Vietnam - A cultural feast between East and West
I envisioned hiking to remote villages to find mountain hill tribes; people
living in indigenous villages, untouched by outside influences.
Instead, as we pulled into Sapa, in the northern part of Vietnam, a group of
Black Hmong women gathered on the side of the road as our shuttle pulled into
the center of town. A welcoming committee, perhaps?
As the van came to a stop, my jaw dropped as the entire group charged at our
vehicle screaming "You buy from me!"
This was not the authentic Vietnamese experience I had in mind.
Returning to Southeast Asia was a dream of mine since my last trip to Cambodia,
Thailand and Malaysia eight years ago. So when the time finally came for my
boyfriend and I to head out for a three-week romp around Vietnam, Thailand and
Indonesia this past September, I went with a backpack full of expectations,
hoping to get off the beaten path and discover the "authentic" cultures of
Southeast Asia.
Expectations and reality are hardly ever one in the same, as I was soon
reminded. As a tourist, I had as much to do with the cultural changes taking
place in the places I visited as the people who live there. The fact is that
with tourism spreading rapidly throughout Third World countries, "off the beaten
path" is now the most-sought after destination.
East meets West:
We began our trip with two days in Hanoi, a city well known for its organized
chaos. Hanoi is a perfect blend of Eastern mystery and Western old world charm
dating back to the early French colonialists.
The narrow streets were choked with a million scooters driving alongside
street-hawkers selling their wares. All the while, the constant smell of
delicious Vietnamese food wafted out from the thousands of restaurants and
sidewalk food stands. Vietnamese women wearing traditional woven cone hats sold
everything from T-shirts and balloons to exotic fruits and chickens (both living
and dead) from their yoke-slung baskets. Spend a morning sipping Vietnamese
coffee and eating tiramisu at a cafe on the banks of Hoan Kiem Lake and watch
the world go by and you could be in an Asian-style Paris.
To dive into Hanoi's culture headfirst is to master the art of crossing the road
and bartering. It's also a commitment to eating anything and everything cooked
on the street, in spite of any Western health warnings. So this is what we did.
In a city where traffic lights mean nothing and the only road rule seems to be
to keep moving, we began our road-crossing lesson by subtly tagging along with
locals as they crossed. The key is to cross slowly and steadily and trust that
the one million scooters, cyclists, cars and other pedestrians that share the
road will flow around you -- a belief that contradicts all western road-crossing
training.
The art of bartering was our next cultural lesson and my boyfriend approached it
with game and gusto while I, recognizing his strength and my relative weakness,
timidly left all negotiations to him. He proved his mastery after intense,
extensive negotiations for a .25 cent Zippo lighter. Eventually, the sales
person shoved the lighter in his hands, refused his money and said "go away."
While haggling was his fortay, eating was my greatest strength. I attacked the
street cuisine, inhaling delicious pho noodle soups, rich French pastries and
baguettes, and any street-side delicacy set in front of me. I was never
disappointed. Hanoi proved to be a foodies paradise, not just for the amazing
flavors, but for the whole experience. Eating on the street is a must as, for
one, it is usually the cheapest option and two, it will give you the most
authentic Vietnamese food experience.
Our last day in Hanoi, we were enticed away from shopping to a street cafe where
we were the only non-Asian diners. We sat on plastic child-sized chairs and
watched as eight small dishes of food, some recognizable, most not, were
immediately placed in front of us in dim sum style. Delicious! Next to us a
family of servers/cooks rushed around, dishing up trays of food for our fellow
enthusiastic diners as they loudly slurped and chatted.
Ha Long Bay-Sapa-Hanoi:
From Hanoi we headed east for a two night stay on a traditional junk boat in Ha
Long Bay. This UNESCO World Heritage site on the Northeastern coast covers an
area of 1,553 km (965 miles) and is made up of almost 2,000 stunning, mainly
limestone islets rising from the Tonkin Gulf. Scattered throughout the islets
are small floating fishing villages whose inhabitants farm oysters, mussels and
fish for food and trade.
It is possible at times to be distracted from the allure of the area by the
amount and effects of tourism there. The 450 boats anchored in the crowded bay
host thousands of tourists a day. The amount of trash floating in the otherwise
emerald waters is a sad reminder of how the desire for tourist dollars can
become more important than protecting tourist destinations. However as the sun
sets on the limestone karst and the last of the water traders ply their goods to
colorful tourist filled junk boats, of which you are a part of, it is impossible
not to appreciate the obvious beauty and cultural significance of Ha Long Bay.
Next stop, Sapa, a small French colonial town in the misty northern mountains of
the Lao Cai provence. Located near the Chinese boarder, it is home to several
different ethnic minority groups whose villages are scattered among the rice
terrace-covered mountains and valleys. We took a night train to get from Hanoi
to Sapa, sleeping in quaint bunk beds that conjured up historic images of an
Orient Express experience, to Lao Cai and from there, took a shuttle to Sapa.
Our initial surprise and fear of the welcoming committee was replaced with
curiosity on our hikes to nearby Black Hmong villages with our guide, Quong.
Traditionally dressed Black Hmong ladies casually followed along, asking a
series of basic questions over and over again: "What's your name?" "Where you
from?" "How many children you have?" and inevitably "You my friend?... You buy
from me?" as they dug into their woven baskets for both handmade, and
Chinese-made goods. The question of why we were hiking to meet the Black H'mong
when they had already made the hike to meet us was ever present. Ever the
entertainer and salesman himself, my boyfriend asked them to buy his handmade
fly fishing flies and individual pieces of chewing gum. He did eventually manage
a trade, a piece of gum for a hand-made bracelet, much to the frustration of the
Hmong lady who soon realized she didn't like the taste of the gum.
Despite the never-ending sales pitch, it was impossible to ignore the
magnificent scenery surrounding us: waterfalls, rivers and terraced rice paddies
in mist-covered mountains.
Our home-stay was a fun-filled night of amazing food and home-brewed "happy
water," which broke down all cultural and social walls and had us convinced we
were fluent in local dialects. Our morning headaches reminded us otherwise.
Waking before the rest of our group, my boyfriend and I spent the morning with
our host, who spoke no English, and her outgoing five-year-old grandson. We got
a glimpse into their everyday life, as our host's son and daughter-in-law
puttered around doing morning chores.
We returned to Hanoi from Sapa the same way we arrived, by sleeper train, and
spent one more night in the energetic city, surprised to see capitalism thriving
so well in this still communist country. The next morning we headed off to our
next stop, a whirlwind two days in Bangkok.
Sapa Budget Tours
- Sapa Day Tours - Sapa Day Excursions - Day Trips Sapa Vietnam
- Sapa Walk and Bac ha Market
- Sapa Hard Trekking Two
- Sapa Hard Trekking One
- Sapa Medium Trek Two
- Sapa Medium Trek
Sapa Trekking and Adventures
- Fansipan peak conquering VIP tour (3 days - 2 nights)
- Fansipan peak conquering VIP tour (2 days - 1 nights)
- Fansipan peak conquering Deluxe tour (4 days - 3 nights)
- Fansipan peak conquering Deluxe tour (3 days - 2 nights)
- Fansipan peak conquering Deluxe tour (2 days - 1 nights)
- Fansipan peak conquering Standard tour (4 days - 3 nights)
Sapa Cycling Options
- Sapa - Binh Lu - Lai Chau(with biking)
- Sapa - Lao Chai - Ta Van - Ban Ho
- Sapa Biking Tour - Ban Ho Village
- Sapa Biking Tour - Binh Lu - Lai Chau
- SaPa - Bac Ha Market with biking
- Pedalling The Remote Sapa\'s Northwest
Sapa Luxury Holidays
Traditional Minority Discovery Packages
- Green Sapa bus (Hanoi – Sapa)
- Eco Sapa Limousine Van (Hanoi – Sapa)
- Private car Hanoi Sapa
- Hanoi Sapa Private Cabin bus
- Coc Ly market with boat trip
- Cao Son market -boat trip on Chay river- Sapa Tours
Sapa Classic Trips
Northern Mountain Discovery Packages
Topas Ecolodge Sapa tours
- Topas Ecolodge and Market Package 3D/4N
- Topas Ecolodge and Market Package-2D/3N
- Topas Ecolodge and Victoria Sapa Package – 4D/5N
- Topas Ecolodge and Victoria Sapa Package – 3D/4N
- Topas Ecolodge Package – 3D/4N
- Topas Ecolodge Package 2D/3N