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Cat Cat Village is the home of Black H'mong ethnic people and is located near the bottom of a deep valley at the foot of Fansipan Peak. A local guide, So Lo showed us some of the daily life activities of the locals, we trekked down to the valley below to the waterfall where the French built a Hydraulic Power Station and returned uphill. That was a return trekking distance of about 3 km and took about 2 hours. So Lo was very patient with me as I was struggling with Sciatica.
Visiting Cat Cat Village, tourists will be impressed by the
peacefully picturesque sceneries. People can easily catch sight of women
sitting in front of the loom with colourful pieces of brocade, while children
playing around with pets or even livestock. From the plain brocade, then women
can carefully dye them with special leaves and embroider beautiful patterns of
flower and animal on them. Moreover, many residents of Cat Cat Village are also
skillful at manipulating sophisticated gold and silver jewellery.
The original architect of H’Mong people is interesting as
well. Their house typically contains three rooms with three doors and po mu
wood roof, while the walls’ material is sawn timber. There are other
indispensable parts of the house such as altar, kitchen, places for keeping
food and sleeping, etc.
Cat Cat Village gives tourists a chance to have a glimpse
into the daily life of local ethnic people, as well as take part in traditional
activities such as weaving fabric. It is also a good opportunity to purchase
some traditional souvenirs and handicrafts right from the craftsmen. People can
also try some local food selling the way upcoming to the hill.
Through times Cat Cat Village has transformed to one appealing feature of Sapa's tourism.
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Map of Cat Cat Village trek
About 2 kms from Sapa |
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Our tour guide So Lo was a mother with 2 young children |
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The start to our Cat Cat Village trek below |
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Cat Cat Village |
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The descent down to Cat Cat Village |
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The descent down to Cat Cat Village |
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Our walk down to Cat Cat Village
So Lo, Robyn, Linh Ngoc and I |
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Terraced rice and corn fields
Our descent down to Cat Cat Village |
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Our walk down to Cat Cat Village |
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A family shop
Baby peeling a hard boiled egg |
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Rice field |
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View as we trekked down to Cat Cat Village |
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Bananas |
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We continued our trek down to Cat Cat Village |
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Lady dying material indigo |
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Drying out corn
Hammock waiting to be used |
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Buffalo wandering through village |
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Buffalo wandering through village |
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So Lo and Robyn |
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Inside a village house with kitchen
step ladder to upstairs sleeping area |
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Cooking area |
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kitchen area |
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This little pig went to market
This little pig stayed at home
This little pig had roast beef
This little pig had none and
This little pig went wee wee wee all the way home! |
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We later learned that the man with the baby
was So Lo's husband and baby
So Lo fed her 3 month old baby
while we wandered around village |
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I am thinking what comes down has to go up! |
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Cat Cat Village below |
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Family business |
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Cat Cat Village |
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Cat Cat Village & waterfall |
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Cat Cat Village |
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Cat Cat Village from bridge |
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Is it time to eat? |
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Man making a basket |
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Lady selling her handcrafts |
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Ladies using weaving looms |
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Lady using her talents |
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Waterfall in Cat Cat Village |
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At the waterfall |
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At the waterfall |
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Starting to trek up the hill |
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Time to start trekking up the hill
Thank you Linh Ngoc for the helping hand |
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A family business |
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The trek up the hill |
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I made it back up the top |
If you wish to contact the author, Joy Olney with any comments please email me on:
joyolney@gmail.com