Tough Cookies

"What's your name?"

"Where you from?"

"How old are you?"

"Buy something from me?"

That is the chorus of phrases sung on repeat in Sapa by the hill tribe women. They come in droves, every morning, to the town of Sapa trying to sell something--anything--to the tourists. They range in age from infants strapped on backs to toothless 90+ year olds. As soon as they're old enough to talk I'm pretty sure the first words are: "buy something?" Each has a large woven basket on her back filled with the goods she's selling and usually an umbrella--to shade her from the sun and us from rain if necessary. These women are the only people in the world who can pull off velvet leg warmers, gigantic hoop earrings and neon plaid headscarves while hopping through the muddy hills with ease.

Walking in masses with us on our trek in the mountains, armed with baskets, souvenirs and umbrellas!

Colorful women in the mountains and in Sapa's market

The old and the young of the villages/tribes: all able to climb through the mountains and all able to sell a few items

On our first day of hiking we were joined by Sun, Jun, and Tu. These girls ranged from 13 to 18 years old. They walked alongside us for our whole 15 km trek hoping it would impress us enough to buy something at the end of it all. Through broken English (that they learned entirely from tourism) they told us that they're now too old for school and approaching marrying age--which they say in disgust. None of them want to get married right now, but that doesn't mean that they won't have to. It is a life vastly different than mine or anyone else's I know. However, at the same time they giggle, tease each other and run around in their giant mountain playground like girls their age do everywhere in the world. They haven't been completely robbed of their youth.

Our three lovely girls--Sun, Jun and Tu--trekking with us during our 15k day. It was a lot easier for them than it was for us! They knew all the tricks and shortcuts.

That night we stayed at a homestay in the Ta Van village. There we met another trekking guide and hill tribe native, 18-year-old Me. Me has amazing English with a slight Australian accent. She too learned her English from tourists, clearly many of them being Australian. Me is one of the feistiest girls I have ever met. She told us right away that she has zero interest in getting married right now, despite being prime marrying age. She doesn't like Vietnamese men (for "obvious reasons" she said...whatever that means!) or Western men. She said she doesn't like Western men because they move away and don't take care of their family or parents--family is very important to her. She explained to us that she started as a young girl who tried to sell things to tourists in town. From there she learned more English and worked her way up to becoming a guide for trekkers. Most women don't make it that far and continue to try and sell things to tourists into their old age. It's great that she was able to move up the ladder and make a good living for herself while displaying her pride and love for the hills she was raised in. I think it is so important because many guides in Vietnam went to school to study "tourism" and go to various areas and take those jobs away from the locals. For instance, our trekking guide Kim (male) grew up far away from Sapa and mentally worlds away. He hiked in jeans and a button down shirt. He was able to explain to us things about the hill tribes and mountains, but he was not able to relay to us the personal experiences of living and growing up there. And this is a place where women know the trekking paths, tribes and hills so well that they could really bring a lot to the job and benefit from it so much as well. If more people--locals--like Me were given those jobs it could help out the residents while "keeping it real" for the tourists as well. I truly loved meeting Me and believe that she enhanced my trekking experience so much for the short amount of time we spent with her.

The fabulous Me chatting with Ari; and

playing cards and dice games with the whole gang

On the next day of our trek we had a very muddy 7 km to go in the morning. A group of eager women stood outside of our house while we were eating breakfast. Once we started hiking I made a head count of 2 hill tribe women per person, unnecessary right? Well, let's just say we didn't need them, but we used them. The hills were very hilly and muddy that day after an intense rain the night before, so the women--one on each hand--would hold, lift or pull us out of some very sticky situations. There were times, however, that they would forcefully grab my hand and pull me up a hill that I could handle by myself, but I let them help or just nicely said "i'm okay" and pulled my hand away. Nevertheless they were much more helpful than our guide Kim, who would take breaks all the time and sometimes forget to tell us which way to go. At the end of our journey with them they also pleaded, "buy something from me?" We reluctantly bought gifts that we didn't need, just because they were so helpful. The ages varied in our group this day much more than the previous one. My two helpers were 30 and 13, Samantha's were probably both around 11, Britt's were the old two, maybe 40 and 60 and Ari had another set around 30 and 13. They are the reason behind the title of this blog, because they were all tough cookies. Hiking, or more like flying, through the hills wearing sandals and a lot of thick layers of clothing. These ladies know what they're doing and they do it well, and with some serious style!

Our ladies helping us through the mud and hanging out during some breaks (probably initiated by Kim!)

Our third day of trekking was a nice and easy day where the sun was shining and we spent a lot of time lounging at a waterfall. We didn't have Ari with us this day and we also didn't have a group of tribe women following us. Instead, this day brought us to an elite group of girls that have an M.O. of their own. These girls are the Daytime Butterfly Killers. The DBK is made up of four children all under the age of 7. The most violent are around 3 or 4 years old while their silent and often hidden leader is the 7-year-old. These young ladies are located at the foot of a beautiful waterfall where many tourists come and take pictures and where many butterflies flutter around freely. When the butterfly is taking a much needed break the little girls sneak up and snatch them by their wings, thereby preventing them from flying ever again by getting finger oils on the precious wings. The next step is to find the trusty leader and get some string. They slowly and surely wrap the string around the butterfly and make a "leash" of sorts. What comes next depends on the girl. Some girls tie the string to their waist belt, letting the butterfly reluctantly follow them around for the rest of the day. Others rip off parts of the wing bit by bit until there is not much left of the butterfly. Whatever their poison is, it is deadly for the butterfly, and was hard for us to stomach. At one point Samantha would run at any butterfly that landed so that it would fly away and not be subject to the torture of the DBKs. Samantha also tried to show one of the girls that you could nicely play with a butterfly without killing it, we sadly lost a butterfly in that demonstration. These cute girls with their messy faces and runny noses are ruthless, but at the same time a little bit entertaining.

The Daytime Butterfly Killers (DBK) at their finest. And Samantha trying to teach Killer Blue a way to be nice to the butterflies. Not Pictured: Their fearless 7-year-old leader, she plays more of a behind-the-scenes role

Our time in Sapa was wonderful. It is definitely one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. As you can see, we spent a lot of time with locals as well. Yes, they are very annoying when they harass you on the streets and get in your face, but it is all they know and how they make a living (It is so much easier to put it like that now that I'm back in Bangkok and away from it all!) The women are all beautiful, wear awesomely funky clothes/accessories and are constantly smiling. They have been through a lot and their lives are not in the least bit convenient. They are a group of tough cookies and I'm so thankful that they took me on a magnificent tour of their mountain home.