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Before leaving Vietnam for good, we spent a few days in the seriously beautiful mountain town of Sapa, which is surrounded by smaller minority villages on all sides. Upon stepping off the bus, we were instantly surrounded by Hmong girls in their traditional dress saying hello in perfect English and showing us their silver bracelets. But don't be fooled - although many of these young lasses live in traditional villages, many with mud floors and no electricity (as we would soon experience first hand), they all have facebook and cell phones, and are VERY adept at flirting with the foreign men!

The next day we hired a tour guide named Chi, a little firecracker, (and we mean little - at 26 years old she can't be more than 4'8, which made us feel like giants (whoohoo! finally!)) who took us on a trek to visit waterfalls, her grandmother's villiage, and other local areas of interest.

Chi was not only knowledgeable about the flora, fauna, and local culture, an excellent English speaker, and a genuine good spirit, but she was also quite candid with us about the state of the tourism industry in the Sapa area. After doing a bit of research among the companies offering tours in the Sapa surrounds ourselves, we were sad to discover that few returned to the villages they worked with anywhere near the % of profits that the average Laotian tour company did. That is to say, the Vietnamese companies were not very socially responsible.

Some advice for future travellers to the area:

Email Chi and arrange your own tour with her directly.

Afterwards, she'll probably invite you into her Sapa-city home and show you all her foreign friends plastered along the walls. If you're a woman, she'll probably want you to try on her traditional Hmong duds -- you might have to squeeze in -- and take a picture with her. Honestly, this was among the highlight of the trip and the best part of the day. She may even invite you out to dinner, too. And believe us, no tourist will get the prices she gets on their own!

You can contact Chi directly at:

hmonggirl_sapa@yahoo.com

She may not be able to read, but her cousin Vu can help her, and she'll be at the doorstep of your hotel the next day. And this way, Chi, her family and her village get all the money (it's also much cheaper for you too).