03/07/2022
" H'mong Village "
( Cat cat Village Sapa )
The Northwest of Vietnam has long been famous for its impressive and glamorous beauty that can captivate any tourists setting foot on this landscape. Among all the picturesque destinations, there is a charming village on the side of Sapa Town that you should not miss – Cat Cat Village. This village is recommended by those who love trekking, especially in Sapa, as the most striking village in Northwestern Vietnam..
Sapa is a hill station in the north of Vietnam, known for its beautiful terraced rice fields, lovely and welcoming ethnic minority tribes, and for housing the tallest peak in Indochina, Mount Fansipan. It’s also the premier trekking base of Vietnam, growing more and more popular each day.
Cat Cat Village is nestled at the bottom of Muong Hoa Valley, about two miles (three kilometers) from Sapa town. This village was formed in the 19th century, after various ethnic H’Mong and Dzao families came together from other mountainous areas in northern Vietnam. They started cultivating rice and corn in the region, as well as weaving fabric and creating handicrafts to get by.
You can get a glimpse of the residents’ traditional lifestyle by walking into any of the houses that are open for display. These are called exhibition houses, and are far from your traditional museum, but the aim is the same: to collect and display materials of cultural significance.
Shops dot both sides of the Cat Cat trail. These shops sell a range of items, from packaged and fresh food, to handicrafts and clothes. You will see women stitching colorful pieces of brocade while children play around with pets or even livestock that are temporary pets.
H**p, cotton, and linen are collected from the forest to use as material for these clothes, and the silk from silkworms is used for embroidery. The colors are also made naturally—yellow from turmeric, black from a local leaf, red and brown from the rind of local leaves, and blue from indigo leaves. Cat Cat is known for its indigo dyeing technique that you can observe as you walk around.