Today we hike. We booked a tour with the Sapa Sisters, Hmong trekking guides from Lao Chai.
What is a Hmong? The Hmong are an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity in southern China. Hmong are rich in culture, art and family and are distinguished by costume/dress.
Sapa Sisters was started in 2009 by five friends: Radek Stypczynski, a painter and visual artist from Poland/Sweden, and four Hmong women Lang Yan, Lang Do, Cho, and Zao. Radek, having seen and heard first hand the difficulties of young Hmong women, in particular, finding decent jobs and wages in Sapa began collaborating with the Girls on a venture that could be self-sustaining and operated almost entirely independent of outsider assistance. The idea was simple: a Trekking company operated by the girls with no middle-man i.e. tourist operators or hotels; Radek would set up a website that could connect travelers with their guides as well as help communication between travelers and guides as the the girls cannot read or write English (although their spoken English is excellent)…
Our hike will include a hike down from Sapa to Lao Chai village, Y Lin Ho village and Tavan (really???) village.
