Sa Pa

Arriving back in Hanoi after leaving the islands of Halong Bay, Jazz and I booked a bus to the northern reaches of Vietnam. Sa Pa, a town at an elevation of 5000 feet, is located just south of the China border. The area surrounding the town is beautiful with green mountains and terraced hillsides used for rice farming. The population of Sa Pa and the surrounding area is unique in that the majority of the population are not the ethnic Viet people but the Hmong and Dzao (pronounced Yao) and other smaller ethnic groups.

One can tell which ethnic group one belongs to by the clothing worn by the people. The women especially dress in traditional garb, with both the Hmong and Dzao people wearing handmade indigo clothing, while the Hmong wear indigo hats and the Dzao wear red scarves on their heads. While the town itself has been opened to the tourist market, there still is a feel of an older time with the many people in their ethnic clothing.

Upon arriving in Sa Pa, the difference in weather was immediately apparent from the rest of Vietnam. With so high of an elevation, the temperatures never crested 20 C. Fog covered the area the entire time we were there and it rained on and off, from a misting to outright downpours. Though the weather far from ideal, I welcomed the cooler temperatures and finally used my winter jacket that was unused since my time in Tedim, Myanmar back in February.

Jazz and I rented a motorbike for two days and explored the winding mountain roads, taking in the breathtaking scenery. We wandered about the town, eating almost exclusively pho and pineapple. At one small restaurant, we noticed an unusual platter filled with dark cuts of meat and four paws. Immediately I thought that it had to be dog, which is served throughout Vietnam, especially in the north. We tried a small bit each and I ordered a bowl of dog pho, more so for the experience of trying dog. The taste of the meat was okay at best to me, but to many Vietnamese this meal is a delicacy.

After three days in the cold of the mountains, we booked a bus back to Hanoi where I will stay the remaining days until my flight back to the States on May 1st.