We took a bus 5 hours out of Hanoi to Sapa in the mountains near the border of China. We had decided that we wanted to see a bit more of rural Vietnam so organised a homestay for 3 days with a Vietnamese family up in a mountain village near Sapa called Ta-Phin.
It's much cooler in the mountains but also rains a lot - not surprising given that we drove through clouds to get up here! Bright green rice paddies cover the mountains in a tiered formation which makes for stunning scenery. Lots of different tribes inhabit the mountains and speak various dialects of which our host, Dat, can speak most of.
We arrived early afternoon while Dat was taking another group hiking so sat upstairs on the balcony reading our books which was quite relaxing. When they all got back Dat took us to the herbal baths which are wooden barrels filled with steaming hot water infused with herbs and are supposed to be good for the body. It was so relaxing especially with the gorgeous view of the mountains.
For dinner Dat and his wife had cooked up a feast which the 6 of us staying in the homestay gobbled up. He then brought out all these different rice wines that he had brewed including snake, artichoke, herbal and opium infused wines. My favourite was the plum one which tasted a bit like sloe gin. He told us that he has 5000 litres of rice wine in barrels and he doesn't sell it, he just gets it out when he has friends or family over and they tend to drink a litre each in an evening (a lot considering it's 40% proof!). He also explained that he had built the house and all the furniture himself - the house is a two-storey wooden cabin, a bit like a ski chalet.
We woke up early for a day of hiking and Dat had made us pancakes for breakfast. We hiked all over the mountains through the rice paddies off the beaten track and saw more of the breathtaking scenery. On the way we stopped at a large rock (which reminded me of pride rock from the Lion King) where Huy, our guide, picked out fresh cucumber from the crops and we sat there eating them. We headed down to a waterfall which we swam under and then sat next to it eating our packed lunch. We hiked up and down the mountains for the rest of the day before returning home for a (freezing cold!) shower.
We had another Vietnamese feast for dinner and ate rice from their family's rice paddy as well as banana flower 'salad' using the banana leaf that Huy had picked on the hike. Dat explained how they grow rice in the paddies and that they plant each rice plant by hand - I couldn't believe it. I found it mindblowing that all those thousands and thousands of rice paddies we saw had been planted by hand - I'll definitely appreciate eating rice now! He also told us that all the rice paddies in the mountains are only grown to feed the families in the mountains, not to sell. They harvest the rice once a year so they have a year's supply of rice for each family.
The next day we had a leisurely morning and headed into Sapa, a town which reminds me of an Alpine ski resort. We wandered round Sapa for most of the day before getting the bus back to Hanoi. However, (another transport mare to add to our long list!) I got locked in the toilet just as the bus arrived. Everyone had got on the bus and Vicky was wondering where I was as I was frantically trying to open the door. She came to find me and eventually I managed to free myself but delayed the bus in the process, a stressful start to the journey!
We had an amazing few days in the mountains and feel very lucky to have experienced all this.
Y x
