After spending a couple days in Hanoi we took an overnight train up to Sapa, a small town up in the mountains to the northwest.
Fortunately we had a sleeper car so we were able to stretch out and sleep. I was pretty tired so it didn't take me long to fall asleep. Tyler stayed up for a while reading. It was a loud and bumby 8 hour trip.
We had some breakfast after checking into our hotel the next morning and then took off with our guide to hike through the mountains and ethnic people's villages. It was a facinating hike. We learned a lot about the villages, people and their way of life.
The men collect wood for fuel and the women dye fabric with natural dyes and make products to sell at the market. They grow almost all of their own food--by hand! Rice is their principle crop. They consider themselves quite fortunate if they have been able to save enough money to buy a water buffalo!
The scenery was breathtaking and God blessed us with a beautiful day to view it. 
The Vietnamese government provides schools and teachers for these small minority villages. We found that these kids are much like kids anywhere--laughing and playing. 
In this picture they were playing a traditional game with tops.
We really enjoyed the hike and it was great to have a guide along to explain things to us about their every day life and traditions.
We ate a very delicious meal when we returned--pumpkin soup, lemon grass chicken, caramelized pork and rice--one of my favorites of the whole trip! Aside from all of the seafood, we really enjoyed Vietnamese food.
This woman is from the one of the villages we had just hiked through. She was sitting right outside the window of the restaurant stictching a design to put on a bag or pillowcover or something. Notice how many loop earings she has in her ear! She is wearing their traditional dress as well.
We walked through the small market the following morning. It was so colorful! We bought some pillowcovers to serve as a reminder of our time there!
That afternoon we hiked through another small village of a different minority group. The weather was not so good this day though, so it wasn't quite as enjoyable as the first day. These young women (most of whom already have two or three kids!) walked almost the entire way with us. At the end they expected us to buy something from them. We did buy something small and paid them to take a picture with us.
Fortunately we had a sleeper car so we were able to stretch out and sleep. I was pretty tired so it didn't take me long to fall asleep. Tyler stayed up for a while reading. It was a loud and bumby 8 hour trip.We had some breakfast after checking into our hotel the next morning and then took off with our guide to hike through the mountains and ethnic people's villages. It was a facinating hike. We learned a lot about the villages, people and their way of life.
The men collect wood for fuel and the women dye fabric with natural dyes and make products to sell at the market. They grow almost all of their own food--by hand! Rice is their principle crop. They consider themselves quite fortunate if they have been able to save enough money to buy a water buffalo!
The scenery was breathtaking and God blessed us with a beautiful day to view it. 
The Vietnamese government provides schools and teachers for these small minority villages. We found that these kids are much like kids anywhere--laughing and playing. In this picture they were playing a traditional game with tops.Laundry is also done by hand and hung out to dry right along side the garden.
This little boy was herding a group of ducks along the path--he was taking his job very seriously!
This little boy was herding a group of ducks along the path--he was taking his job very seriously!
We really enjoyed the hike and it was great to have a guide along to explain things to us about their every day life and traditions. We ate a very delicious meal when we returned--pumpkin soup, lemon grass chicken, caramelized pork and rice--one of my favorites of the whole trip! Aside from all of the seafood, we really enjoyed Vietnamese food.This woman is from the one of the villages we had just hiked through. She was sitting right outside the window of the restaurant stictching a design to put on a bag or pillowcover or something. Notice how many loop earings she has in her ear! She is wearing their traditional dress as well.
We walked through the small market the following morning. It was so colorful! We bought some pillowcovers to serve as a reminder of our time there!
That afternoon we hiked through another small village of a different minority group. The weather was not so good this day though, so it wasn't quite as enjoyable as the first day. These young women (most of whom already have two or three kids!) walked almost the entire way with us. At the end they expected us to buy something from them. We did buy something small and paid them to take a picture with us.
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