windblown: Mountains, Sapa and Cat Cat village

We needed a break from big cities. After some scheming on the method of transportation, the four of us got some of the last seats on a train headed to Sapa and its beautiful mountains. Entertainingly, it was in third class on hard wooden benches, with people prostrated on the floor as everyone tried to find the best position for the overnight ride. Holy discomfort.

Sapa is famous for low hanging clouds that cover and uncover the mountains at whim, like a capricious magician's trick, trekking amid wondrous scenery and colorful tribal minority villages. And it was finally cool. As in below 60 degrees. A rarity in SE Asia.

We didn't have time for an extended trek, so we decided on the next best (and physically convenient) thing: motorcycles. The mountains were astounding and so vast that you could taste the call to freedom. All I wanted to do was raise my arms and give in, as we sped down the winding road. Do you know the tunnel scene from The Perks of Being a Wallflower? It felt just like that.

Jinhi, the masked rider

View from our balcony

With weather as unreliable as it was, we visited only one of the tribal villages, the closely located Cat Cat of the Black H'Mong people. Even before we went, we witnessed the spectacle of tourists (both local and foreign) crowding the villagers, like an exhibit at a zoo. The visit further gave us a somewhat distorted insight into the villagers' way of life, since the proximity to Sapa guaranteed an influx of tourists and shop upon shop upon shop on the tightly controlled route through the village. Oh, the vices of tourism. And... I guess we contributed too, just by going.