Beyond the Clouds
'You will see my village,' the young girl beamed, clutching an embroidered bag to her chest. 'You are going across the pass to the land beyond the clouds.'
I was in the midst of the throng of Sapa's Saturday market in the far north of Vietnam. The girl was a Hmong, one of the many hill-tribes from the surrounding villages who gather each week to sell handicrafts, jewellery, orchids, mushrooms, and honey to other villagers or tourists. Like many Hmong girls she made her living selling handmade, traditional indigo died clothes to tourists.
The French built Sapa in 1922. Preferring the damp almost northern European climate to the heat of Hanoi's summer. Nicknaming the area the Tonkinese Alps, they recreated a Gallic enclave in the cool mountains complete with church, hotels, summer villas and a sports club. Many of these buildings were abandoned or destroyed once Vietnam won independence, but the colonial influence remains. Now Sapas star is once again on the rise. With the Vietnamese government encouraging tourism it is hardly surprising that foreigners are flocking to the old hill station to enjoy the cool, fresh air, mountain scenery and the hospitality of the colourful local people.
My new friend was immaculately dressed in navy puttees and a deep indigo tunic topped off with a cylindrical hat. The Hmong are known as the people of the clouds and usually live in small settlements higher than 1,200 meters. The earliest records of the Hmong show they once ruled much of the area around what is now Beijing in North China. Now over seven million proud Hmong people are scattered across south China, Thailand, Laos and North Vietnam. Although it is over a thousand years since they ruled their own nation, they have managed to retain their own cultural identity and their language. Now, however, many of the Hmong in Sapa speak better English that they do Vietnamese.
I had arrived in Sapa by train from Hanoi via Lao Cai on the border with China. The Victoria Express Train is Vietnam's answer to the Orient Express. It takes ten hours to complete the 340-kilometre journey but the comfortable private compartments, dining car and impeccable service transform an arduous journey into a pleasure.
A short stay at Sapa's Victoria Hotel was even better. The Victoria opened in 1998 and its design was influenced by French colonial style interlaced with a local tribal themes. All 77 rooms all have spectacular views across the mountains, including Fansipan, which at 3143 metres is Vietnam's highest peak.
However, I soon traded the pleasures of the occasional tourist for the uncertainties of the touring cyclist. I wanted to see what lay beyond Sapa, beyond the clouds.
At 2,015 metres Tram Ton pass is the highest paved road in Indochina. On a clear day it boasts majestic views of Fansipan Mountain and the valleys below. The day I decided to cycle the pass it was enshrouded in clouds and visibility was below twenty metres. But bad weather is not unusual in Sapa so I braced myself for a cold, wet cycle ride.
Almost as soon as I crossed the pass and had begun to enjoy the descent into Lai Chau Province, the clouds dispersed and I found myself riding into blinding sunshine and searing heat. Tram Ton pass is the fulcrum of a bizarre weather anomaly. On one side, Sapa is the coldest place in Vietnam and is almost constantly enshrouded in a foggy mist. On the other Lai Chau is one of the warmest and was experiencing the full force of mainland Southeast Asia's dry season.
The Fansipan Mountains are home to a bewildering array of ethnic minorities. The highland people the French called Montagnards make up 10% of Vietnam's total population but comprise the majority of inhabitants of Lai Chau Province. The Vietnamese prefer the low-lying valleys; colourful tribal people almost exclusively populate the highlands.
Apart from the Hmong, the Dzao are the most visible tribe in the area. Although both peoples are recent migrants from China they have distinctly different cultures and languages. The Dzao women are particularly striking. They wear extravagant scarlet hats and often shave their eyebrows and sometimes their heads, coating the scull with wax. When I first caught sight of them in Sapa I had presumed their elaborate costumes were for the benefit of the tourists. But out on the quiet roads of remote Lai Chau Province, I was surprised to see groups of Dzao and Hmong women tilling the fields in full dress.
Cycling in northwest Vietnam was tough: the road surface is uneven and some of the climbs were vicious. But the views were simply spectacular. Time and time again I found myself stopping and staring across breathtakingly beautiful valleys and mountains, wondering if I'd ever seen anything to compare.
The valleys of Tam Duang and Lai Chao are as close to secret Shangri Las as it is possible to find in Southeast Asia. It is a part of the world few tourists make the effort to discover. Although a few tour companies offer packages from Hanoi and Sapa, the only foreigners I encountered were some intrepid backpackers taking their chance on Russian made Minsk motorcycles.
After three days peddling I finally reached my destination. Dien Bien Phu's place in history was assured when Ho Chi Minh led his People's Liberation Army to a bloody but decisive victory over the French colonizers in 1954. The French, commanded by General Henri Navarre, had gone to enormous lengths to build a fortified garrison that was considered impregnable. But they underestimated the resolve and resourcefulness of the Vietnamese, who, aided by many of the hill tribes, laid siege to the town. After 54 days of constant battle, the Viet Minh burrowed and fought their way through the French lines until finally on May 7th, 1954, they were victorious. All 14,000 French troops were either killed or taken prisoner. The battle ended France's colonial domination of Indochina and was Vietnam's first major victory in a war for independence that was to last another 21 years.
Dien Bien's Phu has a strong sense of history. The war cemetery is the town's most prominent building. The dark-green humped hills on the edges of the valley were given womens names by the French in the hope their soldiers would fight even harder to protect their honour. Now Elaine and Dominique are known as Hill A1 and A2 but the feeling that men died to protect them has not gone. Bits of rusted casings poke through the earth's crust and the bunkers that became graves for hundreds of soldiers are still not yet overgrown. The war museum is the town's main point of interest and as well as exhibits of battlefield artifacts, including rifles, machine guns, helmets and mortars, the war museum shows a remarkably well produced videos of the battle in English, French or Vietnamese.
Dien Bien Airport is exactly where the French Aerodrome was once laid out on a sea of pierced steel plating; the plating is still there, only now it forms a rust-colored fence enclosing the modern control tower and cement runway. The airport has recently been upgraded to receive international flights and now planers arrive from Thailand and Laos as well as Hanoi. On the days planes are not landing, however, the local children use the runway as a football pitch.
Dien Bien Phu, like the rest of Vietnam, is much more than its history. The genuine magic comes from the raw natural beauty of the surrounding mountains and the colour and friendliness of its people.
Published on 10/22/01
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