Hmong girl.  They were the youngest of the group and the fastest...our leaders.  Some of the Hmong children were actually so business savvy, that they were selling large bamboo walking sticks at the top of the first hill of the days trek, because they knew that anyone who didn't have a stick would be helpless and useless on the climb down.  I bought one for me and one for Stepan, and I'm pretty sure they sold out in the next 10 minutes...the kids also had sticks, they had them from the day before, so they were set.

Climbing up through the bamboo forest.

As an important resource and building material, the bamboo forests of the region are carefully managed by the tribes of Sapa.  

Yes, we are climbing all the way down to the trail you can see down the hill in the photo.

Lunch time!  We are starving, and the lunch was delish,  Chicken and beans and rice and bamboo shoots and morning glory.  So good and so healthy.

We continued to trek and the rain would come and go.

We decided to walk the second part of the day on the road, as the rain would make the trails even more muddy, and we were pretty worn out from the tricky terrain of the morning.  The road meant easier travel, but no shortcuts!  We met quite a few boys and men herding water buffalo.  These animals are used by the tribes of Sapa to work the rice terraces. In this terrain it is not possible to use any machinery, so the centuries old method of working the rice terraces with water buffalo is still used today.

Absolutely stunning views around every corner.

Day two had us covering about 15 km.  As the weather deteriorated a bit and Eva's waterlogged shoes started producing blisters, we were lucky that our guide's husband drove by on a motorbike with his daughter.  They were headed to the homestay where we were going, and so they offered to give Eva a ride, as we still had about a 5 km walk ahead of us.  A little apprehensive, I put her on the bike, and watched her drive off with no helmet, with someone I didn't know, going to a place I was not familiar with...It was a little scary watching her drive off, but I knew she would be much happier in a dry and warm place, where she could relax and wait for us.  About 20 minutes later, our guide got a phone call confirming they had arrived safely, so I could relax for the rest of the trek that day.

The kids asking...how much farther...the answer...were going down there, all the way down...can you see the white house???

This is where we found Eva when we arrived.  In the kitchen by the fire. Lucky girl.

There was a cute puppy at our second homestay.  The kids could not get enough of him.

Day 3: Trekking up, up, up to a little village.

All the school buildings in Sapa are yellow.  Very often you can see and recognize them far in the distance.  Up close this school had some really cute pictures painted on it.  It was made up of 2 simple classrooms.

One of my favorite pictures from the trek.

Making our way back down to the village for lunch, in awe of the scenery and taking pictures, David decided we were too slow and just kept walking back.   He did not mention this to anyone, so day 3 became the day we lost David in Sapa.  Pen walked frantically on trails we hadn't taken, I just waited at the road, and Stepan went ahead to see if David had started making his way back.    Stepan ended up finding him almost in the valley...either he had stepped on the gas or we had been REALLY slow.  The message of the day was, not matter how slow we are, we all stick together, and if you decide to go off, you have to TELL somebody.

Mango tree in the village.  The villages in the valleys are able to grow many fruits (even tropical), but the villages at higher altitudes have a much cooler climate and as a result totally different growing seasons and crops.

In the town of Sapa there are many interesting shops mostly with crafts and good that are produced in the area.  Here there was a beautiful display of traditional clothing.

Checking out the pig roasting while we wait for our bus back to Loa Cai.

The circled villages are the ones we visited on our trek.  I think we walked close to 30 km on this 3 day trek.  We walked for 3 days and then were driven back in a van, so it was not an out and back or a loop.  It was such an interesting glimpse into life in this region, which is so totally different from that of other Vietnamese regions.  The three days we spent in Sapa really were an experience of a lifetime.