Monthly Archives: May 2012

Local Kids

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As we continued our descend to the valley on the way to the villages near Sapa, Vietnam, we reached an area where there was a logjam of many hikers with their guide and local women entourage trying to go through a narrow and steep descending path. It was getting uncomfortable stopping and waiting on the incline, though finally there was a flat area with a couple of houses where we could take a break before continuing the descent.

At this area, there was a local lady opening up a little shop selling souvenirs and handicrafts. She also had some bottled and canned drinks — a welcome sight for many of the hikers who by then had gone through at least about an hour or two into their trek. No one from my group went for those, however. We just stayed there for few minutes waiting for the group in front of us to walk through the path. While waiting, I noticed a group of several local kids, mostly under five years old, hanging out and sitting near the souvenir stand. I guess the kids came there with their mothers who were selling souvenirs, or they probably live nearby? In any case, it was interesting to see these little kids at a spot in the middle of a steep trail between the main road to Sapa and the village in the valley. I wondered how they got there… either they came with their parents, or somehow they made it there on their own through the rough terrain that made us the visitors who came with our fancy hiking gears looked like rookies when it comes to navigating through there. I also wondered what these kids think of the strange-looking people going through their ‘neighborhood’ every day; I suppose they’re used to seeing foreign tourists after a while.

The photo below was taken while we’re waiting in that area and when I observed these local kids hanging around there watching the tourist traffic passing by.

Local kids

Trekking Path

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Sometimes when you go on a trip what you had in mind when planning for it and what you actually experience could be very different. When we planned for the trek to the villages around Sapa, Vietnam, the picture I had in mind was what I saw on photos and on a Travel Channel program about going there: mountains, and green, terraced rice fields with farmers and their buffaloes plowing the field. Well, during our trek to Lao Chai and Tavan villages, we did see those, but the path and the experience was nothing like what I imagined in my mind.

First off, we came during the winter time, so during that time of the year apparently it rains a lot in the area, and there are many days where visibility was close to zero due to thick fog. That’s definitely not the picture I had in mind especially when coming there with photography as one of my objectives. During our hike, it drizzled a little but there were residues of the previous day’s rain, so you have puddles and muddy stretches on the path everywhere. 5-10 minutes into the trek, we pretty much didn’t care anymore about getting our shoes and pants dirty with mud.

It wasn’t completely foggy, but it was definitely cloudy and the fog was there in some areas. So the photos I got were not washed out due to harsh lighting, but at the same time it had the sense of cool, mysterious, place.

At one stretch of the hike we finally saw the terraced rice fields, but they were so far down in the valley that the view was more like a bird’s eye view of the area. And since it was winter time, the fields were mostly brown (not green) as it’s not close to harvest time.

As I mentioned in the previous post, we were also accompanied by an ‘entourage’ of local women who tried to sell their handicrafts to us. Also, since we went through a pretty popular trekking route, there were areas where we ended up in a long traffic as there were other groups of hikers in front of and behind us (with their own set of ‘entourage’).

All in all, it was very different than what I had in mind, but it was interesting experience nevertheless.

The photo below was taken during such ‘log jam’; you can see the people in front of us going down the path to the bottom of the valley. From the clothings, you could tell the difference between the tourists and the local ‘entourage.’

Trekking path

May

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As we continued our trek to the villages in the valley near Sapa, Vietnam, we walked through a portion of the trek that looked like a dirt road that was in the middle of construction. Our tour guide May said that this was the new route to the village that the Vietnamese government is building, hopefully providing easier access to the remote mountainous villages.

As we walked there, a man on a motorbike came from behind, and when May saw him coming, she smiled and starting chatting a little bit with the bike rider before he continued on his ride and left us. Then May told us that the bike rider was her husband — he works as a motorcycle driver who shuttles people between the town of Sapa and the surrounding villages.

During our trek, May told us about the culture within the minority groups in Sapa, including her own tribe, the H’mong. She told us the story of her own life experience as a H’mong girl who ended up marrying a Vietnamese man and now working as a tour guide. She said the culture was still quite strong within the community.

She was then 23 years old, but she had quite a life story already. When she was 18, a young man in her village wanted to ask her hand in marriage, and since he came from wealthier family than hers, her parents wouldn’t object to that request. In the H’mong culture, in fact typically marriages were traditionally arranged by the parents, and the girls didn’t have much say in the matter. In May’s case, however, it was different. She didn’t want to be married to this young man, so she decided to run away and leave her family and village. Somehow she figured out a way to make a living, met her husband, got married, and then returned back to Sapa area. She faced several oppositions as she came back. The local girls whom she knew when she was young didn’t want to associate with her anymore because of what she did (running away from the village) and because she’s working as a tour guide, which meant she’s making more money than her peers. Her own family was slowly warming up to accept her back, though it was still difficult situation due to the hurt feelings. Since she married a Vietnamese, her husband’s family also at times looked down on her given that she’s from a minority tribe. Then she had a young baby girl, two years of age, who during the week stayed with her in-laws in Lao Cai. She and her husband got to see their daughter during the weekend.

Despite of all of those hardships, it was pretty neat to hear her talking about her life experience without any regrets or any ill feelings towards others. And she sounded very optimistic, and still looked forward towards the future with some potential side business ideas that she wants to pursue. It was quite impressive to hear her story, and I think it provided us with a good perspective of what it’s like to live within a minority group in the increasingly diverse world that is looking for more cultural integration.

I took the portrait photo of May below as we walked through our trek. I think this was a good snapshot that summarized her attitude, always optimistic, and full of smile.

May

Great Husband

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As we went down through the muddy and steep path towards the villages outside Sapa, Vietnam, our guide May led the way and stopped frequently to let the group catch up with her and ensure we’re okay during the hike down. We’re not used to going through this path, so it took us a bit longer than her or the local ladies that walked with us.

Dave and Anna were walking in front of me. Dave went first to follow the foot steps of May, then he stopped and helped his wife Anna to walk through the same steps. May and the local ladies observed this, and they seemed to be very impressed with what Dave did. At one point, May said, ‘Dave, you’re a great husband. Vietnamese men don’t do that to their wives.’

I thought that was interesting to notice how different cultures treat the interaction between man and woman differently. In the western culture, there is the idea of courtesy and being a gentleman where as a good manner men are supposed to let women to go first, open the door for them, or help them going through difficult path like what Dave did. It’s especially emphasized when you’re with someone you care about (your significant other, family, friends, etc.) or simply just as an etiquette. I think one should extend this behavior to beyond the people you care about, and treat others — even strangers — with respect as well. It’s a breath of fresh air to see that kind of behavior in a culture that sadly is going towards a more selfish one, and where people do such acts of courtesy as something done potentially to getting something back in return in mind.

In Vietnam, similar to some other Asian cultures, the idea of courtesy is there, but typically it’s towards the elderly or those with higher rank. It’s not so much taught or practiced when you have someone else at the same age. When Kristi and I were in Hanoi, we actually experienced an example of ‘no courtesy.’ We were waiting in line to get tickets to enter the Ho Chi Minh Museum, where a couple of times we had others (Vietnamese) cut in front of us even though they saw we were waiting in line. One of them even looked at us and smiled before leaving. With regards to man and woman, typically the man is the head of the house and the woman is expected to follow, obey, and serve. It sounds bad, but I’m sure there are many men who love their wives and would do anything for them. But it’s just not a familiar idea I suppose to have the men yielding to the women or helping them in day-to-day activities.

Having lived in both cultures, in the end I think again the idea of being courteous and respecting others go beyond just towards the women or towards the people we care or respect. I think in daily lives, it’s always important to respect others, regardless of gender, age, national origin, titles, or any other cultural division among people. And this goes to any situation and anywhere you go.

I captured the moment below as Dave was helping Anna to step through the muddy path going down to the valley. May was trotting through the path like a ‘mountain goat’ in the front, and on the side you can see a couple of the local ladies watching Dave helping Anna.

Courtesy

Mountain Goat

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As we were about to start our hike down the valley to the villages outside Sapa, Vietnam, our guide May told us to be careful and take our time during the hike down. She said, ‘The ladies here and I grew up here, so we are used to taking this path. We’re like mountain goats — we can jump around and go down the path pretty easily. A lot of the foreign visitors are not used to that, so be careful and take your time, we don’t want any accident to happen.’ After she said that, I looked down the path we’re about to take. It started with a muddy, narrow path, but quickly becoming more challenging as it started sloping down.

I looked at my fellow travelers. I don’t think any of us were expecting this, but we thought we’ve gone this far, and if these local ladies could take this path (even with basket full of handicrafts on their back), we surely should be able to follow them. We all wore hiking boots, compared to May who wore a pair of canvas shoes that looked like Converse shoes and some other local ladies wearing rubber boots. But quickly I realized that it’s not about the equipment that would help you go through this terrain, it’s more the experience of going through it, knowing where to step that’s safe. May gave Kristi a long stick that she said could be helpful as we hiked down. Dave helped his wife Anna as they followed May’s footsteps. I spent the next few minutes doing the same thing, keeping my eyes looking down and following exactly where May, Dave, and Anna went.

Looking back, I thought it was interesting to compare this path to the hiking trails that occasionally I went through at the Shenandoah National Park near where I live in the United States. At Shenandoah, even the so called ‘strenuous’ hiking trails are typically well maintained, with signage, and even in many places well-placed stepping stones or rails to help the hikers to go through the terrain. In Sapa, the path seemed to be one that probably started as an animal path, or one that someone discovered as a good route to go between places. No one really spent time to maintain the path. In the US, the trail was mostly for recreational use (well-off country like the United States would have funding to preserve lands as National Parks). In Sapa, this was a path that’s used by the locals on daily basis as they go from their village to the town. We as tourists were doing this trek for fun. The locals take this trek as part of their day-to-day life.

On the photo below you see the beginning of our hiking path. Notice the muddy path, the local girl in front of us with the basket on her back, and what looked like a steep drop in front of her.

Muddy path