Hmong village hike in Sapa - Tihn Lo

The first thing to be offered in Sapa is an option to hike. It will probably happen as soon as you arrive in town, and the offers will continue as long as you bump into the Hmong women, which are more or less everywhere. Day and night. We decided to sign up for a $15 trip with our hotel. We met with our guide at 9:30 AM and hiked from the hotel and Sapa town through the country side for most of the day until we made it to the village of Tihn Lo. Some maybe 12 kilometres of hiking through beautiful country side, rice paddies, fields, small villages, more rice paddies and - rice paddies.

The whole landscape seems to have been utilised for growing rice and other crops. This time of year it is mostly quite hazy making it difficult to do good pictures of the landscape in the valley but the scenery is spectacular. We liked it a lot, also the hike with the 1:1 ratio of tourists and local Hmong women. They walk with you, want to know where you are from and what your name is - and of course sell some souvenirs. They are not that pushy but can be a bit annoying when you have told your name ten times and number 11 arrives to ask you once more. But they stay in the background for most of the hike. Our guide - Jyu - was great, doing her best to explain about the area, how they maintain the rice paddies, grow rice, local culture, the Hmong people - well everything. The pace was quite relaxed and we had time to stop and enjoy the landscape - and a good long lunch before doing the last hike and a few stops in a local village. At 2:30 PM we headed back to Sapa in a mini bus, had a shower and some clean clothes. We met up with Jen from Hoi An and had more white wine on Hillside station. When it's good why not do it some more. She had been to the cave and camped in there for the night which was quite an experience.

Waiting for hikers

What's your name?

Hazy countryside

Hot morning

Our guide

Taking a rest

Nothing like running water

See you later

Back for more white wine

Dinner with Jen