This is one popular old man.
During our twelve mile hike through Sapa, we passed through the village of Cat Cat. Situated in Sapa, this is where some of the Hmong reside. The Hmong are an Asian ethnic group that reside in the mountain regions of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Burma. You may have also seen them in Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by little girls who were trying to sell off their “handmade” trinkets. Handmade is in quotes because now-a-days these things are machine mass produced. I tell you, these little kids were the cutest kids ever. I’m sure if given the chance they would take over the world by their cuteness. Heck, they can speak a lot of languages: Vietnamese, Hmong, English, French, Russian, Czech, Portuguese, just to name a few. It is what they learn for their trade as vendors that caters to tourists. You have to be careful though. If you buy something from one of them, ten more will appear to try to pawn their wares. My dad said when he visited back in the 90s, all this vendor-tourist activities didn’t exist.
Which makes you think that as a tourist, by visiting are you giving a helping hand in destroying their culture?
One thing stood out during my three day stay in Sapa: where are the Hmong men? The women, it seems, are doing the vending and hard labor, but none of the men were in sight. Well… I did see two Hmong boys having a cold Tiger, but they don’t count.
Taking a break from the twelve plus mile hike. Although leading a difficult life, their smiles are genuine.
Hmong boys enjoying the morning with a forty of Tiger.
