Sapa township itself is a lovely town set around a lake, slowly being strangled by tourists. There is new construction everywhere, constant harrassment by local women and children wanting to sell things, and not really much to do. It is best to spend as much time as possible out of town.
I attended a craft workshop, held in a nearby village, and got to spend the day being shown how they do batik dying, weaving, and embroidery, and also assist in making a traditional lunch (ie I rolled up spring rolls and stirred the tomato and tofu).
The next day I had a bit of a look around town and then made an early escape to nearby Lao Cai to wait for the train. I spent a quiet afternoon reading and sipping drinks in a small restaurant.
I did some weaving on a loom like this (the photo is of my guide Su Linh)The embroidery was a basic cross stitch motif – the central pattern is stylised rice. They sewed my work onto a small bag for me. They use a sharp needle instead of the blunt needle I am used to, and it seems to make this kind of work much harder.My first batik attempt. The hot wax is applied using either a tool a bit like a nib pen, or stamps for the repeated spiral shapes. It is hard to judge the amount of wax, and the areas that the pattern did not come out I did not apply enough. These are particularly the areas using the stamps. The material was dyed in a vat of indigo (from locally grown plants) and then boiled to remove the wax.Pedal boat on the lakeThe main area of town is very bright and noisy at nightThere is a nice small garden next to the lakeThe weather was a bit wet, but the cooler temperatures here were a relief after HanoiThere is a lot of construction work going on, and mostly with manual labour and much lower safety standards than we have.My hotel was largely surrounded by construction work. It also had the hardest bed known to man.Strange drink found in the supermarket. Tasted ok, but weird thick texture.Young village kids, wandering in the traffic while looking for the next sales target.The town is a mix of all types of people.Sapa lawn mowing service
