Ban Ho

Ban Ho is about 20 kilometres from Sapa and it is divided into three areas: Ta Trung Ho, Xeo Trung Ho and Hoang Lien and home to the Mong, Dao, Tay people.

We visited a Tay house and sat with the owner and looked around his house and drank cups of tea before walking through the village.

The Tay people originate from Thailand and the houses are very similar to the Thai with the homes on stills. However, now as tourism is so popular they have converted the downstairs to living areas with the sleeping quarters for themselves and homestay people on the second or third floor.

The Tay are farmers who have a long tradition wet rice cultivation through intensive cultivation and irrigation methods like digging canals and laying water pipes. They also maintain the custom of harvesting the rice and thrashing the grains out on wooden racks, which they call loong, while still in the fields. They then carry the threshed rice home in baskets. In addition to cultivating the rice fields, the Tay also plant rice on terraced fields along with other crops and fruit trees. The most famous Tay craft is weaving brocaded designs of beautiful and original patterns which are highly prized.

We had 2 lovely ladies walk with us all the way to the next village helping us over steep roads and the rivers of water coming from the hills flowing over the roads. Not sure but I think they may have been older than us.Read more