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    Sapa. A place trapped in time.

    Photos from Vietnam

    There are [5] photos from Vietnam

    The local Hmong people are superstitious and believe that the spirits have a part in affecting ones health. I was fortunate to witness a shaman ritual called a ua neeb kho in a local home to thank the spirits for returning the health to the father of the home who had recently recovered from illness. The ritual involved a variety of offerings, hypnotic chanting, a chicken sacrifice and the shaman entering a state of trance, where in that period it was forbidden for anybody to move around in between the shaman and the altar which is a permanent fixture in most homes. Views[167] The women in Sapa do most of the heavy lifting whilst the men aren’t as motivated to work, thus leading to the higher divorce rates. If they’re not in the fields, they are walking many miles into the Sapa village to sell locally made handicrafts to tourists and in between, somehow managing to feed the family. Views[180] Sua is 17 years old, has been married for a year and like most villages in Sapa, have not ventured beyond Lao Cai, about an hours drive from Sapa. She lives with her in-laws, a cat and a pregnant dog in a moderately sized wooden home. It’s common for the local people to enter arranged marriages at a very young age. When I asked her if she cried at her wedding like I previously witnessed and she responded with a yes, but they weren’t from tears of joy. With so many locals now being exposed to western culture and values, it’s not uncommon for them to divorce their husbands not long after marriage. It is unfortunate though that once divorced, the women are considered as outcasts amongst the village. Views[313] Many children in Sapa drop out of school at a very young age to either work in farms or sell handicrafts to support the family. Volunteers from around the world come to work with organisations such as Sapa O’Chau who fully fund a school, teaching english to ethnic minority children who have dropped out of school. The primary goal is to teach them to a level of proficiency where the organisation can assist them with work placement mainly in tourism as a guide or hospitality sector. Views[190] I was fortunate to spend three weeks in Sapa, Vietnam. Of the 52 ethnic groups that live in Vietnam, eight of them are located in Sapa and the surrounding area. On my second day there, I was invited to a traditional wedding reception for one of the young women that works as a tour guide - she was only 16 years old. It is customary for the father of the bride to thanks the guests for attending and drink a round of home made rice wine at each table. As the father had passed away, it was now the responsibility of the mother to greet the guests. There must have been at twenty table that she had to thank. Views[293]
     

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