Thoughts on Sapa
We have enjoyed our time in Sapa but it is like nowhere we have ever been before. On the one hand there are many people coming to trek and and experience the outdoor activities and soak in the culture and on the other hand you have the thousands of Vietnamese tourists who travel up for the weekend from Hanoi and Chinese visitors, most of whom have no interest in trekking but wander around the town in large groups shouting at each other (they don’t seem to be able to have a normal low decibel conversation) and taking selfies.
There are hundreds of hotels and guest houses and more being built, also hundreds of restaurants catering for Vietnamese and western appetites. Pizza is very popular here. We feel that we should have visited about 20 years ago before mass tourism arrived.
Local tribes women wander the streets selling scarves and bags, more unsettling are the amount of very small children doing the same and some even carrying babies on their back! These beautiful little children dressed in their local costumes are being exploited as they are sent to play on the sympathy of tourists it made us feel uncomfortable. There are official warning signs for visitors not to buy from the street venders.
The weather is very temperamental, veering from low cloud with poor visibility to sunshine and then also torrential rain. We have been lucky and the day we went trekking with a local guide it was a glorious day. Mi our guide was very informative and spoke great English she learnt from tourists.
She told us how most local girls get married at 15 or 16 and as in some other cultures the eldest son stays living with his wife at his parents house when married. Tough luck if you marry the eldest son! She explained that a lot of the men are lazy and sit at home smoking and drinking beer while the wife goes out to work. Life expectancy amongst the tribes is quite low 60-65 that could be due to lack of decent medical facilities. Education seems quite rudimentary and the distances from the villages to the schools are vast the children (that go to school) who all speak their local tribal language learn Vietnamese at school.
Well that’s all from Sapa, we are back on the overnight train to Hanoi tonight and then flying south tomorrow to soak up some more sun.
There are hundreds of hotels and guest houses and more being built, also hundreds of restaurants catering for Vietnamese and western appetites. Pizza is very popular here. We feel that we should have visited about 20 years ago before mass tourism arrived.
Local tribes women wander the streets selling scarves and bags, more unsettling are the amount of very small children doing the same and some even carrying babies on their back! These beautiful little children dressed in their local costumes are being exploited as they are sent to play on the sympathy of tourists it made us feel uncomfortable. There are official warning signs for visitors not to buy from the street venders.
The weather is very temperamental, veering from low cloud with poor visibility to sunshine and then also torrential rain. We have been lucky and the day we went trekking with a local guide it was a glorious day. Mi our guide was very informative and spoke great English she learnt from tourists.
She told us how most local girls get married at 15 or 16 and as in some other cultures the eldest son stays living with his wife at his parents house when married. Tough luck if you marry the eldest son! She explained that a lot of the men are lazy and sit at home smoking and drinking beer while the wife goes out to work. Life expectancy amongst the tribes is quite low 60-65 that could be due to lack of decent medical facilities. Education seems quite rudimentary and the distances from the villages to the schools are vast the children (that go to school) who all speak their local tribal language learn Vietnamese at school.
Well that’s all from Sapa, we are back on the overnight train to Hanoi tonight and then flying south tomorrow to soak up some more sun.
Great picture
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