Sapa

An optimist might believe that Sapa is the place to come to wander amongst terraced rice paddies and happen upon a remote hill tribe or two. The reality is slightly different. Although the scenery is absolutely stunning, the ‘remote hill tribes’ are now found outside all the tourist hotels, clamouring to sell you silver jewellery and cushion covers. Predictable maybe, but also pretty unsettling. It’s possible to arrange tours to villages with the added option of ‘helping’ for an afternoon or until you need another beer. It’s hard to imagine what kind of help the average tourist could offer – yoking up an ox and ploughing a rice paddy? It may sound cynical but ‘responsible tourism’ isn’t much in evidence here.

If you look past the ethnic minority debate however, Sapa is an amazing place. Yesterday we arranged for a guide to take us for a hike around the area and spent the day stumbling after him as he leapt between rice terraces and over streams. He’d climbed Fansipan (Indochina's highest peak) over a hundred times and it showed. The landscape is incredible – steep terraced hills, mountains towering over and mists rising up the valleys. It’s been good to be here for a few days, out of the noise of the cities and where everything moves just a bit more slowly.