The mountains of Sapa, Vietnam are no place for the faint hearted in February with the hazy skies and cold temperatures, but one thing is for sure the welcome is warm! This army of colour will chase you around all day relentlessly pushing their wares, how can one resist these beautiful faces.
I of course paid way too much for a head scarf I didn't want or suit, for that matter but I wanted to give something back to support these young woman who must feed their families on the small amount of money they make taking trekking tours and selling handicrafts to tourists like me. Maybe in the summer is a profitable business but in the bitter cold winter months it is certainly not.
As I was returning from a village one afternoon a group of young boys came and begged for my friends left over food. When I returned soon after with a few bags of bread rolls for them they snatched the bags from me with hungry desperation and chased each other down the hill.
I plan to return to Sapa in search of some treasures of the Market Place collection and learn more about these beautiful strong women; we can share their stories and by buying their crafts support them in some small but important way. Small steps can lead to big journeys.
