Sapa in the mountains was a welcome, refreshing change - not just in temperature or scenery, but in the people. There are lots of different hilltribes around Sapa, all of them have different dress or head wear or embroidery with silver or bells etc. They were friendly, fun and had a great sense of humour. Very different from the Vietnamese people in Hanoi and the north. On our hike through the rice terraces down into the valley to the village of Lao Chai, the children were adorable and the ladies selling their wares were good fun. I couldn't resist a brightly coloured, beautiful embroidered blanket from one of the ladies (double click pic for photo) - it cost about $12. The only problem about buying stuff, and large stuff at that, is that I have to carry it. It's worth it though - where else would I get this souvenir blanket?!
In the town of Sapa itself, the women were persistent in trying to sell their emboidered clothes and trinkets, but they were always pleasant striking conversation in fairly good English. My local Sapa lady, here, from the Hmong people (who have only been around for a couple of centuries) didn't have great English and kept on saying" ok, ok, ok," while trying to sell me stuff. As you can see, she was teeny and the teeth that she did have were black as anything! Anyway, she followed me around Sapa town for big chunks of time showing me her stuff for sale, going "ok, ok, ok". For some reason she didn't annoy me at all - I just thought she was cute! * Mush
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