impressions of sapa

mountain ranges shadowed by the mist, girls in indigo skirts large silver hoop earrings and bracelets hassling you to buy from them, terraced rice fields, water pumps pounding rice, colorful costumes, incredible scenic poverty.

I was very conscious of being a tourist here- we found out that each woman only got one outfit a year- at Tet which is incredible. Our tour guide learnt English from tourists and was the only one whom graduated from high school in his village. He is getting married and he has to pay for 4 water buffalo and 2000 litres of rice wine for a three day feast- and pay a dowry of 600,000 dong. If he doesn't pay the dowry he has to work for his in laws until the debt is paid off! However my family has pumped lots of money into the local economy- by buying lots of clothes.