Sapa: Day 2 & 3

On our second day in Sapa, we went to a small village where the Red Dzao live. The landscape was very different from Bac Ha. In this village, there is only one harvest a year, so the rice paddies weren't as green as some others we saw. 

Don't you LOVE their hats? I may have bought one...

...for the child I don't have. It was so precious though. 

This woman's house is right behind her. 

One of the women welcomed us into her home and gave us a "tour".

Here is the kitchen. 

The bathroom.

And the living room.

We trekked through the rice paddies.

And tried not to get muddy. Unsuccessful.

Sho and Michael enjoyed seeing the reefer...

...and smelling it!

I made lots of new friends this day...as long as I bought their hand-made trinkets.

After the village, we made our way back to Sapa and walked around the weekend market. 

As you can tell, these women are wearing different outfits than the Red Dzao...they are part of the Black H'mong, and we visited their village the next day. They come into Sapa for the weekend market. 

In the market, and all around Sapa, was snake wine...there is a dead snake in this wine, and in its mouth is a scorpion. We did not partake in drinking any snake wine...it gave me the heeby-jeebies just looking at it.

This is the view from our hotel...isn't the town just beautiful?

At the hotel, this is how they kept the grass cut. I played with the goats everyday...it may have been my favorite part :)

Only the mama goat was tied up...the kids roamed the yard. How sweet!

We decided that having a goat is much easier than a lawn mower, and so much cuter. When we move back, we may just get a goat.

*****

The next morning we were off for another half-day tour before hitting the spa. 

We went to visit the Black H'mong village...can't you tell how different this landscape is from yesterday? Crazy, huh?

I learned alot about farming rice on this trip...It has to be one of the most time and labor intensive ways of life. Next time you eat your fried rice, think about the man with the water buffalo who farmed each grain. Literally.

We visited a school in the village.

The little girls did a dance performance.

And the little boys hung out.

I saw the biggest pig EVER.

And this adorable face. 

As much as I disliked Hanoi, and the people, I loved Sapa and the minority people. I loved the pride they have in their heritage, the sincerity in their voices, and their sweet, sweet nature. The warmed my heart and again, made me think about our many blessings. It was the perfect way to celebrate Easter this year. 

xx,

Lauren