22.03.08 - Helloh? You Buy From Meeee?!

Sapa, Vietnam: A lesson in patience.

If ever there was a place on Earth that could test my British public school boy politeness it was in Sapa. In fact, Charlie and I together are hopeless, with please's thank you's, I beg your pardon's and excuse me's flooding the air from our clean, charming mouths ( alright... I will drop the case for clean in reference to my mouth, ok?! ). Jo is somewhat more feisty and will fight for our rights, but the one thing we all have in abundance is politeness! Oh how we learned...

Market day is every day. The ladies of the H'mong mountain tribe are in town. They may be as small as a small person could be, but BEWARE for these happy and smiley women and girls have been hard at work all week weaving fabrics and making all manner of fabric goods such as shoulder bags, scarves, "blankeys" , pantalons and silly hats with weany pom-poms... only one thing is on their minds... SELL! SELL! SELL!

The hostel has been found having stepped off a bus in Sapa, girls eagerly waving hostel business cards at us and dropping their rates to $5 a night in the face of incessant and nearly hysterical competition. The bank busted (!) we stepped out onto the sloping street to look at the market... and within moments the H'mong ladies are around us eagerly showing off their wares.

"Hellohhh?! You buy from meeee?!" they all squeak as they hold up a few little knitted tubes that hold a little metal vibrating wind instrument. A "No thank you" from the blond, blue eyed tourist is received with a dip of the hands into the woven shoulder bag and a questioning look followed by the display of a big panel of woven fabric...

"You buy blankeyyy? You buy from meeee?!"

Then more squeaky "Hellohhh?!"s are heard as the smell of tourists douses the senses of other H'mong traders who wish to cheerfully push their own hand-made pieces! We were oh so polite and enjoyed their happy demeanour and curious enquiries ( that were always followed by a sales pitch )... though Jo would inevitably be lost in a crowd of little bouncing ladies holding up earings and woven wrist bands to her. We feared that if she fell we could be certain that they would pile in and... and that does not bear thinking about!

After a whole day of this we decided unanimously that travelling had the potential to be incredibly stressful... all politeness stripped from our souls ( yes, a complete exaggeration for the sake of a story ) we resorted to sharp ( ish ) "NO"s in an attempt to shoo away these eager ladies with their babies strapped to their backs! Frustration was bubbling and we felt victimised... especially when a little, little, little smiley old lady followed us for 30 minutes and only got the hint that we did not want any blankeys when we ran away... her giggly old laughter at our response cackling through the cool, damp air!

But damn them for being so sweet and friendly!!! How can you be annoyed with such charming little ladies with beautiful little babies strapped onto their backs with woven fabrics. Jet black hair topped with a cylindrical open-topped black hat, warm softly worn caramel skin and wide yet pinched chocolate eyes showed such charm and despite the infuriating approach to pouncing on the tourists, we could not help but love these mountain folk. The fabrics are made from plant fibres, woven, dyed and sewn into all manner of interesting items that they produce during the week as they sit on the steps of their wooden huts before descending on the market of Sapa where they amble around and sell to the new folks on the block.

One thing I must pu down now....

...I never want to hear those words again...


"HELLOH?! YOU BUY FROM MEEEE?!!!"