Black Hmong Meets A Blackfulla
- niltiac333
- Oct 8, 2022
- 7 min read
Xin chào!
This week was an absolute cracker!
I jumped on a sleeper bus early Tuesday morning and arrived in Sapa early arvo. For those not familiar a sleeper bus is a bus with reclining seats that you can lay down and sleep in if you choose. Me, I like to watch the world go by when bus riding.
I didn't really know what to expect when I got to Sapa. I booked a 3 day tour knowing only that I would be staying and living like a local and working in the famous rice paddies. It was completely different to anything I've ever done before so I was keen.
My guide picked me up from the bus stop and took me to a resturaunt where all the tourists are taken before heading out to the mountains. While browsing the menu I saw a dish simply called Bread, but when I asked what that included they thought I was giving my order and scurried off before I could say anything. I'm glad they did too because it turned out to be very yummy. They brought out half a baguette and a dish of fried egg, fried sausage, fried bits of pork and fried onion sitting in a tomato gravy. It kind of reminded me of the breakfasts my nana used to make (without the tomato gravy and baguette). Then after lunch my guide gave my bag (a small shoulder bag I packed for the 3 days) to her husband and he rode off with it in his scooter. I stood there wondering where my scooter was...
I didn't have a scooter. Instead my guide told me we'd be walking to her mother's house... four hours away... in the mountains!
Yeah nah, I wasn't prepared for that. Thank god I was wearing my hiking boots.
Also wasn't prepared for the little old lady who started walking with us. But she was talking with my guide like old friends so I told myself it was fine. When am I going to start believing my intuition the first time around?
We walked for 2 hours until we reached a large village with a really nice viewing platform overlooking the valley and the little old lady told me since she followed me from Sapa I should buy something from her. I really didn't like hearing that so I refused, and I really dug my heels in. Usually, in the past, I would just buy something small to make the problem go away, but this time I was really quite pissed off. I didn't ask to be followed and I won't be manipulated into buying anything. She wasn't happy with me but I wasn't happy with her either so it evened out.
I guess my mum was right, I am stubborn.
We walked for another hour or so before we stopped because my guide noticed a couple of cows mungin away on the side of the road. They belonged to her mother and they were a long way from home. So she rounded up the cows and we walked them home, not on the nice road we had been walking on but through the forest on a footworn (hoofworn?) path through mud and streams and across a small waterfall and thick forest. By this point I was wondering if this tour was maybe a mistake.
👆🏾 this guy sussing me out
But we got to her mother's house by 6ish and it was literally just a normal village house, not a homestay like I was expecting. The whole place was built by hand by the father, there were seperate rooms for guests so the family had their own space. But we all shared the bathroom which was down in the yard. We ate dinner on the veranda overlooking the gorgeous mountainside, which is also where a tank was set up so dishes and clothes could be washed in a big red tub. There were dogs and chickens and little chickies all over the place. It kind of reminded me of 5 Mile, a community 5 milles out of Roebourne that was built by my uncle (possibly uncles, I'm not sure). I had absolutely no way of contacting the outside world here and not gonna lie, that did send a shiver of anxiety through me. What if I get bit by a snake? What if I break my leg trekking up and down the rice paddies?
But then I figured these mob (the Black Hmong) have been living like this for yonks and they had phone coverage, so it should be fine.
And you know what, it was bloody fantastic!
That first night I fell asleep early because I was rooted and I slept like the dead. Best sleep ever!! It's cold in the mountains so the blanket I had was really thick and heavy and it felt so comforting, like the blanket was hugging me.
The next morning I got up with the roosters feeling really refreshed and sat on the veranda just watching the rest of the world wake up too. You know I totally forgot how to do that. I remember a time when I used to wake up early and make a cuppa and sit outside on the veranda just enjoying the morning. Taking my sweet time. I completely forgot about that until literally writing this post. I need to start doing that again. I'm always in a rush. To go to work. To clean the house. To get things done.
But the morning wasn't completely peaceful. There was a lot of family running around, including a few grannies (grandkids) and just like with Blackfullas the really little ones were bare arsed. This means I got to see a little girl take a sloppy poo on the veranda just a couple metres away from me and while her mum picked her up and carried her away one of the dogs walked over and licked it all up like it was ice cream... I'm pretty glad brekkie was still a while away.
Anyways, once I had had brekkie and a really nice Vietnamese black coffee (no sugar) I grabbed a bottle of water and me and The Bont headed off with our guide.
We did a hell of a trek that day! Walked all up and down that countryside.
If I had visited a month early I could've helped harvest the rice, but I wasn't a month early, so all the rice was harvested leaving the fields quite bare and brown looking. Still beautiful, but not lush and green like in the photos.
We walked through several villages, over a dam and got to a popular waterfall in time for lunch. It was at this waterfall I came across a tiny bent back woman probably as old as the mountains I'd been trekking. She shoved some Hmong purses at me. I tried to tell her no but she wasn't having any of that nonsese, so she picked out one of her handmade bracelets and shoved it into my hand. I just loved the whole interaction so much I bought it.
Fair warning though, if you are ever going to visit Sapa or the rice paddies or villages be prepared for the Hmong women selling stuff. They are next level!
I was sitting on my own waiting for my lunch and two came over to try their luck, nek minute I'm surrouned on all sides by 6 or 7 of them all trying to sell me something and none of them taking no for an answer. I actually got so overwhelmed I called out for my guide to help me but she couldn't give two shits. They did leave me alone once my lunch arrived but as soon as I was done they were back! And I was getting pissed off not only because they weren't backing down but because I was the only person getting harrassed. And one of them had a hat I really liked but I refused to buy anything because that would only encourage the others to try harder. Eventually I grabbed my bag and ran to the next table for refuge. Ended up yarning with a really nice Spanish couple.
On the way home I went for a splash in another waterfall that was empty but for a woman doing washing. Once I got back home I met a Pommy couple who had just arrived and who I spent my last day trekking with.
That was also fun. We came across a baby water buffulo (too cute!), a swing, a stray dog that joined our trek from one village to the next, the biggest leach I've ever seen and some more sales ladies. This time I did buy a scarf because I wanted a traditional, handmade Hmong something. No regrets.
Then I jumped on a bike back to Sapa and another sleeper bus back to Hanoi. This bus was nicer than the first, it had actual little cabins so I had lots of space and privacy.
And once I got back to Hanoi I caught a Grab bike back to my friend's place.
If you are ever coming to Vietnam defs go to the mountains! And stay with a Hmong family. I bloody loved my time with them. They were so nice and the food was so yummy (how do they make perfect crepes every time?) and when we arrived in the last village the guide's daughter had just been initiated and all the women were dressed in their beautiful traditional garments celebrating and sharing rice wine. They even shared some with us. Now, the way you have to do it is someone pours you a glass and you knock it back, then you take the bottle (ours was an old 7-Up bottle) and pour for the next person, and so and so on. When the last of our group had his shot he had to go and find someone else to pour for, luckily everyone was welcoming. I could've stayed for another.
And if you do come here make sure you download the Grab app because not only is it way more reliable than Uber (not that Uber exists here) but the only way to get around (at least the only fun way) is on the back of a bike.
*Just want to add that the Hmong handmade all their traditional clothes. They use hemp, weaving it into cloth, then create the colours themselves using various plants/flowers. The process of creating colourful dye takes months, not to mention growing, harvesting and weaving hemp. The goods they make are literally made from scratch and takes a lot of skill and effort! Impressed!!
So awesome, glad your enjoying yourself xxx