Trekking in Sapa: Day 2

Our 2nd day in Sapa started at 7am. After breakfast, everyone got ready and we began another days worth of trekking again. This time the locals didn't come with us but we took an easier path to trek. This was actually my favorite of the 2 days. The sun was out and I felt the view was so much more spectacular than the day before!! 

I couldn't stop taking pictures but even the pictures don't capture the essence of what it was like to be standing in the middle of pure beauty in every direction you look; 

(a local woman tending her buffalo)

(Puppy snoozing)

the rolling rice fields, the scraggly shrubs and wildflowers, the worn wooden huts that make up the mountain villages, the farm animals roaming the grassy fields (so many baby animals, lots of puppies!) the locals in traditional handmade clothing, baskets on their backs and a weaved cone hat for sun protection as they start their days work, kids running around, fishing, or playing in the mud, all with a gorgeous backdrop of misty lush green mountains. It was absolutely stunning! It felt like our view couldn't get better but with every step I took, I felt like my breath was taken away over and over again. 

Local man selling bao to these young children

Our tour guide, Sa was so sweet. So happy and cheerful. I loved how excited she'd get whenever she had the chance to introduce us to one of her family members. We met her husband and baby, her mother, and 2 of her sisters as well as a few of her nieces and nephews. She actually took us to visit her sisters home, a one room wooden hut. Sa and her sisters family invited us to stay and visit but we soon found out they were about to slaughter a pig, of which none of us could stomach. We left as quickly as possible. 

One of the villages we saw

Many of her sisters are also tour guides and they are all very close with one another. Sa was telling us how whenever she has trouble with something, like how to say something in English or in regards to doing tours, she can always go to her older sisters. Sa had so much love for learning. She's very eager and excited about learning more English and perfecting the language. Just a truly beautiful heart with a beautiful family. 

Sun protection at its best. Sa and I walking and talking.

After our visit at her sisters home, Sa took us to like a workshop where she showed us how they make scarves or clothing from marijuana plants. It's a very long process from harvesting the plant to making it into string, then weaving and dying the cloth in an indigo dye that's made from a plant. She also showed us how they grind rice and corn into flour so that it could be used for cooking. Along the walk she showed us how they grew the rice and also pointed out rice crops that were almost ready to harvest when we passed them. We learned so much about the lifestyle in Sapa and had such a wonderful time!

Sa and Ida talking in the rice fields

We returned to the homestay for lunch. After we ate, we packed up our stuff, said our goodbyes, and hopped on the bus back to Hanoi to prepare for our next tour in Halong bay.