This land is your land, this land is my land...

We spent the day hiking into the valley. Surrounded by local village women, Bee, her sister, and mother led our group down the mountains. Looking back on my travels, I have met people from several groups of indigenous cultures across continents. Of those, Bee (the one in the middle in the picture, wearing a bumble bee turtleneck) speaks the most incredible English and maintains the sunniest disposition. Villagers walk the streets of Sapa, talking to all tourists, to be friendly as much as to request purchases of their goods. They carry mostly handmade tapestries, bags and jewelry. And as is often the case, a sale is a symbol of luck and coming fortune. And if you show interest, be prepared to buy at least something. It's a strange thing, this life. And money and all.

Sapa is breath-taking. Green terraced rice fields, mountains, a chill in the air. Five different tribes live among the hills and highlands around Sapa. Hiking down and through mud proved difficult at times. So comfortable with the landscape, however, our guides grabbed our flailing arms and legs at almost every turn. I have to admit, while I appreciated the help, it was also a bit unnerving. Do I look as uncoordinated and unfit as the offered support seems to suggest? Oh, I guess we all need a little help from time to time. Our group led by family also consisted of a mother and daughter traveling team. Pretty adventurous, if you ask me, to be hiking in the mud down the mountains of Vietnam in your sixties. Shout out to Jen's mom!

It's amazing to think how removed so many of us are from the natural landscape of the lands on which we live. For Bee and her family, trekking down a mountain, we were all essentially walking what would in the States be her subdivision, street, then driveway. When was the last time I hiked a mountain to feed or clothe my family? How liberating in some ways to live on the land. No mortgage payments to worry about. But then again, I wonder if it's a struggle to feed your family.

We did make it to Bee's house. Several children, one pants-less, and Bee's husband and mother were home. The house was three rooms. Dirt floors, a kitchen with a fire pit, and two bedrooms. Simple. Funny how the notion of mountain people here seems so different than what the term conjures back home. Everyone here seems happy. Friendly. Interested. The pulse of humanity, whether you're of a tribe, from the city, from a different country, everyone here in Sapa seems curious and accepting. Open. It's catching.