Vietnam : Sapa, prettiest place on earth

The people here are simple. They have their farms, and that's their life. As I was seeing into people homes and seeing the children chasing cows and dogs, I couldn't help but envy them for how simple their life is. You are probably like uhh what, why? They have so much to worry about and so do we in the first world countries, but I'm not sure how to describe what I felt. Is it possible to envy and feel sorry for someone at the same time? I really don't think my mind can comprehend the poverty and lifestyle that I saw today. Most of them can't read or write. The parents mostly work on the farms and the kids help, go to school, or sell goods in Sapa. I wouldn't survive a day in their life because of the living conditions. I like my flushing toliets, clean water, sanitation, and an enclosed home. This trip has made me very humble and grateful for the home that I grew up in. It also made me think how big this world is that there are so many different places all on the same planet.

These people who live on the mountains and live in the valleys are probably never going to leave their home. Here I am, who can travel all over the world and have a glimpse into their lives. I'm very grateful to live in America and to be born into my family.

As we were driving along the rivers or streams, it was sad to see the litter and garbage and to think that they are drinking this water and using it for so much more. Many kids were playing in the water and drinking it! I can't believe that there was so much litter, and no one bothers to pick it up. A gutter system is put into place along the side of the road, but it's full of garbage and animal poop. A lot of animals will be in there eating from it. They also have cows, goats, and horses grazing the land and walking on the road. It was pretty cool!

The lifestyle here is so different! Every person in the home works. If its on the farm or selling food or products. I saw very old women who will walk for miles with a basket on their back. One lady had her face down to her chin and it looked like she was walking and sleeping at the same time! The women here will get married so young, 12-15 years old, and will have children within a year of getting married. They will also have seven to eight kids with only a year apart in their ages. They will have no education past primary school. The older children will help with the farm. Some children don't want to go to school because someone has to take care of their younger siblings so they will carry them on their back to school or will sell their handmade products to foreigners. I bought a bracelet from a little girl that had her younger brother strapped to her back. It was heart breaking that these little kids are being used to have people buy their goods from them. They should be playing or in school.

I feel like in America you have as many kids as you are able to provide for and can handle. But these people have so many that alot times they are only able to give their kids rice for dinner without chicken. They haven't progressed into thinking like a lot of people in the world.

The women who we brought the fabric for the pillows to, live at the very bottom of the valley. That is her house below. Her house was a little bit smaller then a two car garage. It was a shack. It really was amazing that the home had dusty floors and it wasn't all closed up with walls. They had a curtain that closed off their bed, but the house had many chickens running around. They would just be going all over the house. It amazed me on how little these people live with and the amenities they lived under. Time really has stopped here. They have kept doing the same things over the past hundred years while most of the world has evolved. The Saps women were very nice and was really beautiful.

The night life in Sapa was a lot of fun! It was perfect weather to walk around the town. There is a big lake in the center of town which reflects all the electric signs on the hotels. There is an old church that is quite beautiful. There were many Hmoung women in Sapa that I got good pictures of! There was a foreign couple who was very distressed about a little Hmoung boy, who was not even two years old, was left on the side of the street. We went up to him where he was sitting on a cloth with bracelets on it. We then gave him some crackers (which I guess is one of the rules to not to feed them) and played with him. He was super cute!

On the second day we started our morning early and called the same guys who drove us the day before. We did that two hour drive again but it was even more beautiful in the morning. The colors of the trees and rice fields were very vibrant. It really looked like a painting. As we made our way down, one of the bikes got a flat tire so a third of the way we had three people on one bike!

We then met the four Sapa women who are creating our pillows. We then went over each design with them to make sure they understood what exactly we wanted. They were all super nice and very friendly. We were hoping to get the pillows done pretty fast but each women brings a pattern home to work on. It's farming time there so the women don't have that much time on their hands and they have to be a mother too. The women in charge also had just gotten in a bike accident the day before we got there.

The children here are so cute! Some wear the traditional clothes while others wear just regular kid clothes. Whenever we passed them they would wave and say hello. There was one child who waved and said "hellooo, whats up!". It was funny because most of the kids were very timid, but respectful. I also found my way into one of the kindergarden schools down in the valley. They were singing a song when I walked up. All of the kids stood up, said hello and smiled. I don't think the teachers were happy, since I disrupted their class. Most foreigners do not wander that far into the valley, and stay no more than an hour out of Sapa. They were all getting out of school while we were riding and it was the cutest thing to see the kids with their backpacks, little buckets, or just holding their school papers. Two boys had their arms around each other while walking, it was adorable. These girls were holding hands while running home! The children there are just precious.

As we were driving, I saw these boys picking out a snake like fish out of the water into these big water bottles. It was pretty gross! The women here have wraps where they hold their child. I feel like I couldn't go anywhere in this place without seeing a child, they have a lot of them here! There was a little boy that was just running down the street with no pants on! Along the side of the street they would sell meat that would be sitting in the sun and have a ton of flies around it.

I envy the people who live there because they get to see the spectacular views every day of their life. It's simply stunning! I wish I could just stay up there and just explore every part of this place.

There is a food market here and that was an experience! I have never seen so much raw meat in one place. They had full chickens just with no feathers. They eat every part of this animal here except the feathers. There were snails, caterpillars, all types of fish, and so much more. It was cool but disgusting at the same time.

When we got back from our drive we walked around the lake and a Hmoung women joined us. Her name is Mama something, I wish I could remember! But she was so sweet! She is 48 years old and has seven children, her oldest is age 27 now. She has been walking up the mountain ever since she was a little girl to sell the handmade and silver bracelets she makes her self. Homesteads here are where foreigners can go into of a Mhoung person's home and even sometimes stay the night. All of the people who had stayed with this woman had written down in a book their memories with her. It was cool to read all of the passages from people from all over the world.