Y Linh Ho Village

Beyond the center of Sa Pa, the air changes. The sound of traffic thins out. A dirt track takes the place of asphalt. On both sides lie terraced fields and mountain slopes, and above them rises the Hoàng Liên Sơn range. This is the start of a walking route down into the Mường Hoa valley, and the village of Ý Linh Hồ is one of its stopping points.

The route starts in Sa Pa and passes Cát Cát. Next comes Ý Linh Hồ. From there it goes on to Tả Van and ends at Bản Hồ. All the way it runs beside the Hoàng Liên Sơn range and through the Mường Hoa valley. It asks for no climbing skill, because the path follows the slope in gentle curves.

The Mường Hoa valley stretches for more than 20 kilometers. It is home to several ethnic minority communities, among them the Tày, the Hmong, the Dao and the Giáy. Villages lie scattered along the mountainsides, and each keeps its own way of daily life and farming. Ý Linh Hồ is one of them. It lies near the Lao Chải area, on the side toward central Sa Pa.

The most striking thing about walking through Ý Linh Hồ is the terraced landscape. At Lao Chải village and at Ý Linh Hồ the view opens wide, and golden rice runs on to the horizon. The terraces here are not decoration. They are the work of many generations of ethnic minority farmers. These families cut into the steep slope, built up the banks, and led water from the streams down to each step, so that rice could grow on high mountain ground.

The terraces belong to a recognized heritage. The Sa Pa rice terraces were recognized as a national scenic site in 2013. The site covers 749 hectares and spans three communes. Lao Chải and Hầu Thào are two of them. Tả Van is the third. The Ý Linh Hồ area lies inside that same landscape.

Walking through the village, a traveler sees the shapes of houses, vegetable gardens, drying yards, and people going about an ordinary day. This is real life, not a show put on for visitors. The people here farm and live as they do every day, whether or not anyone passes by. The calls of chickens, the tread of buffalo, and kitchen smoke drifting into the morning mist all pass naturally by the walker.

The walk through Ý Linh Hồ and on down the valley is one way to see Mường Hoa from the inside rather than from far off. Fields full of water in May and June mirror the whole sky. Ripe rice in September glows gold to the foot of the mountains. The green of midsummer puts on yet another shade. Each time, a different Ý Linh Hồ appears. And when the afternoon sun settles over the valley, every terrace glitters like the rungs of a ladder leading up to the sky. The sight stays with anyone who has passed through.