It's Friday in Sapa and we are heading to a Festival in a village with a population of 3000. Two tribes live here in harmony; the Black H'mong and the Red Dzao. Sai met us at the hotel in a spectacular outfit reserved for big parties. I need to get one of those hats!!
The route to the village is narrow with a very steep grade and lots of twists and turns. I manage, yet again, to get in on the side with the precipitous drop. That Ken is a sly one. We have a different driver and a bigger vehicle today but he's also in a hurry and much to Ken's horror he spends most of his time on the wrong side of the road and passes every vehicle we come across. We meet lots of H'mong from other villages, including Sai's, on our way and they are dressed in their best shiny black indigo. Sai is going to make a big splash at the festival in her colourful ensemble.
The village is nestled in a valley with hills all around. They grow cabbage, corn and artichokes to sell to restaurants in town rather than rice. We arrive at the town and run the gauntlet of Red Dzao venders. Sai had advised against shopping in the village to avoid being harangued all day. We follow a thirty meter pocked marble road to the festival. It's being held in a field with very uneven ground and terracing so you have to watch your footing.
There is an area for singing and traditional dancing. Groups of young girls from each tribe take turns entertaining the appreciative crowd. A faux Red Dzao wedding dance is also held complete with the "bride" in her huge red hat which is insignificant in comparison to the real thing according to Sai.
A greased bamboo pole that young boys are climbing to grab a bag with candy and money is also a big attraction. Many get close to the top but the grease scuppers the repeated attempts and the crowd laughs uproariously. Finally, one lad makes it to the top and holds up his bag of loot in a victory salute. Some older guys (little boys in men's bodies) also attempt the climb not to get the prize but for fun. One even makes it.
Another attraction is a fenced in area where men are blindfolded, two at a time, and chase a duck around trying to catch it. There are peals of laughter from the crowd as they try to "help" the blindfolded men. The crowd cheers loudly when one hapless participants gets a hold of the duck.
There are also games of strength; a bamboo pole pull where two men face each other to determine who is strongest and a tug of war between two villages. We saw two groupings of three flags; one halfway up a very steep hill and the other at the top. Sai told us that was for foot races. The women ran to the first level and men to the second with cash prizes for the winners. Big ups.
There were other games for the kids and the Grand Finale was throwing lumps of clay at a target atop another bamboo pole. We headed out before that but it was an enjoyable morning. On the way bar to the car there a big wind came out of nowhere and blew apart a ramshackle metal hut that had been built for the festival. A large piece of sheet metal hit a man on a motorcycle and cut him over the eye. After giving him whatever Kleenex we had and making sure he was in good hands, we continued to the car happy that we hadn't left a minute or two earlier because we weren't wearing helmets. On the way back up the hill from the festival to Sapa, we saw a couple on the side of the road that flagged us down. The wife had been in an accident back home in Israel seven months earlier and was finding the ride on the back of the motorcycle excruciating. On our way back to town she told us that they had taken a bus from Hanoi to Sapa that took only five hours!! Crap, we were facing a 10 hour train ride.
Back to town to do some exploring, have lunch and hang around until 5:00 waiting for our drive back to Lao Cai. We decided some pampering was in order so Kenny had an hour-long head, shoulder, leg and foot massage while I opted for another wash and blow dry. The wash was great, the blow dry not so much. We had a beer at a couple of locals, attracting any number of insistent H'mong who weren't to be put off but the fact that I'd already purchased wares the day before in the village. There was a lot of good-natured badgering that drive Ken insane but made me laugh which is likely why they followed me wherever I went.
Soon enough it was time to head out on our one-hour drive which was a bit frightening but I think I was getting used to our driver passing on blind turns on the narrow winding roads. Insanity but they did it every day so you have to think they know what they are doing. We arrived on the uninteresting town and grabbed a bite at a local restaurant while Sai went to get our train tickets. Both Ken and I were trepidatious about the trip as the journey here had been anything but enjoyable.
Soon after we got on the train, an Aussie lady that I'd met in the hotel in Hue, popped by our "room" for a chat followed by her husband. They had done the Camino the year before so we'd traded war stories about the Camino in Hue and compared notes on Sapa tonight, all agreeing that it was a fantastic place but getting there and back on the train sucked.
The train set off more or less on time but soon after I started feeling nauseous. Clearly this was going to be an even better trip than the trip to Sapa! 'Nuff said. We'll be back in our comfy hotel in Hanoi tomorrow so it'll be okay. More tomorrow.
 |
Judy, Sai and Ken |
The route to the village is narrow with a very steep grade and lots of twists and turns. I manage, yet again, to get in on the side with the precipitous drop. That Ken is a sly one. We have a different driver and a bigger vehicle today but he's also in a hurry and much to Ken's horror he spends most of his time on the wrong side of the road and passes every vehicle we come across. We meet lots of H'mong from other villages, including Sai's, on our way and they are dressed in their best shiny black indigo. Sai is going to make a big splash at the festival in her colourful ensemble.  |
| Sai and her sister |
The village is nestled in a valley with hills all around. They grow cabbage, corn and artichokes to sell to restaurants in town rather than rice. We arrive at the town and run the gauntlet of Red Dzao venders. Sai had advised against shopping in the village to avoid being harangued all day. We follow a thirty meter pocked marble road to the festival. It's being held in a field with very uneven ground and terracing so you have to watch your footing.
There is an area for singing and traditional dancing. Groups of young girls from each tribe take turns entertaining the appreciative crowd. A faux Red Dzao wedding dance is also held complete with the "bride" in her huge red hat which is insignificant in comparison to the real thing according to Sai.
 |
| Climbing a greased bamboo pole |
There are also games of strength; a bamboo pole pull where two men face each other to determine who is strongest and a tug of war between two villages. We saw two groupings of three flags; one halfway up a very steep hill and the other at the top. Sai told us that was for foot races. The women ran to the first level and men to the second with cash prizes for the winners. Big ups.
There were other games for the kids and the Grand Finale was throwing lumps of clay at a target atop another bamboo pole. We headed out before that but it was an enjoyable morning. On the way bar to the car there a big wind came out of nowhere and blew apart a ramshackle metal hut that had been built for the festival. A large piece of sheet metal hit a man on a motorcycle and cut him over the eye. After giving him whatever Kleenex we had and making sure he was in good hands, we continued to the car happy that we hadn't left a minute or two earlier because we weren't wearing helmets. On the way back up the hill from the festival to Sapa, we saw a couple on the side of the road that flagged us down. The wife had been in an accident back home in Israel seven months earlier and was finding the ride on the back of the motorcycle excruciating. On our way back to town she told us that they had taken a bus from Hanoi to Sapa that took only five hours!! Crap, we were facing a 10 hour train ride.
Back to town to do some exploring, have lunch and hang around until 5:00 waiting for our drive back to Lao Cai. We decided some pampering was in order so Kenny had an hour-long head, shoulder, leg and foot massage while I opted for another wash and blow dry. The wash was great, the blow dry not so much. We had a beer at a couple of locals, attracting any number of insistent H'mong who weren't to be put off but the fact that I'd already purchased wares the day before in the village. There was a lot of good-natured badgering that drive Ken insane but made me laugh which is likely why they followed me wherever I went.
Soon enough it was time to head out on our one-hour drive which was a bit frightening but I think I was getting used to our driver passing on blind turns on the narrow winding roads. Insanity but they did it every day so you have to think they know what they are doing. We arrived on the uninteresting town and grabbed a bite at a local restaurant while Sai went to get our train tickets. Both Ken and I were trepidatious about the trip as the journey here had been anything but enjoyable.
Soon after we got on the train, an Aussie lady that I'd met in the hotel in Hue, popped by our "room" for a chat followed by her husband. They had done the Camino the year before so we'd traded war stories about the Camino in Hue and compared notes on Sapa tonight, all agreeing that it was a fantastic place but getting there and back on the train sucked.
The train set off more or less on time but soon after I started feeling nauseous. Clearly this was going to be an even better trip than the trip to Sapa! 'Nuff said. We'll be back in our comfy hotel in Hanoi tomorrow so it'll be okay. More tomorrow.
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