You need a good spirit to pickle snake for several years

January 27th, 2002 at 12:00am

Life is strange. I can’t believe I am huddling here by the fireplace in my room in Sapa struggling to get warm…and only last week I was laying in my hammock of the beach of Ko Mak. Hmmm. The fire feels wonderfully warm though.

Arrived here this morning after a very good night’s sleep on the train. From Lao Cai it was a 30 km bus ride into the mountains of Sapa. Even at 6am it was a beautiful ride – winding through the green, lush river valley and following the terraced rice fields up the mountain. As we got higher though we drove into the clouds and fog and midst and rain until we arrived at Sapa. I am told that the temperature today was 2 degrees C (that’s about 34F) and with the rain it was brutally cold – chilling to the BONE. There is no heat anywhere in town so you basically either have to keep moving by walking around or cover yourself with blankets wearing every item of clothing you own. The fire is a luxury since I am on the top floor I am lucky enough to have a fireplace and I’m paying an extra $1 on the $3 room for the wood but I think it’s WELL worth it.

The Swedish girls from the train ride (Jessica and Anne) are also staying here so I had breakfast with them this morning and then we walked over to the Sapa market. They had an afternoon walk booked through a tour so I was happy to let them brave the cold and rain while I stayed in my room and read. We met again for dinner though along with some other British and Aussie backpackers and another guy Alan (from Australia) who is living here in Sapa giving medical treatment to the hill tribe people here.

Alan shared some amazing stories and insight on the local culture and traditions which we would have never learned otherwise. He’s been coming here every winter for 6 years helping the Hmong people. Good man. He was telling us about the affects that Western medicine has had on their traditional medicine…for example, he treated a five-year old girl whose father had tried to cure her of a simple case of pink eye. Apparently there is a plant here that heals wounds very well and when the father saw the infection in his daughter’s eyes he thought surely he could cure it with this plant. So he boiled some of the leaves in water and with an eye dropper he put a few drops in each eye (having seen Western doctors use eye drops in the past). The girl is now blind for life.

Alan also told us about the history of the Hmong people – that they are thought to have travelled here overland from Mongolia…about their religion which is based on nature…about their theory on death which essentially involves the 3 souls that they believe they have – at death one goes to the grave, one stays with the family, and one goes to be reincarnated to the next life…about their burial ceremony in which the family leaves the body in the home for 4 days so that everyone can visit and pay their respects, then the family puts food in the mouth of the body before burial so the spirit is well fed when entering the grave. Really interesting stuff. Makes you look twice at the people when you see them on the street – that’s for sure.

I am so happy that I did not book a tour here from Hanoi because tomorrow morning I am meeting Alan for breakfast and he’s going to try to hook me up with a local Hmong girl who speaks excellent English (just learning from tourists) and can take me to her village for the day. Hopefully it will work out – I’m looking forward to it.

Alan’s classis quote of the evening -’You need a GOOD spirit to pickle snake for several years.’ Yes, that’s right folks. They ACTUALLY pickle snakes in alcohol and make snake wine in these parts – I have seen the jars with my own eyes. I am not in Kansas anymore!

Fresh fruit and veggies at the market in Sapa

One of the Hmong hill tribe girls

Buying a hat, scarf and gloves!

Entry Filed under: Sapa,Vietnam