Sapa!

I don't even know where to begin when I think about my trip in Sapa, Vietnam. It was such an incredible few days and something I will never forget. We went there without a plan and had nothing booked but wanted to do a "trekking tour" because that is what Sapa is known for. We walked around town asking different agencies but they were all very expensive. All around there were local girls trying to sell you goods and we found one who was also offering a homestay and trekking tour for about 1/2 price so we decided to go with her the following day. In the afternoon of the day we arrived we rented Moto bikes and explored town. We found this cool waterfall but it was evening so it was so chilly! 

Lunch in Sapa!

Kerjan and I at lunch!

Our Moto adventure to the waterfall, (yes I drove!)

The ladies in Sapa town 

Our guides name was Chu and she trekked all day with her 4 month old baby on her back! She picked us up in the morning and we walked about 7 miles before lunch. Chu spoke very good English and offered to take us to her house for lunch or a local restaurant, so we chose her house. It was crazy to see what a simple life they live and how happy all the girls in tribes were. We played with her kids while she cooked us up a Vietnamese lunch. After we trekked about 3 more miles into her village where we had our homestay. 

Our homestay!

Chu's home

Chu and her 4 month!

I can't even put into words the beauty of these rice fields we saw. I have many pictures but nothing compares to what we actually experienced. Sapa rains more than it has sunshine so we got very lucky with our weather because it was sunny both days! Day 2 was really muddy but we were able to rent boots from our hostel before. 

Our homestay was so cute. It was almost like a cabin in the hills of a mountain. Our homestay family did not speak any English so it was funny trying to communicate with them! They made us a yummy dinner and served us rice wine which was so strong. In the morning Chu came to pick us up and we trekked some more to this beautiful waterfall and then to lunch to end our adventure. I would recommend seeing Sapa to anyone who was going to travel to Vietnam. The people were so nice and to see how they survive on barely anything in the villages was really eye opening. 

Some interesting facts about their culture that we learned:

-They are 6 different tribes in Sapa

-They kill water buffalo for funerals in their village

-They get married around 15-16. When the man wants to propose he presents a water buffalo horn filled with rice wine to the girls father, brother or uncle. If he drinks it they accept the marriage. If he does not then the family does not accept it but the man can "kidnap" the girl and marry her anyways.

-Chu learned English from selling local goods on the streets to tourists at a young age  

-Women earn the money and men stay home with kids or work in rice fields 

-They use the cupping method on the forehead of the kids when they are sick 

-They never leave the village or go outside of Sapa town. Chu said she has never even been to Hanoi (5 hours away) and never will