Archive for the ‘Sa Pa’ Category
so this is sapa
It seems that the poverty situation of Sapa is steadily improving due to the growing tourism industry, which widely caters to Westerners. However, the culture is quickly changing into something completely new.
A few days after the Sapa trip, I was informed during a guest lecture that the role of women in this society has greatly changed over the course of a few years’ time. No longer married at the age of fourteen, many women of the Hmong ethnic minority now work outside the home typically serving as tour guides. Being native to the region, they are better able to provide comprehensive descriptions of this amazing landscape, which serves as home to many of Vietnam’s better-known ethnic minority populations–Thai, Tay, Zhao, and Hmong–than their Kinh (standard fare Vietnamese) counterparts. Interestingly, the women in these areas speak better English than Vietnamese.
The question I am struggling with is whether or not tourism is beneficial to the lives of the ethnic minorities living in Sapa. There are both positives and negatives to consider. This will take some time.
Below are some pictures which may be better suited to describe what my words cannot.
