After having lunch we set off on the second leg of our journey for the day en route to explore Ta Van Village (Dzay Tribe) in the mountainous region of Sapa, Vietnam.
After a long hike in the morning lunch was anything but relaxing. The Black Hmong ladies who had followed us for the duration of our hike, making animals out of leaves, smiling and peppering us with questions and grinning from ear to ear suddenly changed their demeanor in complete 180 degrees. "You buy from me. Then I go home." "You don't buy one. Buy two." "Buy from me. I made you horse."
Although I could see this coming a mile away, I still found it annoying. Although I appreciate these ladies depend on tourism to earn a living, I don't feel as though tourists should feel such extreme pressure to buy something. One particular gentleman at our table, who steadfastly refused to buy anything was harassed to point where he did eventually purchase a tiny trinket, just so that he could eat his lunch at peace.
When it comes to vendors, touts or service providers in the travel industry, I'm all about rewarding bad behavior and not giving in to the pressures of pressure tactics. For example, in this particular situation, the ladies realize that if they press hard enough they'll eventually annoy the heck out of tourist to the point they buy something. Compounded by the fact they're tired from the long hike, more likely than not, they'll be willing to pay a bit of money to have a quiet lunch.
Although lunch was bland, I was immediately thrilled that my stomach could handle the noodles, as just mere hours before I had still been suffering from a severe case of food poisoning.
The morning hike had tested my fitness levels and I had to push myself to the max to keep up with the rest of the group only being roughly around 70% of my normal self. My legs felt like jello at this point in the day and I couldn't believe we still had another significant portion to cover for the rest of the day. Mentally, I was preparing myself for what I felt I couldn't possibly physically accomplish.
Luckily, the second leg of the journey was both shorter and less physically demanding. Roughly speaking, I think we walked only 1/3 of the distance that we covered in the morning and there was less variability in the terrain on this portion of the hike.
When we finally reached Ta Van Village I felt a sense of relief knowing I could retire for the evening. Prior to dinner I spread all of my belongings out by my makeshift bed and napped for nearly two hours.
Our traditional home-stay was a basic wooden two story house which featured mats laid on the floor with a mosquito net covering them. I feel confident enough, that it wouldn't have mattered what the accommodations looked like for the majority of our group. We were all so tired from the hike we could have slept on top of a rock.
Although dead simple, in terms of style, I slept like a baby given how absolutely knackered I was from the trek. I knew that I needed a good sleep to be prepared for another go of it the next day:
http://nomadicsamuel.com/video-blog/dzay-tribe-hike-to-ta-van-village
Sau khi ăn trưa, chúng tôi đặt ra trên các chân thứ hai của cuộc hành trình của chúng tôi trong ngày trên đường để khám phá Tả Van Village (Dáy Tribe) ở khu vực miền núi của Sa Pa, Việt Nam.
Sau khi đi lang thang lâu trong bữa ăn trưa buổi sáng là bất cứ điều gì nhưng thư giãn. Black Hmong phụ nữ đã theo chúng tôi trong suốt thời gian đi bộ của chúng tôi, làm cho động vật ra khỏi lá, mỉm cười và peppering chúng tôi với câu hỏi và cười toe toét từ tai nghe đột nhiên thay đổi thái độ của họ trong hoàn toàn 180 độ. "Bạn mua từ tôi. Sau đó, tôi về nhà." "Bạn không cần mua một cái. Mua hai." "Mua từ tôi. Tôi làm bạn con ngựa."
Mặc dù tôi có thể thấy điều này tới một dặm, tôi vẫn thấy nó gây phiền nhiễu. Mặc dù tôi đánh giá cao những phụ nữ phụ thuộc vào du lịch để kiếm sống, tôi không cảm thấy như thể khách
This is part of our Travel in Vietnam series. We're making a series of videos showcasing Vietnamese culture, Vietnamese arts, Vietnamese foods, Vietnamese religion and Vietnamese people.
http://nomadicsamuel.com/country-guides/vietnam
Proudly presented by: http://nomadicsamuel.com , http://smilingfacestravelphotos.com , http://thatbackpacker.com & http://backpacking-travel-blog.com
This video features the song 'Gypsy Shoegazer - Kevin Macleod" available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Commercial license.
